ETSU’s improv team, Up-Buc, hosts improv events for ETSU students and the community to participate in and watch.
Up-Buc includes members such as Charles Landry (president), Brook Shelton (vice president), Haley Carter, Nat Vaughn, Steven Hathaway and Maggie Sangers.
The meetings on Wednesdays are open to everyone in the community, which take place in The Culp Center, Room 303, from 5 to 7 p.m. The group plays improv games and interacts with the community.
Landry shares how easy going Up-Buc is during their meetings.
“All we do is play games so people can relax,” stated Landry.
Both the performances and meetings are open for students to participate in or just watch. Vaughn, a member of the performance team, emphasizes how Up-Buc changes them.
“Up-Buc is a great, relaxed environment for practicing improv,” said Vaughn, “When I first came, I had never done improv before, but in just one semester I’ve gained so much more confidence in my skills.”
The meetings on Monday are only for the team. They are very similar to the Wednesday meetings, where the group plays improv games and prepares for performances.
Up-Buc latest performance was on Jan. 28 at the Culp Cave from 2 to 4 pm.
Up-Buc’s next events will be in February and April. The February show will be Valentine’s Day themed, and one of the April shows will be April Fool’s themed.
Hathaway, a member of the performance team, stated why themes are important to Up-Buc.
“The themed events really only came around this year just because we thought they’d be more fun,” Hathaway said, “Last year we had team shirts, and that was pretty much it, so we had to spice it up.”
Up-Buc is preparing to perform a read-through of an original improv play by Landry at the end of their year.
Up-Buc emphasizes the importance of keeping the audience involved with the show. The team takes a lot of suggestions from the audience when they come up with ideas. The team usually asks the audience where the performers are, who they are and what they are doing.
“But a big part of improv is just rolling with you audience and changing directions if needed. If a joke you say doesn’t land well for any reason, you just pivot and try something else,” Vaughn said.
Inappropriate material is generally avoided, but it is not banned during meetings or shows. The improv shows are PG-13 and up. There is a zero-tolerance policy on bigoted, insensitive, and insulting material that could make someone uncomfortable.
“Theatre as a whole is a safe space, and I don’t want anyone coming to improv with the intention of distressing to be made uncomfortable,” Landry said.
Up-Buc is always trying something new whether that be new games, original games, or old games remastered. Last semester, for their last show, Up-Buc’s second half of their show used original games created by the team.
“The who nature of it is coming up with something on the spot, so you’re guaranteed to get different jokes every time you come to a show,” Vaughn said.
Up-Buc and improv are good ways for actors and people to improve their communication and acting skills.
Up Buc started in the Fall of 2021 under Patchwork Players, the ETSU Theatre club. Patchwork Players used to have an improv club, but they currently did not at the time. So, Landry created the improv club. Landry said that Patchwork said if he wanted an improv team, he had to start himself.
Up-Buc participates with Patchwork Players in events like the 24-Hour Play Festival and the Cabaret.
Many Up-Buc members are inspired by other improv shows including “Whose Line is it Anyway?,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Key and Peele”, “Monty Python”, Danny Gonzalez and “Gamechanger.” Landry took inspiration from the Science Hill Improv Team and Appalachian State University’s Noun improv team.
Up-Buc plans on collaborating with different improv teams around the community including Wallace Theatre Boomtown Improv in Johnson City.
“Improv is a very collaborative medium, and it’s also always good to get fresh perspectives,” said Landry.
Up-Buc’s social media is Up Buc’s Instagram and Up Buc’s Tik Tok .
