Senseless Acts of Comedy

After a long week of classes, and before a long weekend of homework, my brain needs a break.  This is why, on Thursday nights, some friends and I make a habit of going to see Senseless Acts of Comedy (SAC), where we can sit down, relax, laugh for an hour, and temporarily forget about the everyday stresses brought on by classes, tests, papers, and homework.  Senseless Acts of Comedy is a student improve troupe, and they use several different types of humor that I especially enjoy.

A form of humor that is commonly used in SAC, though not present in every game, is physical humor.  A particularly good example of physical humor is a game called “Puppets,” which was played last night.  In this game, the improvisers are permitted to say whatever dialog they please, but each is assigned an audience member to move them by positioning their arms and legs.  Each improviser may not move themselves, and must find ways to work the position their audience member puts them in into the scene.  I think this game is especially funny because the actions of the improvisers are disconnected from their words, which causes an incongruity that is often amusing.

Senseless Acts of Comedy members are also good at setting up the audience to expect one thing to happen, and then making the opposite happen.  The cognitive shift from expectation to a different reality results in laughter.  An example of this sort of violation of expectations occurred last night.  Two improvisers were on stage, one sitting on the floor and one standing, and another improviser was narrating the scene.  The narrator told the audience that one of the characters in the scene was half dog.  The audience, of course, expected the improviser on the floor to play the half-dog character, and so we were surprised when the improviser who was standing up made a barking sound.  We were wrong, but it wasn’t a disappointment; instead, it was only funny.

The improvisers also get laughs through irrational reactions and exaggerations within scenes.  A game that they often play that makes use of this sort of humor is called “stunt doubles.”  In this game, two improvisers portray characters struggling with an everyday task, such as laundry, and whenever the characters need help, they call in their stunt doubles, who expand the everyday task into an epic struggle, and solve the problems in a bigger way than necessary.  For example, they might use a fire hose to put out a candle.  This is an unexpected, irrational, and exaggerated response to an everyday situation.  We laugh both because we know better and because the concept itself is funny.

Some of the jokes heard at Senseless Acts of Comedy toe the fine line between what is humorous and what is offensive.  Some of these jokes are funny because they push boundaries.  Others, however, may not seem as funny in any other situation.  I believe that the social importance of laughter plays a huge role in how funny the SAC shows are.  As we have discussed in class, people are generally more likely to laugh out loud in a social setting.  This is why the jokes are funnier with an audience of a couple hundred people than later if you try to repeat them to a friend.  It is also why I, as an audience member, sometimes find myself laughing at jokes that I may not usually thing are amusing.

I, personally, think that Senseless Acts of Comedy is hilarious, and a great way to de-stress each week.  I also believe that everyone should give it a try at some point during their time at TCU.  Some shows are better than others, but they’re all fun.  Through physical humor, wacky characters, and exaggerated movements and actions, they make me laugh every time.