Troupe travels long way for laughs

by Bridget Egan staff writer

It is a little-known fact that the members of Cabrini College Comedy Troupe's improvisational group, Cavalier Attitudes, are virgins.

Five members of the troupe will be making their first trip to the National College Comedy Festival at Skidmore College in New York this weekend.

The festival, which is in its lOth year, is a consortium of Eastern colleges' improvisational groups.

The festival is not a competition; rather, it is an opportunity to showcase talent, learn new games and just have fun.

Cavalier Attitudes is certainly performing in good company. Some of the 13 colleges attending are Harvard, Cornell, George Washington, and other local groups, such as Haverford and Bryn Mawr.

Paul Moser, a senior who is the troupe's captain, claims that the reason Cabrini was finally invited was hard-core persistence.

"I was very persistent in getting our application in." Moser said. "And also persistent in getting it to the right people."

Besides Moser, senior Kellie O'Neill, junior Lisa Nicole Finegan, and sophomores Mike Butler and Gary Rupacz will also be making the journey. These five will have an opportunity to perform for 20 minutes as a group and then participate in group games.

There will also be guest artists who will aid the groups in their performance and also teach classes to the aspiring players.

Joe Bill, the co-founder and teacher at Chicago's Annoyance Theater, wiJl guide the master classes and also help to guide the peer workshops. Jonathan Pitts, director of Chicago's Improv Festival, will also be in attendance to teach a workshop and inform the crowd on Chicago's festival.

Moser said that the group has been working hard to bulk up their comedic skills for the upcoming weekend. The five members have been practicing three times a week, along with practicing with the entire troupe once a week. •

The five were chosen because of their experience and their close-knit relationship with each other.

O'Neill anticipates learning many new things from her peers.

"Personally, I want us to learn different styles from different improv troupes." O'Neill said. "And also learn some new games from them."

O'Neill also stated that this would be a great opportunity for networking, especially with the professionals who will be attending.

As for Moser, he hopes to make the theater department proud. Also, he wants to put on a great performance so that this will be the first of many years the troupe attends the festival.

The members will leave Friday, Feb. 12 and return to Cabrini on the 14th, and hope to accomplish much during the weekend. Moser sums up the importance of the event by equating it with another annual Cabrini trek.

"Going to this festival is like the men's basketball team going to Utah," he said.