- Nick Klahs,
President of Improv Mafia
NORMAL – Students start to file into room 145 in the Center for Visual Arts, and pretty soon all the seats are filled. The chatter of the crowd can be heard from down the hallway, and grows louder as the clock hits 8 p.m. People shift in their seats as the doors burst open and in parades a group of people yelling at the top of their lungs. The crowd lets out a roar of cheers and applause as the Improv Mafia takes their place in front of them.
Improv Mafia is a group of Illinois State students that get together and perform improvisational sketches. It was started back in 1998, and ever since it has been entertaining fellow students at ISU. At first the group only did short skits, but now they provide a unique hybrid of short form, long form, and other experimental forms of improv. The members are almost all based in the theatre department, and they perform for free in the CVA every Tuesday night.
Being a part of Improv Mafia is something that the members of the group cherish as the group holds a special place in their hearts. Nick Klahs, the president of Improv Mafia, has been with the group for four years and it’s an experience that he loves being a part of.
“It is a whole lot of fun to perform and be a part of improv,” Klahs said. “I’m with people that I know and love, and it makes everything come so naturally. We’re all friends here and because of that we are able to build off of each other’s ideas.”
When the group was performing their sketches, the sense of camaraderie was easily noticed. Jokes and dialogue was dispensed at a rapid fire rate even though all of it was made up on the fly. The banter between the members and their chemistry got the audience involved as they cheered from their seats. Laughter and applause rose up from the crowd after almost every line was spoken. When a member of the group wanted an idea from the audience, they eagerly shouted out their answers.
The group members also moved quickly across the room to keep the performance at a rapid pace. One moment the group would be having a conversation, and the next they could be climbing on top of each other as if they were scaling a tree house or climbing a ladder.
Carly Heiser, an actress in Improv Mafia, says that being a close-knit group makes everything much easier.
“Since a majority of everyone is part of the theatre department, it helps in all aspects of our performance,” Heiser said. “People get to know each other better and we all basically have common interests. It’s easy to perform when people know what they are doing.”
To get into the group, people have to go through auditions at the beginning of the school year. Auditions are only held once a year, and once a person makes it in, it is permanent.
“Once people make it in, they are basically here for life, just like the real mafia” Klahs said. “Our group has become very united and we still keep in touch with people who have left. When people graduate, we also give them a Mafia Funeral to express our feelings for them and to honor their life in the Mafia.”
Jared Mason, a performer in the Improv Mafia, agreed with Klahs that everyone had a strong relationship and they were all creative. Mason incorporated the stubble on his face and his thick mustache into his characters as he impersonated Fidel Castro. But he described performing in front of an audience in a unique way.
“I feel like the luckiest person in the world when I perform,” Mason said. “It’s great to see every seat filled with people who want to come and have a good time. We feed off their energy. The feeling that I get though after we are done is kind of like having sex. We’re basically making love to the audience. We have shown the audience our performance, and it makes me feel wonderful.”
Recently, Improv Mafia was able to win the Lower Midwest Regional Champions. It takes them one step further to winning the national title, and it shows that their dedication to one another has paid off. Kyle McClevey, who is a new member to Improv Mafia, said the award was a shock.
“Winning that was exhilarating,” McClevey said. “It came as a complete surprise as we did not think we were going to win. The competition was at U of I, and we were up against their teams and many others. U of I has a solid improv team, and it was awesome to go their and win.”
Unlike most plays, being in an improv group has some challenges. There are no scripts that have to be performed or relied on. The only thing is a person’s mind and the bond the performers share.
“For our rehearsals, we are practicing our brain muscle all the time with different games and skits,” Klahs said. “We build off of everything that is said. But we do have a book that has a lot of different exercises in it. It’s basically the rules of improv.”
But the most important thing to the group is the harmony that must be shared between them.
“We need unity amongst us,” Klahs said. “All of us are teaching each other ideas and you can use this forever. Once we harness that, we can perform better.”
Carlos Kmet, who is a new member to the group as well, said he is trying to make his mind be on the same page as the rest of the members.
“We try to teach each other the importance of the group mind,” Kmet said. “The new people are learning all the rules from the veteran players and we are starting to think alike. We all have dinner right before the show to build our relationships. We try to have the same mindset.”
This idea of unity is something the group values the most as it helps them succeed. After their weekly performance concludes and the audience has gotten their fill of entertainment, the group stays in the CVA and gathers around to critique their performances. The members lie on the ground, smile at one another, and let their conversations flow. Even though the show was over, the group remained in the same mindset as their jokes continued.