One year ago, my ideal college was Ithaca College in upstate New York. Every fiber of my being felt a sense of belonging to their campus, their physical therapy program, their community. Their institution was perfect for me except for one key aspect: the expense. I let my heart become attached to a college that, in the end, I would only get to experience on a campus tour rather than as a student.
The thought of coming to Stockton was one that nauseated me. I had fallen in love with Ithaca College and felt married to it, I felt adulterous informing Stockton that I would be attending their campus in the fall. When I came for the Honors Overnight Experience I was ambivalent, trying to find something to love about Stockton when I felt very prejudiced against it. I looked at the agenda with a critical eye, doubting that anything would spark an interest for me. That was of course until I read the title: Whose Line is it Anyway.
Comedy has always been my guilty pleasure and improv my bread and butter. Growing up I would stay up late whenever I could so I could watch episodes of Whose Line air on ABC Family around 11 o’clock. As my taste for comedy matured I added television like Saturday Night Live and The Office to my repertoire of favorite shows. But my gateway to comedy, my gateway to funny, was Whose Line is it Anyway.
My heart opened up to Stockton as soon as I saw the program in the Campus Theater at the Honors Overnight Experience. I knew that it was a night of theater that I would never forget. More importantly it was the first thing that I could see myself becoming involved in at Stockton. I saw the show again during Welcome Week- the actors were playing to a full house. As an actor myself I know there is nothing more euphoric than the feeling of performing for a full and receptive audience.
After the show that night, the director of the program announced that Whose Line was a program open to anyone who was interested in improv comedy. I proudly fell into that category. The criteria for being a cast member on the show at that point was simply expressing interest in the program; so many people had done so however that auditions became necessary.
Sitting in the Experimental Theater lobby waiting to audition for the show, I felt oddly star struck simply talking to the members that I had seen perform just days before. In that moment I wanted nothing more than to be among their ranks for the next Whose Line production. During the audition we just played the improv games together that they use in performance. I had so much fun goofing around with them I almost forgot that I was at an audition. When the cast list was posted, I was thrilled to see that my name was second on the list, I was on Whose Line is it Anyway?! My inner child was squealing with joy, I had just accomplished a life dream.
The following Monday I got to perform in the Campus Center Theater for around sixty people. I had butterflies in my belly all day prior to the performance. I had watched episodes of the show on YouTube in between each of my classes to prepare for the night’s production. I had the best time playing different games with my theater friends and was feeling the euphoric joy of entertainment each time the audience laughed at one of my jokes. It was one of the best performances I have ever gotten to be a part of. I can’t wait until next month when I’ll have an opportunity to do it again.