Boston University’s improvisational comedy troupe Liquid Fun had the chance to win a ‘big plastic trophy’ as they competed in the 5th Annual Comedy Beanpot Thursday night.
ImprovBoston’s Central Square Theater hosted a crowd of 20 people who laughed out loud as Liquid Fun competed against two other college improv groups, Improv With Attitude from University of Massachusetts Amherst and Guerrilla Improv from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in ImprovBoston’s Beanpot.
After they placed second in the competition to Guerrilla Improv, Liquid Fun members said they were more concerned with having fun and making people laugh.
Liquid Fun performed again on Saturday, having won the Beanpot’s wildcard.
The performance area was an empty stage with few props other than a neon blue stool. In the first round, Liquid Fun competed against IWA in 60 to 90–second skits. The show’s host asked the audience random questions, and the teams performed a thematic skit using the audience’s answers. For one of Liquid Fun’s skits, the audience decided the first and last lines, ‘Well, that’s a problem’ and ‘I’m a bumblebee’.
Liquid Fun’s skit was ‘really well done,’ Bobby Smith, an ImprovBoston instructor who served as a judge, said. Smith gave Liquid Fun four out of five points for the skit.
Liquid Fun lost the first round to IWA by two points.’ The winning team, Guerrilla Improv, walked onstage laughing,and yelling and placed coasters and beers on the table in front of the judges after Liquid Fun lost.
Liquid Fun returned for the third round, greeted by the host who joked that the group was like ‘a lost child, just not that cute.’
Liquid Fun member Lib Tietjen said she loves the Beanpot.
‘It’s the only competition,’ Tietjen, a College of Arts and Sciences junior who has done improv comedy since high school, said.
She said her favorite part was ‘getting through the wildcard competition,’ and said she was excited to perform again.
The Beanpot is Liquid Fun’s only competition, member Joe Gels said. The team ‘tries not to be too competitive,’ he said.
Gels, a School of Education senior, said when the team returned for the third round, they wanted ‘more energy’ for the performance.
The 14-member team practices twice a week, but devoted extra time prior to the Beanpot, Gels said.
Megan O’Keefe, who used to perform with Liquid Fun, produced this year’s Beanpot and is now the college outreach director for ImprovBoston.
‘All the teams were very talented,’ she said.
O’Keefe said Liquid Fun’s performance was ‘creative and inventive,’ and she enjoyed seeing all the ‘new talent’ in the group.
The goal of the Beanpot is to show the comedy groups that ‘the stage is theirs for the night,’ O’Keefe said.
Winning the night’s competition should not be as important as displaying comedic talent, O’Keefe said.
The night is about the comedians, ‘as long as they have fun,’ she said.
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