Club Corner: Laugh Pack Comedy

As laughter echoes through the empty halls of Murphy Professional Building at night, Laugh Pack SBU Comedy meets to practice their improv skills and prepare for upcoming performances.
Meetings start by discussing what improv games and scenes the members will perform at their next show. They will host their debut performance of the semester on Oct. 25 at 9 p.m. in the Rathskeller.
This Halloween-based show will feature new games, such as trick-or-treat, where members will answer the door for a trick-or-treater and try to guess what themed character they are.
Producer is another game they plan to incorporate, where members will act out horror movie scenes and another member will be the producer and interrupt their scene.
According to former president M.K. Killen, the producer will yell out, “cut!” and offer suggestions, such as a change in location, addition of another character or a new impression.
In addition to the new games, they will put a Halloween spin on games they’ve done in the past, such as hitchhiker. They also discussed the possibility of doing stand-up if someone put together an act and what the process would look like. Often, comedians will think of a story they can elaborate on and build jokes off.
When it comes to the members’ favorite games to perform at events, they have differing opinions about what they like best.
“Some of my best material has come out of freeze, especially scenes where an audience member is involved. Plus it’s great because your troupe can just build off each other,” Killen said.
Current president and junior journalism major Erin Lanahan said hitchhiker is her favorite because the crowd gives them a character.
“Choosing how to go about showing them is always funny to me,” she said. “Plus, it makes me laugh to see the audience member we bring up get nervous about being part of the show.”
Like Lanahan, many members of Laugh Pack joined because they love making people laugh.
“Something about distracting them from whatever problem for five seconds to experience a laugh means a lot to me,” she said. “People are always nervous about performing in front of people and trying to make them laugh, but the less you think about it, the easier it is to improvise.”
Since its establishment in 2014, Laugh Pack SBU Comedy has hosted open mic nights and improv comedy shows in the Rathskeller. Now a business administration graduate student, Killen was involved with Laugh Pack since the start of her freshman year.
“I was involved in drama and improv clubs in high school, so when I came to Bona’s, I immediately auditioned for SBU Theater’s production of ‘Twelfth Night,’” she said. “I met Dakota, one of the founding members, and he asked me to join Laugh Pack.”
When attending a meeting, one can feel the welcoming, laid-back environment from the group willing to help new members who aren’t as familiar with comedy hone their skill. Lanahan described the club as a place where they tell jokes for an hour and crack each other up.
“We have a lot of fun, and there’s no pressure to perform right away,” Killen said. “We’ll teach you and help you develop your skills. I’ve met some of my best friends in this group.”