The cat’s out of the bag: Bradley’s comedy group is back to elicit enough laughter to last nine lives.
The Barbeque Kitten improv troupe started its year by inviting students to its first show Sept. 13.
Typical shows feature 10 to 15 games that include participation from the student audience.
“The first show is always fun,” junior vice president Peyton McDermott said. “We never [have] a problem with audience participation.”
The Kittens, as they call themselves, choose each show’s games from a list ahead of time. Each game lasts a few minutes long.
“It’s like playing pretend when you’re a kid,” junior member Derek Yeghiazarian said. “You have an hour and a half to be silly.”
According to Yeghiazarian, the group has been enterntaining ideas for different types of shows.
“For the past two and a half years, we’ve been doing games most people have been familiar with,” he said. “[Something different] would make what we do a little more fresh.”
The group is considering putting on a sketch show, which would be a collection of brief scenes prepared ahead of time.
“You know what joke you are working up toward, and you can ad-lib along the way,” Yeghiazarian said.
Six Kittens graduated last year, leaving nine students currently in the troupe.
“It was a hefty number,” McDermott said. “We are always looking for new members.”
To join the group, students can start by going to open rehearsals, which are held every Wednesday at 10 p.m. in front of Bradley Hall, moving to Williams Hall when it gets colder.
“We get to know them, and if we like them, we invite them to Monday night closed rehearsal,” McDermott said.
After closed rehearsals, students may be invited to take part in the shows. After no less than two shows, the Kittens take a vote to decide if the student will become a member of the group.
“We like doing it this way because it let’s us get to know people, and we can see how they will work with the group,” McDermott said.
Yeghiazarian became a member last May. He said the process of joining allows the Kittens to know if potential members will work well with the cast.
“We depend on other people to carry the scene,” Yeghiazarian said. “When you are on stage you have to trust the other person.”
The next BBQ Kitten show will be Oct. 25 in Hartmann Center.
