I had the pleasure of sitting down with the cast of Buffalo State’s Friday Night Live (FNL) on a Thursday night.
Head captains, Carissa Ewing, Manny Mejia, and Aubs Marohn, talked about the improv troupe’s upcoming show, what to keep an eye out for as the semester continues, and of course, laughed quite a bit.
Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What’s everyone’s “joining FNL” story? Did anyone come to Buff State hoping to join?
Aubs:
I think I’ve been in FNL the longest so far out of this group. I knew a lot of people involved in FNL my first year [at Buffalo State] so me and my friends went to a show and I saw all these upperclassmen I knew. [I was] like “Woah! That’s so cool that they’re doing this and that I know them. It’s like they’re celebrities and I can be the man on the inside”.
Immediately after the first show we saw, all the friends I went with were not that interested and were like, “Nerdy shit. I’m gonna leave” and I was like, “Actually, I’m gonna go talk to them and see when the auditions are”.
I didn’t know what to expect going into [the audition] but I really enjoyed it and I clicked with everyone really quickly. I was really surprised by that because I thought I was gonna be the odd man out, the one that was there for a good time not a long time, but I’m still here in my senior year!
Manny:
It was kind of similar for me. I had friends that were in it. Specifically how it happened [was] I had a friend who was friends with my friend that was in FNL and we would go to FNL and hangout.
It was like a cool Friday night thing that I would do and now I’m in it which is fun!
Carissa:
Same thing! I remember when I first came to Buff State I saw a post for [FNL] on Instagram and I was like, “Oh! Improv comedy! I’m funny! That would be really easy to do”.
I went to one of the shows and then I went to another one of the shows and each time I was like, “This is really fun!” and then FNL kind of disbanded and then regrouped again and I was like, “OMG auditions? I’m still really funny! I should do that” and then I auditioned from there.
Aubs:
We let you slide.
Carissa:
They let me slide in, yeah.
You’ve announced your first show of the semester to be democracy themed. Despite audience members picking what games will take place during the show, are there any you’re secretly hoping you get to do?
Carissa:
We have a thing where every time we do a show where the audience picks the games they always pick “Do Rap”.
I haven’t done it in a while. I’m interested to see if my rhyming skills have gotten better. I don’t think so but we’ll see!
Manny:
I’m crossing my fingers to do “Confessional”.
It’s really difficult but it’s one of my favorite games and I think there’s a lot of joke potential in that one. That’s what I’m hoping for but they’re all good.
Aubs:
I think for the democracy show it would be really interesting if the audience picked “Master Debater” because the amount of potential that game has for our theme is going to be either the best thing or the craziest thing ever.
What goes into coming up with the theme for each show?
Manny:
It’s a collaborative process. Typically what happens is the three of us discuss what we think is best. We’ll then discuss with the whole cast what we think is best–what “best” looks like.
It’s getting as many people in the seats as possible. What we found generally [is] when you represent the interests of your audience well enough they’re gonna wanna come see shows. The easiest thing we can do as people putting on a show is giving the people what they want. It’s very strategic.
So the first show, in its purest form, [is] exactly what they want. Typically we take recommendations on locations, names, [and] relationships to start scenes but actually making the entire show revolve around exactly what people want is [an] amazing catalyst for a first show but gives us a lot of info because when people poll, that second, third, fourth show that didn’t make it in [lets us] know that that’s still something they would do.
At least this semester, how we’re choosing shows is completely revolving around what people want to see. It’s selfish and it’s just not gonna be a successful run if we sit here and we do what we wanna do. We generally already have a good idea of what games people enjoy so to answer the question, the games people enjoy are generally the ones we do. As many of those games as we can do we’ll amass them together.
If we can get a theme under that, that’s the theme that we do. In terms of choosing themes, it’s just whatever sounds the most fun and whatever is relevant. [For example], we haven’t announced it yet but we have a show on Halloween. It’s gonna be Halloween themed.
Aubs:
Shocker!
Manny:
Stuff like that. We might have a sleepover theme in December. It’s obviously gonna be a nod to Christmas.
I’ll be coming to the first show and I’m a freshman so it’ll be my first show. How would you describe your shows to a first time audience member?
Aubs:
It’s a special kind of connection that we fester with the audience, I think.
Sometimes our audience can get a little rowdy but it means that they’re engaged. It means that they wanna be there. It means that they’re paying attention.
It’s pretty fun. We don’t really have a target audience. If you show up, it can be for anyone.
Carissa:
Once you show up, you’re gonna keep coming back.
Manny:
It’s kinda cultish, I’ll say.
Aubs:
It is very much a cult.
Manny:
Very small hints of cult. It’s a fun time. [There’s] a lot of energy.
We generally try to differentiate between the main stage performances. Typically, the plays are drama focused.
Our musicals are a little bit lighter. We did [were] “Ride the Cyclone” which is about children dying. Then we did “Little Shop of Horrors” which is about plants eating people. [We did] “Antigone” which is about people dying.
I’m loving the theme here!
Manny:
Yeah! Very heavy themes. So generally what we try to do at FNL is take the weight off people’s shoulders. That’s generally what comedy is. Comedy is based in truth but it’s to entertain us and make us feel a little bit better about ourselves.
We try our best to do that and we have a recurring audience of people. Maybe three or four people per show are new. Everyone else we’ve seen before and we know on a first name basis.
It’s very chaotic but it’s controlled. We get a little bit chaotic and then we stop and then the audience gets a little bit chaotic and then they stop.
Aubs:
The push and pull is expected. Going off the “cultish following”, I don’t know if y’all have ever had this, if you’re going to class, you’re in lecture, you’re walking around campus, and someone will be like, “Are you from FNL? Are you the FNL guy?” and I’m like “Yeah” and they’re like “Cool” and then they’ll just leave.
Manny:
We’re the only group on campus. Casting Hall pretty much has a monopoly on theater stuff on campus which is good and bad.
Sometimes I wish there was a little bit more push back but also I don’t know what that would look like because there’s just not a lot of people on campus. That’s another end of the spectrum where it’s like we’re trying to cater to an audience that isn’t really our typical theater going group.
I don’t see a lot of FNL showgoers at the shows I’m in because I do a lot of the plays here. Which is fine! It’s a completely different demographic. It’s interesting and I think you’ll enjoy it and I think people, at large, will enjoy it. It’s a specific group of people but it’s also not an exclusive group of people.
Is there a common misconception about improv comedy that drives you nuts?
Carissa:
That we don’t rehearse! People don’t realize that we rehearse.
We don’t rehearse what we’re gonna say in the sense that we have lines and story plots. We rehearse the games so that [when] we go on stage we’re not winging it.
People are always really shocked when we do that. They’re like, “It’s all fake?” and it’s like no it’s real. It’s just structured.
Manny:
It’s almost like a “WWE” aura around it. No, it’s not “real” but-
Aubs:
We still have to put in the work!
Manny:
Right! It would be such a tough time if we just took the show and got a group of people and told them to go out and do it. Like Carissa said, there’s structure and you learn the structure you just don’t plan.
There have been so many times where I’ve thought of a bit at a rehearsal and I’m like, “Wow! That would be so good to do in a show”. I can’t plan that with somebody. I can’t be like “Hey, do this”. That’s not a thing.
I would be doing our audience a disservice if I did do that. We rehearse in the sense that we’ll do the games at rehearsal that way we get a good memory of it but the things that we say in the shows are all spontaneous.
Aubs:
It’s more about the planning of logistics and mechanics not the actual funny improv bit.
Manny:
We’re also an education group. The people that are in FNL get class credit. They are expected to come to rehearsal and when they don’t that’s a mark against their attendance. When they don’t come to a show past a certain extent, it’s a mark against their attendance.
Yes we’re learning shows but in the rehearsals where we’re not specifically rehearsing the next show we’re gonna do, we’re working on technique, projection, what makes a joke funny, what does our audience find funny, and it’s refining the comedy too. We can be very crass. We try to pull back on that though.
It’s really easy to say “Fuck fuck fuck” and somebody finds it funny. It’s really easy to pull a crass joke. That’s not gonna make any of our students better actors. It’s not gonna make them funnier. Does it get the job done? Yeah. Does it happen? Of course. I’ve made my fair share of crass jokes but the point is that’s not all of them. We try to enrich ourselves.
In the past, you guys have worked with University at Buffalo (UB) Improv quite a bit. Are there future plans for more collabs?
Aubs:
We sure hope so! At least not just with UB but we don’t wanna be confined to just doing shows in our own space at Buffalo State.
We’ve had a show or two at Buffalo Improv House and they’ve been amazing. It’s been such a fun learning experience to be with different kinds of improv groups from all over. It’s fun. We hope to get out there more.
Manny:
We have a show at Buffalo Comedy Collective on Oct. 18. This semester we don’t have anything planned with UB. We are still scheduling shows for next semester so people should definitely be on the lookout for that.
We just haven’t planned it for this semester because it came up really quick. We do have plans next semester to get with an outside group.
We wanna get out of our space as much as possible. We’re in a new space but we wanna be more of a community thing rather than just a Buff State student fringe group.
Aubs:
Not to say that it’s bad. We love the connections we’ve made here.
Carissa:
You learn a lot from other groups.
Who is most likely to break during a scene?
Carissa:
It’s such a big group now!
Aubs:
He recently graduated but shoutout to Jake! Big shoutout!
Carissa:
Jake would somehow break at least once a show.
He had a very distinct laugh so you would be on stage performing and you’d make a joke and you’d hear the little normal laugh and then he’d kinda trickle in a minute later with his little “HAHA” and it was always really funny.
Manny:
Honestly, I would say myself. I’m not even gonna lie to you. The way I perform, if it’s funny I’m gonna laugh. There’s just no way.
Bringing up “Confessional” earlier, I have a nervous laugh. “Confessional” is the game where there’s a priest and there’s a sinner and the sinner basically confesses that they’ve committed a sin but it’s meant to be funny.
I would frequently be the priest and I would be in this really precarious situation where I’m laughing because I’m nervous and the pressure is on when you’re in that seat because it’s a longer game but you’re trying to keep it tight [for time].
That combined with somebody in this ridiculous situation where they ran over a hamburger or something and they ate it and it’s always something stupid like that. I have such a hard time.
Aubs:
I’ve noticed [Manny] break but he snaps back into it pretty quickly, I’d say.
Manny:
I try!
Carissa:
I think depending on the game we all have certain breaks.
Manny breaks a lot in “Confessional”. Asher used to break a lot in “Party Quirks” once they realized what somebody was. It depends on the game when somebody will break. There’s definitely at least one per show. I know I’ve done it before.
Manny:
Which isn’t a bad thing. Obviously we try to minimize it but it’s not Shakespeare. The nature of theater, when people mess up it’s fine. It’s to be avoided but that’s the distinction between film and theater. Not that film is any less human but it’s different. It just is.
Is there anything, besides your upcoming show, that you’d like to promote or let people know about?
Manny:
We’re bringing back a fun little gimmick that we used to have where at all the shows, specifically the first one, you will be handed a passport.
It’s like the card you get at a froyo shop. Everyone who has a full card at the end will get a prize. Everyone who submits theirs will be put in the drawing for a bigger prize and only one person will get that prize.
I will not reveal what that is but it’s very cool and fancy. Everyone should come to our first show so that they have access to the passport or otherwise they won’t be able to fully, which is why we’re trying to get as many people into that first show as possible.
Aubs:
If you like raffles, if you like gambling for a big prize, if you like getting rewarded for showing up to things our passport is just for you!
You can catch Aubs, Carissa, Manny, and the rest of the FNL crew at their first show on Sept. 12 at Flexible Theater in Donald Savage Building. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the show begins at 8:00 p.m..
Show dates for the rest of the semester are Sept. 26, Oct. 3, Oct. 18 at Buffalo Comedy Collective, Oct. 24, Oct. 31, Nov. 21, and Dec. 5.
If you’re eager to join the FNL crew make sure to look out for auditions during the months of October and November. I hope to see you on Sept. 12!
