The HuMarists: Cooking up comedy

It was time for the meeting to start, but there was nowhere for them to go. Still, the HuMarists, waiting in the Student Center alcoves, were not worried that their usual practice rooms on the third floor were not available. Joe Burns led the group downstairs, snooping around for any vacant space and finally found a lonely room in the music department. This form of thinking is nothing new for the improv comedy group, which is used to being creative and flexible.

The HuMarists have been putting on shows at Marist and performing at national comedy festivals since 1991. Once a semester, the HuMarists put all of their talents on display when they host the Big Show, which will be held on May 1 in the Nelly Goletti Theater.

Junior Keara Driscoll said the show is very important to the group.

"Everything we worked on all semester goes into that show," she said.

In order to join the HuMarists, students must go through tryouts that are held at the beginning of each semester. Burns described the tryouts as selective, and said they can draw as many as 20 people. There are usually six to eleven people in the group.

"We take whoever we feel is talented enough," Burns said. "If you can't get up in front of people and do it, you're not going to be very good, obviously."

He said the most important factors are comfort, characters, and basic rules. "We like to see people get into a scene - create a real character instead of looking like a college kid playing an improv game. Finally, there are rules for good improv: listening to your scene partner, accepting and building off their ideas, and avoiding questions."

Improvisation is more difficult than it may appear. Junior Diego Cuenca said that people do not realize how much listening and teamwork it involves.

Burns said that group members need to have confidence in each other. Many factors, including the venue and audience, can present difficulties.

One skit, called "Anne Frank," is known for pushing the envelope, Driscoll said. The skit is a three-part series that parodies the Diary of Anne Frank, portraying her "as a clueless teenage girl," Burns said.

"It went over really, really well at our show here, as well as at a comedy festival we went to in Rhode Island last year, but when we did it at last year's national comedy festival, it bombed," Burns said. "Several of the other comics came up to us afterward and told us how brilliant it was, but the general audience did not react well at all."

Despite the various difficulties of improvisation, the group members said they have a lot of fun doing it. Driscoll said the best part about performing comedy is the first laugh from the audience.

Junior Stephen Cozzarelli likes the creativity.

"I love when people come up with their own sketches," he said. "I like being able to act out the funny ideas."

"It's a ton of fun, obviously, but it's tough to describe what it's like," Burns said. "You're so focused on your partner and what they are saying and what is happening in the scene that you can't stop and think about what it's actually like. After a really good scene, there is an almost surreal feeling of, 'Wow, how did we just do that?'"

One thing that everyone agreed upon was how much they enjoyed the camaraderie. Members said they are all different from each other, but their love for comedy has brought them together.

"You go out there to make everyone else look good, not yourself," Driscoll said.

The friendship among HuMarists does not end after college. Cuenca said it is valuable to have ties with HuMarists alumni, especially in your field.

"You never know when you can collaborate with them down the road," he said.

Burns said that alumni include Jon Gabrus, Danny Glover, and Chris Camp, who work for Spike, VH1, and the NYC group, Fiefdom, respectively.

Maintaining relationships with alumni can help with the group members' career aspirations, Cuenca said. With a minor in animation, he said he hopes to do cartooning in the future.

Cozzarelli said he wants to do standup comedy, while sophomore Emily Lanzo said she hopes to work for Comedy Central.

In recent years, the group has expanded its performance venues. According to Burns, the HuMarists produce videos that can be found at www.youtube.com/humarists. Their Marist security video, made in the fall of 2006, has been viewed more than 5,000 times.

Driscoll said that the group is also "trying to do more small shows to get our name out there." Still, the Big Show is just that.

At the end of the meeting, Burns asked the other members when they could meet again. Everyone shouted out a different schedule, making it difficult for them to agree on a time.

They were not worried, though. They would just have to improvise and make do.