Comedy Company (2000-2001)
Comedy Company (2000-2001)The first step of your assimilation begins with the audition form. Everyone (except audience members) must fill this out. However, only individuals aspiring to be members of the cast will actually audition. For those auditioning, please choose two monologues from our selection and be the prepared to perform them. You should stay close to the text but at the same time we encourage you to make it your own and make it unique. There is no need to memorize the monologues, but please know it well enough and be comfortable with them so that you are not simply reading from the paper. You are welcome (but not encouraged) to perform one original monologue in addition to one of ours.
Auditions for future cast members will be Monday, September 18 (6pm-midnight) and Tuesday, September 19 (4-6pm / 8pm-midnight). Please sign-up for one 15 minute slot on one of the two days. Please make sure that you remember what audition time you selected. All auditions will be held in 4002 Michigan Union. The Callback list will be posted on the board outside UAC by the morning of Wednesday, September 20.
Callbacks, for those of you who make it to level two, will be Wednesday, September 20 beginning at 5:00. Callbacks will be performed in groups of four and each group’s audition will last for a half-hour. Please specify on your audition form any conflicts that you might have on that particular Wednesday between 5:00 and 10:00. The final cast list (a.k.a. those of you who made the cut) will be posted outside UAC by Saturday morning.
People interested in writing, publicity, or production, please simply fill out the form and bring it to the first Comedy Company meeting which will be Sunday, September 24 at 6:00pm in the University Activities Center (UAC) which is located on the fourth floor of the Michigan Union in room 4002. This meeting is for everyone who wants to be involved in Comedy Company.
The members of Comedy Company will become your closest, and for some of you, your only friends at this university. To jump start the bonding, the first meeting on Setpember 24 will be followed by a retreat/dinner at approximately 7:00. This is for both writers and cast members.
This year Comedy Company is expanding its performance and wants musicians particularly a pianist, guitarist, and percussionist to play during the improvisational and sketch portions of the shows and possibly before the shows. These musicians will be required to attend rehearsal at least once a week. If you are interested in such a position and opportunity, please mark the appropriate box on the audition form and e-mail [email protected] and [email protected].
The rehearsal times for both the cast and the writers will not be finalized until we know everyone’s schedules and conflicts. Please do not be overly concerned about your conflicts and allow them to keep you from auditioning or participating in Comedy Company because we all have classes and conflicts. However, Comedy Company is a commitment, and it is a commitment for both the fall and winter semesters. Rehearsals and writers’ meetings will be two (or possibly three) times a week. Comedy Company will do at least one large shows per semester each ranging from one to three nights. In addition, random shows may occur during both semesters, including possible performances at other universities, which may require day or weekend trips. These outside shows are only in the discussion stage and will not be booked (if booked at all) until a later date. Last year, we attended college comedy festivals at Harvard and Northwestern in addition to private shows throughout the Ann Arbor area. We are also looking into making Comedy Company international by performing at the 2001 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland!
If you do not happen to make the cast of Comedy Company, do not pout, scream, or stand on top of the bell tower with a rifle. Please become a writer or a member of the production staff. In fact, we heavily encourage you to become a writer or a production staff member. We need you! Without writers, the cast has no sketches and no words, and, without a production staff, the stage will be awfully dark and no sound will come out of the speakers. We need writers and a production staff!
This year we are pleased to introduce "communal comedy." Meaning, you are not only a cast member but also a co-director; you are not only a writer but a co-director. This shall be further explained at the first meeting, but it is something we are looking forward to implementing.
In addition to Comedy company, UAC also sponsors LAUGHTRACK which not only brings professional stand-up comedians such as Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Andy Dick, Jon Stewart, and Peter Lipsey to the University, but also offers "The Student Stand-up Society." "The Student Stand-up Society" allows aspiring or curious stand-up comedians to write, workshop, and perform original stand-up sets. You do not need experience, just a desire to learn, teach, and laugh. If you would like information on Laughtrack, please e-mail [email protected].
UAC also offers another creative outlet for talented writers: The Michigan Every Three Weekly. Comedy Company writers endorse it as the University's finest satirical newspaper, and the readers of the Michigan Daily voted E3W the "Best Thing About Ann Arbor". For more information, please e-mail [email protected].
For more information, questions, comments, or concerns about Comedy
Company, please e-mail [email protected]
and [email protected] or call UAC
(734) 763-1107.
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