Group member Jared Lautenslager takes center stage in his first-ever performance, with mashup group “P!nk Cover Band”.
UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE NYC / YOUTUBE
Grace Cardinal, Editor-in-Chief
After a first-ever invite for the group, MU’s comedy improv club Scatterbomb competed in New York City College Comedy Night’s (NYCCCN) competition, hosted by the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). The March Mashup saw participants from highly-regarded colleges around the New York City area, including New York University, Columbia University and Marymount Manhattan College.
UCB is historic on the improv and sketch comedy scene, and originally emerged in 1996 with founding members including comedy legends Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh, according to the institution’s website. Now, UCB serves as a training center and hub for stand up comedy in both New York City and Los Angeles.
When asked what the invitation for the group meant to them, members were excited and honored to be participating in a competition hosted by the famed comedy brigade.
“It’s really exciting,” freshman member Jasmine Chaitkin said. “My dad told me that he listens to a podcast by Mark Marin, and he interviews a lot of actors and comedians, and a lot of them started off there. So he’s really excited that we’re going there, that a lot of actors and comedians had their start at UCB…I haven’t been with Scatterbomb for that long, only one semester and a half, but this is my first improv experience, and that we get to do something as cool as this [is] very, very exciting.”
The competition, with both an in-person studio audience and livestream, mixed up participants from the various groups to make four new ones that went head-to-head in the Wednesday night mashup. While the configuration of the evening was new for the group, it didn’t affect their preparation.
“I wanted lowkey to keep it more chill of a practice beforehand, because this is very nerve wracking,” Chayse Martino, co-president of Scatterbomb said. “That’s the worst part about it, honestly, everyone was so nervous, even I was so nervous about this. But for the prep, I was just trying to stay positive and have more fun games to play at practice. We didn’t really change how we set up or anything.”
If the challenge of improv isn’t hard enough, the participants had to work with a group of people entirely unfamiliar to them. Aside from a few texts, members of the mashed-up groups didn’t meet face-to-face until pre-show warmups the night of. This didn’t shake Scatterbomb’s confidence, however, with many of the members looking at the setup as an opportunity for growth and exposure to different improv styles and techniques.
“It’s really fun that we’re scrambled with other schools’ teams,” Chaitkin said. “So we get to meet new people and have different improv with different people, because they have different improv experiences than us, and different practices and different types of shows. So just learning from new people, meeting new people that are interested in the same activity as you, [is] very exciting.”
Martino, who was interviewed after the team’s Wednesday night performance, gave her perspective on the mashup after the fact.
“Performing with people that I never met before was really, I wouldn’t say hard, but it was really interesting, because you don’t know which direction they’re gonna take what you say, you know?,” Martino said. “I remember at one point, I started this scene, and if it had been one of my improv members, they would have got what I was trying to do, but it just went in a whole different direction. It honestly kind of reminds you how hard improv is. With the team, you get comfortable and you almost share a little brain cell. But with these people, there’s not that connection.”
Each team was given 12 minutes to perform, with a stand-up comedian doing a mini-performance between the groups. The end of each team’s time was marked by a red buzzer, a common practice in professional comedy theatres.
“There was this big buzzer, which was really fun,” Martino said. “That’s something that the theater does, so I’m glad that we got to experience the buzzer.”
For Scatterbomb member and senior Jared Lautenslager, who joined the group only weeks ago, this was his first time ever taking the stage as part of the group.
“I didn’t really expect my first Scatterbomb performance to be in front of a big group of people, but I’m someone that definitely welcomes all challenges, so I’m excited to put myself out there as a way to grow and do this sort of thing,” Lautenslager said.
Martino explained that competing in such a historic venue was a bit of a surreal experience.
“It was just a proud moment, and I really could not get that smile off of my face of watching everyone on that stage, and then in the venue, they had a bunch of photos of all the celebrities that have been there,” Martino said. “I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t know too much about this theater besides the actual Upright Citizens Brigade improv group, but seeing all the cool people that were there, like Hopper from Stranger Things was there at one point, and I saw a picture of him, it was really a very proud moment. And I hope that Scatterbomb gets invited to these things in the future as well. I’m just really happy that we’re at the same level as NYU and Columbia.”
The group hopes that the competition will help Scatterbomb continue to be recognized as a high-level club for years to come.
“I want this to be kind of like a Scatterbomb legacy,” Martino said. “Since it’s my last year, I’m just happy that we got it started, because there’s so much potential in this group, with all the freshmen, with the juniors even. I’m really excited to see where Scatterbomb goes.”
As for what the rest of the Scatterbomb season holds, Lautenslager promises fun, laughter and even some “unhinged” behavior.
“People should definitely come to more Scatterbomb shows,” Lautenslager said. “They’re a lot of fun, even if you think, ‘Oh, that’s some stupid thing, I don’t want to go to that,’ It’s definitely a lot of fun. We definitely laugh. [I] hate to sound egotistical, but I’ll be in the next one, so I’m gonna really pop off [and] do some crazy stuff, you know, unhinged work out there. So definitely come through. See me totally embarrass myself.”
The date for Scatterbomb’s next show is still to be determined, and will be announced on their Instagram, @scatterbombmu, when the time comes.
*Editor’s Note as of March 25: Scatterbomb’s next show is Wednesday, March 26 at 5 p.m. in Hayden 100.