New Comedy Troop Hits Wes

By Allison Rovner
Contributing Writer

After years of turning to the well-established sketch comedy groups, Gag Reflex and Desperate Measures, for entertainment, Wesleyan students will now be able to laugh at a new improv/sketch comedy group.

The newly formed group, Tunnel Visionaries, is the brainchild of Siggy Byrne ’00, Laurie Turner ’99, and Ben Cochran ’99. Auditions were held on Saturday, Sept. 19. Call-backs will be held next Saturday, Sept. 26.

The group will consist of approximately five or six people but according to Byrne the group dynamics, not the exact number of members, will determine the group’s size.

"One of the most important things is to have a good group of people," Byrne said. "You can have people who are hilarious on their own but don’t work well in groups."

Tunnel Visionaries differs from the other comedy groups because it plans to combine improvisational comedy, sketch comedy, short film, and music numbers.

"Gag is completely an improv tradition. We use improv as a tool to warm up. It’s also a really good place to find sketch ideas. Being part of a sketch comedy is much more into theater in that we have scripts. We would use improv to cover up time between sketches during scene changes," Byrne said.

According to Byrne, Tunnel Visionaries hopes to perform outside, in the multi-purpose room of the campus center, and WestCo. There are no performances currently scheduled for the ensemble.

"We want to make sure our sketches are really solid before we inflict them on the audience," Byrne said.

Presently there are only two improv comedy groups on campus: Gag Reflex and Desperate Measures. Gag Reflex currently performs about every three weeks. The show consists of two hours of improv based on audience input.

"There’s a renewed interest in sketch comedy this year at the University," said Aaron Hilliard ’00, a member of Gag Reflex. "I’m glad to see more sketch comedy happening on campus. It’s nice to see other people getting the interest up."

The current comedy troops have large, faithful followings and many students say they would attend a Tunnel Visionaries performance.

"When I heard about Tunnel Visionaries I was interested to see what they’re all about," said Bob Weythman ’99, a member of Gag Reflex.

Weythman believes that the most important element of a comedy troop is the group’s interactions. He helped found Slow Children, a comedy group that is no longer active.

"With Slow Children, it wasn’t a matter of popularity. It was a matter of group dynamics. That was the major split in the group," Weythman said. "What determines whether a group will have a long life or die out quickly is how the group works as an ensemble."

Byrne realizes that she faces an uphill challenge but feels they are ready.

"Drama implies something serious. While we’re serious about comedy, that’s the only thing we’re serious about. Our goal is to be completely free to express creative, comic ideas," Byrne said.