THE CURRENT Your weekly dose of arts and entertainment • Thursday, January 23, 2014
mee-ow magic improv, comedy group celebrates 40 years BY ROSALIE CHAN In front of a small brick garage on a Saturday morning, eight students trudge through the snow with trays of purple paint. Large wooden boards lay on the tarp. Music blasts from the inside of the garage as students paint the boards and try to ignore the winter breeze. This is Mee-Ow, Northwestern’s short form comedy group. Its shows consist of one-third short form improv, one-third sketch comedy and one-third rock and roll. This year, the group celebrates its 40th anniversary. “Everyone is so quick-witted,” said Gaby FeBland, a Communication senior and Mee-Ow member. “Everyone knows how to listen. I love how everyone’s on stage for every improv game. I love the games we play. Your whole team is literally supporting you.” Mee-Ow puts on two Winter Quarter shows. Members also hope to do an improv show in the spring, as they did last year. Its upcoming show, titled “You’re Invited to Mee-Owy Kate and Ashley’s Sleepover Party” will hit the stage at 10 p.m. Thursday, 8 and 11 p.m. Friday and 8 and 11 p.m. Saturday at Shanley Pavilion. Unlike other improv groups on campus, Mee-Ow focuses on short form, which usually lasts less than three minutes. Performers also play improv games on stage. Long form improv often lasts up to 30 minutes. Students in Mee-Ow also write comedy sketches that last between two and four minutes, and a rock and
roll band performs during the shows. “If you have a joke (in long-form improv), you have to hold on and let it develop,” said Pat Buetow, a Communication senior and Mee-Ow member. “This is boom, bam, let it go.” Buetow also said the show has more interaction with the audience, who can offer suggestions and dance on stage. “You’re getting on stage in front of hordes of drunken humanity, and you have to trust your instinct,” FeBland said. Paul Warshauer and Josh Lazar co-founded Mee-Ow in 1974. They came up with the idea a year earlier, when Lazar (Weinberg ‘75) wanted to “kick Waa-Mu’s ass.” Lazar believed the Waa-Mu Show butchered the material he had submitted, and they decided to create a new show called “Mee-Ow,” a reference to the Wildcats and a parody of Waa-Mu. Mee-Ow did its first show in 1974 in the McCormick Auditorium. The show included sketch comedy, poetry and dance. At the time, Mee-Ow had a cast of about 30 students. “It taught me to be a director and a producer,” said Warshauer, who attended NU from 1972 to 1975. “Here I was as a sophomore directing a major production.” » See MEE-OW, page 2
Source: Daily and Syllabus Yearbook file photos
@thecurrentnu
INSIDE: Odds & Ends 2 | Columns 3 | Reviews 4