Image from @tnbtimprov on Instagram.
On Friday, January 17, in the Diversions room of the Stevenson Union, The Next Best Thing Improv performed their Winter improv show, “The Next Best Murder.”
As the name suggests, the show was filled to the brim with all things murder. The decorations immediately set the tone before the show even started: caution tape blocked off different sections of the room while ransom-note style letters spelled “Who done it?” on the wall above the stage.
The show centered around the murder of club member Aiden, whose death occurred suddenly at the beginning of the performance. The audience was left to speculate who the murderer was. The suspects? The members of The Next Best Thing themselves.
The hosts of the show were Stephanie, the butler, and Val, the maid; their comedic chemistry and talent for audience interaction were apparent throughout the entire show. Even when thrown curveballs by audience members—one spectator suggested “drunk penny-farthing” as the central crime for an improv game—both hosts responded with humor and grace.
The show consisted of several different improv games, each played by a different grouping of performers. Naturally, many of the games were themed around death and murder. One game, called “Obituary,” involved one actor attempting to eulogize a character with audience-selected traits. The humor came from the fact that the eulogizing actor had no idea what traits the audience had picked, leaving them to guess these traits throughout the eulogy, their only clues the occasional comments of the performers acting as funeral-goers.
Another game consisted of one actor trying to pantomime an occupation, location, and murder weapon to the next actor in line. Once the next actor felt they understood what the first was trying to communicate, they would mime killing them with the murder weapon. This process continued until every actor in line had a turn, after which they would reveal what they believed the occupation, location, and murder weapon to be. This created an effect similar to a game of Telephone, with each job, place, and weapon emerging different from when they began.
The night culminated in a trial to decide who the killer was. The audience voted with applause for who they believed to be the murderer. When it was down to two candidates, the actors picked sides and defended their clients in an entertaining yet heated debate. As it turned out, Val the maid had indeed murdered Aiden, a twist that left the audience laughing and cheering.
The Next Best Thing certainly knows how to entertain an audience. If you want to be a part of this talented group, they are holding auditions on January 24 and 25 from 5:30–7:30 in Room 137 of the Theater Building.
