Viola Question
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The Viola Question is an improvisational comedy group based at Yale University in New Haven, CT, United States. Each year, two or three of Yale's funniest incoming freshmen are accepted into the Viola Question, which performs at Yale several times each semester and tours the country and abroad twice each year. In addition to performing for crowds in comedy clubs and theatres, the VQ, as they affectionately call themselves, also teaches students of all ages from all over the country how to get started in improv comedy.
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[edit] Improvisational Comedy
Improvisational Comedy, or improv as it is more commonly known, is a scene-based comedy performance in which actors and actresses create humorous scenes using suggestions from live audience members. Contrary to what some think, improv comedy is always unscripted, meaning each and every joke is made up on the spot, of the top of their head, or any other way you want to say it.
If you are interested in learning more about improvisational comedy, the Viola Question recommends these books on the topic:
Truth In Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation by Charna Halpburn, Del Close and Kim Johnson Improvisation For The Theatre by Viola Spolin Impro by Keith Johnstone Acting, The First Six Lessons by Boleslavsky
[edit] History
Formed in 1985, The Viola Question is one of Yale's oldest comedy groups. The Viola Question was originally formed as a dual improv/sketch comedy troupe, but became an improv-only group by creating an off-shoot sketch comedy group called The Fifth Humor. To this day, there is an intense overlap between the members of these two groups.
[edit] Performances
Since their founding, The Viola Question has performed at such notable theatres as Second City Chicago, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre of New York, Caroline's of New York, Standup NY, The Comic Strip, ComedySportz, ImprovOlympics, and the Branford College Common Room of Yale University.
Each spring, The VQ performs a twelve hour outdoor improv comedy marathon, rain or shine on Yale's Cross Campus. It is the longest improv marathon in the state of Connecticut, and in most years the longest in all of New England.
[edit] Collaborations
Members of the Viola Question have recently performed with Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock), Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock), Tim Meadows (Saturday Night Live), Stephen Colbert (The Daily Show, The Colbert Report), Gilbert Gottfried (The Aristocrats), Julia Roberts (Mona Lisa Smile) and Kevin Nealon (Saturday Night Live, Weeds).
[edit] Improv Games
Each game that the Viola Question plays is different from all the others, with interesting scene structures and creative ideas for audience suggestions. While some are more likely to accent physical comedy, others are more oriented towards character humor, although there is always an overlap of the two. The following are some of the Viola Question's more popular games, with brief descriptions.
Revenge - An audience member is asked for something wrong that has been done to them, and the Viola Question, portraying our hero and his wrongdoers, acts out an appropriate, or sometimes grossly inappropriate, revenge for the action, much to the satisfaction of a particular audience member, as well as all those around him.
Break-Up - Based on the romantic troubles of actual members of the Viola Question, one VQ-er is taken away from the audience so he can not hear the audience suggestion of a reason why another VQ-er will be breaking up with him. Subtle hints are dropped, both by members of the group and audience laughter, until he finally figures it out.
Chocolat - Because no one has ever seen the movie of the same name, the Viola Question asks for the name of a movie that none of the members have ever seen. Don't worry, we'll be honest. The VQ then enacts what that film might look like.
Bazooka Joe - What form of comedy has had more of an effect on our generation than the Bazooka Joe comic strip? In this improv game, the Viola Question is given a topic from the audience on which to act out Bazooka-Joe-comic-style jokes.
[edit] Alumni and Current Members
Alumni of The Viola Question have gone on to perform in major comedy circuits (Saturday Night Live, Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, The Groundlings), become acclaimed playwrights and documentary filmmakers, and tax lawyers.
Current Members: Eli Clark, 2007; Jocelyn Ranne, 2007; Justin Noble, 2007; Matthew Kozlark, 2008; Paull Randt, 2008; Bente Grinde, 2009; Lindsay Schare, 2009; Nell Pach, 2009; Steven Kochevar, 2009; Brandon Berger, 2010; O'Hagan Blades, 2010; Sean Fraga, 2010; and John Yates, 2010.
[edit] Comedy At Yale
Comedy has quickly established itself as one of the most popular extracurricular activities at Yale University, both in terms of student involvement and frequent audience members. Each year over 100 incoming freshmen audition for comedy groups, with only a handful being "tapped" (Yale's term of choice for gaining acceptance to a club) into any group, each of which has their individual comedy style.
As of 2006, the following are comedy groups that currently exist at Yale University:
Improvisational Comedy: The Viola Question[1] Just Add Water The Ex!t Players The Purple Crayon Safety Mix
Sketch Comedy: The Fifth Humour The Schpincter Troupe Suite 13 Red Hot Poker
