Ex!t Players
The Yale Ex!t Players, or the Ex!t Players, is an improvisational comedy group at Yale University in New Haven, CT, United States. The Ex!t Players was founded in 1984, making it the oldest improv group on Yale’s campus. It specializes in short-form improvisational comedy.
History
The Yale Ex!t Players was co-founded in 1984 by Paul Hayslett, ’85, and Steven Florsheim, ’87. It is Yale’s oldest improv group, followed by The Purple Crayon, The Viola Question, and Just Add Water. The Ex!t Players derives its name from its original, longer title “Experimental Improvisational Theater,” which was later shortened to “Ex!t.” The exclamation point became part of the name when a new logo was designed for the group in 1988.
Performances
The Ex!t Players perform both on and off the Yale University campus, for a total of over twenty-five shows per year.
On-Campus Shows
The Ex!t Players perform every three or four weeks during the school term, totaling ten on-campus show per year. Shows alternate between annual themed shows and general non-themed shows, each averaging an hour and a half. Annual themed shows include:
- The Parents’ Weekend Show, held during Yale’s Family Visiting Weekend
- The Holiday Show, held in December
- The Oscar Show, held around the time of the Academy Awards
- The Senior Show, showcasing the group’s graduating seniors.
Off-Campus Shows
The Ex!t Players go on two tours of different locations around the world each year, once in the winter and once in the spring. On tours, the group performs shows and holds interactive workshops at a variety of venues, lasting anywhere from twenty minutes to four hours. Past tour locations include London, Jamaica, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Montreal, and Washington D.C..
Games
The Ex!t Players specialize in fast paced, short-form improvisational comedy. The group’s repertoire includes a mix of quick-witted signature games, conventional scene games, and ensemble games. Games include:
- Symphony of Social Criticism – signature showcase of stand-up style comedy based on pet peeves of audiences members
- Jeopardy! – based on the game show, Players compete to provide questions to audiences answers
- Writing Styles – one story is told in the voices of five different famous authors or genres
- Tap-In Monologue – one monologue is told by four Players
- Multiple Personalities – a scene game in which two Players each play two different characters
- Converging Scenes – a scene game in which two separate scenes alternate until their storylines converge
- Show and Tell – a scene and line game combination; three Players alternate between narrating and acting out a story
- Story Teller – one Player narrates a story based on an audience-provided title, while the rest of the Players act it out
- Verse – a scene game done entirely in rhyming couplets
- Improv-a-Song – a Player chooses the tune of an existing popular song and improvises new lyrics based on audience suggestion
- Dating Game – based on the game show, three Players with audience-provided occupations compete for a date with an audience member
- Flashback – an ensemble game in which a story is presented backwards chronologically
- World’s Worst – an ensemble game in which Players depict the world’s worst example of an occupation supplied by the audience
Alumni
The Ex!t Players have many notable alumni, including:
- Allison Silverman, ’94 - executive producer, The Colbert Report, writer, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, producer, The Daily Show
- Fran Kranz, ‘04 - actor, The Village, Dollhouse
- Matt Winston, ‘92 - actor, Little Miss Sunshine, Six Feet Under
- Ted Cohen, ’90, and Andrew Reich, ’90 - executive producers, Friends
- Stu Blumberg, ’91 - screenwriter, Keeping the Faith, Girl Next Door, Fear Itself
- Seth Gordon, ’98 - director, Four Christmases
External links