The Incident, Amuse Bouche and The Whethermen — a triumvirate of prominent comedy groups on Grounds — joined forces Friday night for their debut performances of the semester. During what they dubbed the “Comedy Holy Trinity,” each group took the stage in their own style of comedy, featuring improv and comedy sketches.
University students and community members filled the halls of Warner 209 to get a taste of the comedic genius of these groups. Word seemed to get around that the “Comedy Holy Trinity” would be a cannot-miss event because by the start of the show, there was standing room only, despite the nearly 300 seat capacity of Warner.
The Incident kicked off the night with 30 minutes of sketches displaying the group’s impressive writing chops depicting clever wordplay and careful comedic timing. In a style similar to Saturday Night Live, their Friday set included six pre-written sketches — two videos projected on a screen and four live performances — all written, edited and pitched by the group members themselves.
The sketches featured hilarious plots about parody dating shows, phony detectives and even a Barbie suspiciously connected to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911. Audiences laughed at not only the fresh content but the perfectly-timed delivery of these lines.
The entire sketch process relies on significant time and energy from the group’s writers and actors. Reese Robers, President of The Incident and third-year College student, notes how this timeline is a quick turn around for the group.
“We usually do about two weeks of rehearsal,” Robers said. “We'll read through all the sketches that we want to submit for the show, and then we select about ten to twelve. Most evenings, we’ll just be in [the performance] venue practicing our sketches.”
Founded in 2009, the Incident has been through a few names, most recently changing their name from Hot Kids Comedy last fall — a change humorously explained in their program as an attempt to be dismissed from the Charlottesville Police Department’s watchlist.
Next in the lineup was Amuse Bouche, founded in 2007 by Sasheer Zamata, Class of 2008 and Saturday Night Live alumna. The long-form improv group has been making students laugh ever since with larger-than-life comedic personalities and their iconic Amuse Bouche baseball jerseys, which they don for every performance.
Amuse Bouche entertained audiences with half an hour of long-form improv comedy, which focuses more on character creation and development of different continuous bits. This differs from short-form improv, which is structured around five to seven minute, fast-paced games, where a few comedians must quickly jump into a scene having to frequently adapt their choices.
The group typically starts with audience participation, asking for a word or location to begin their sketch. A few members commence an impromptu scene, while the other comedians jump in with a funny line or character to build on the scene. Thomas Arnold, the group’s former president and fourth-year Engineering student, notes how this requires intense engagement for the comedians on the sidelines.
“In improv, you're always listening,” Arnold said. “You're always picking up on your teammates who the characters are, what their motivations are, what the conflict of the conflict of the scene is and how you can improve on the scene.”
Though every show is completely original, the group rehearses twice a week to make sure their wittiness is in peak condition for their live shows.
“We try to find general advice and tips to help us form creative minds,” Arnold said. “You can't plan for improv, but you can build the skills of quick thinking and teamwork … and, of course, being funny.”
The group showcased the precision of this teamwork brilliantly during Friday’s show, as they tapped each other in and out of scenes, building on each others’ characters and mastering comedic timing. What made the performance even more fun to watch was seeing the comedians having a blast on stage.
“I feel like I'm always surrounded by the funniest people on Earth,” Arnold said. “It's just always going to be a good time when we're hanging out, and it's just been so fun these past four years.”
Rounding out Act Three of the “Comedy Holy Trinity,” the Whethermen took the stage. The University’s oldest improv comedy group, the Whethermen have been performing both short-form and long-form improv since 1997, though their Friday set focused on exclusively short-form.
One of the games the group played involved a comedian changing their most recent action whenever another comedian rang a bell — often leading to increasingly hilarious moments as the bell rings repeatedly. In Friday’s iteration, the scene partners performed a heist, which quickly turned into humorous bickering that got more and more dramatic at each sound of the bell as the game leader called for one of the actors to be more “gaslight-y.”
The Whethermen’s short-form games delighted the audience with some participation where they offered prompts for their scenes. The crowd also got to vote on which comedian delivered the most Oscar-worthy monologue about an absurd amount of boomerangs, a monologue topic spontaneously suggested by Ireland.
Similar to Amuse Bouche, the Whethermen treat their practices as times to build their comedic skills to make live performances smoother and funnier. Jack Ireland, Whethermen vice president and third-year College student, compares these drills to those of a sports team.
“It's kind of like in athletic practices, you run drills, practice your technique,” Ireland said. “We practice Wednesday and Sunday, and we'll show up, we'll warm up and then we'll just run our games.”
This dedication to the craft, shared by all the comedy groups, reflects the committed and interconnected nature of the University’s comedy community. Many members of The Incident are also in one of the two improv groups, exercising two different sides of their comedic brain. As a comedian in both The Incident and Amuse Bouche, Robers finds a way to exercise her quick-wittedness alongside her more scripted comedy.
“I started with sketch comedy my first semester [with the Incident] … so it’’s the thing that I'm most confident in,” Robers said. “With Bouche, it's a lot of fun because I get to learn new things about comedy.”
In a surprise musical moment, all three groups came together to perform an original comedic song entitled “Shrimp Party.” Amuse Bouche, Whethermen and The Incident alike were decked out in shrimp-themed costumes, singing and playing instruments while members conga-lined around the Warner auditorium.
Ireland, who is also a member of The Incident, remarked on this interconnectedness, affirming the importance of an event like this which brought together all three groups.
“We usually do an inner comedy show at the beginning of each semester to be a free showcase for people who are interested in doing comedy at U.Va.,” Ireland said. “[This show] just feels different. The aura of this inner comedy show is unlike anything I've kind of felt before.”
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