“We always say yes, that’s the first rule of improv,” said Emma Spector ’19, president of Run With It!, a student-run improv comedy group. Run With It! Is currently running on its twenty-seventh year at Dickinson.  

For those wondering what exactly improv comedy is, Jonathan Long ’19, director of Run With It!, explained the process. “We take words or phrases or ideas, and then we make a comedic performance with them, on the spot with no plan whatsoever; so what we really do is we take risks.” 

The group incorporates both short-form improv, where the performance is based around games, and long-form improv, where the games are more thematic and follow a pattern. “Some of [our shows] are more structured than others; like short-form games are more structured but with long-form, there is more flexibility,” added Spector.

Run With It! holds shows at least once a month including one performance for the newly recruited members at the start of the fall semester and one at the end of the year for seniors. “Every year we have a ‘virgin’ show where we go and we try to find embarrassing photos of the new members on the Internet and put it on a poster; we make them wear these shirts that say ‘virgin’ on them for the shows too,” said Long.

For other shows, the group usually picks a theme for their show and makes a poster based on that theme so the audience knows beforehand. “The only part of our show that is not improvised is that we usually start with a short skit related to the theme,” said Max Farley ’20, a member of Run With It!

If you’re interested in improv and you’re funny—“not just for yourself, but for everyone,” emphasized Farley— Run With It! usually holds auditions at the start of every fall semester. “Also, you have to be good looking,” joked Miles Denmion ’22, another member of the group. 

A word of advice from the President: “Don’t step on your scene partner, because I don’t think [people] fully realize that improv comedy, in particular, is more of a collaboration than an individual sport.”