Izzy Jurgens ‘22 threw herself onto the ground as a fellow improver held an invisible hammer above her head. Surrounding them, students laughed loudly from their seats. This week marked the second meeting of Improv Club, a new club that has replaced the usual Improv team practices. The club met for the first time on February 14. 

Improv is a subsection of Large Group Speech at City High. This year, three City improv groups made it to the state competition. Instead of calling an end to the season as they typically would, the team wanted to continue holding practice. Members have continued meeting after their final competition in order to better prepare for the next year as well as learn more about the craft, and have opened the activity up to anyone who is interested in taking part. 

Raven Levitt ‘22 has been involved in improv since sophomore year and sees multiple benefits of the activity. 

“I’ve really enjoyed improv,” Levitt said. “I feel like it’s a really good creative outlet and it lets you really grow as a person and improve your social skills. It lets you experience having almost no plan. You learn to go with the flow with a group of people and it really makes you better at adapting to different scenarios.”

The new club is sponsored by the school’s speech coach, Jennifer Brinkmeyer. 

“[Improv Club] is fun because it gives us a chance to really explore our creativity,” Brinkmeyer said. “We’re not under the pressure of preparing for contests. It’s allowed us to work with students who are not involved in speech because anyone can come to learn more about what improv is about and what it’s like. We’re really just getting started. I think there’s a bright future for improv now that we’ve made it a club.” 

The team has seen many new members join since opening it up to non-speech students. Isabel Jurgens ‘22 recognizes the benefits that the club has given the team. 

“I think it’s a lot more casual now,” Jurgens said. “Before it was exclusive, so only people who auditioned and were accepted could come, but now everyone who wants to is allowed. We play a lot more games, and I like it a lot.”

Levitt agrees with Jurgens, and sees the advantages of opening Improv as a club instead of an exclusive team. 

“I really like everyone I work with,” Levitt said. “It’s a really fun vibe. We play games and sometimes do more competitive scenes, but even those are pretty fun. It’s basically just messing around with your friends.” 

Improv Club meets each Monday after school in the ensemble room. The club is open to anyone who is interested in joining.