by, SAMANTHA WALLA, Asst. Editor
In the midst of award season and the beginning of the spring semester, Scatterbomb held their first show of 2018. The title “Scatterbomb Presents: The Scatties,” gave their typical show an award show-themed twist.
Using Hayden 100 as their stage, Scatterbomb delivered a night of long-form improv comedy to the students of Manhattan College.
In true award show fashion, the team opened the show with a slideshow in memory of the stars who have passed within the last year, including Jerry Lewis, Hugh Hefner and, for a humorous twist, Scatterbomb’s own Madi Blecki. The group also presented a Best Picture Award with their very own ‘Moonlight’ and ‘La La Land’ inspired mix-up.
Senior Kevin Donald presented an award for “best pitcher” before revealing the literal picture that the group had decided was the best: a photo of John Lennon performing a comical walk.
The team diverted from their usual ten-player line up into two five-player group performances. This change from long form scenes to what is called a “Spokane” centered around a group of people interspersed with cutaway scenes. In this case, dejected employees of Big Giuseppe’s pizza parlor, had just lost a dodgeball game to another restaurant. This main scene, called the spine, was comprised of several related flashback scenes detailing the relationships between Big Giuseppe and his employees.
When asked why the group decided to switch up their typical format, Kevin Donald said “To get something fresh and new. And to slow it down. We were a little bit frantic and we’ve been yelling over each other a lot recently. We thought that would slow the pace of the show down a little bit and let us each bloom a little bit more.”
The general consensus among the team members was positive.
“I thought it went really well,” said Madi Blecki. “I was nervous about it because we used to do that in the past and I didn’t particularly like it. You don’t get to perform with everyone and you want to, but I think it went well. I think we had more time to talk, like the people who were in each section and we had more like laughs per person if that makes sense.”
Freshman member Jenn Bueti agreed.
“I think that made us stronger as a team because we did more than we usually do and we did different things,” she said.
The second half of the show wrapped up a seemingly unrelated sketch, involving a couple at a Chili’s, with a clever nod to the first half of the show. Donald, portraying a greeter of the restaurant, apologized to the couple as their entire staff was engaged in a dodgeball tournament and would not be able to serve them.
The troupe’s plans for the semester include the annual bit show and Scatterprom. The following show will be held on March 24, which will be the annual bit show.
“Normally we do long-form improv, which is like, longer scene work and things like that,” explained Blecki. “The bit show is short form, so its more like games and bits and things like that. For example, last year we had Kevin play ‘Creep’ on the guitar and each of us came up and said why we were a Creep. More gimmicky things like that.”
Scatterbomb also plans to hold spring auditions for new members later in the semester. These auditions typically function as workshops for students with varying ranges of improv experience, from beginner to expert.
After wrapping up their first show of the semester with both new and old aspects of their shows, fans are eager to see what Scatterbomb presents next.
Scatterbomb’s next show will be on February 16 at 8 p.m. in Hayden 100.