Fantastiprov is Occidental’s on-campus improv group, which allows students to tap into their improvisational skills through acting games and performances in a tight-knit and encouraging environment, according to co-president Sammy Levy (senior).
Run by Levy and Sean Vargas (junior), the club currently consists of 11 members, with representation from each year. They had their first show of the semester Sept. 7, according to club member Annelise Seligmann (sophomore), and plan to hold performances about every three weeks throughout the remainder of the semester.
The performances consist of both high energy games and scene-work-based games, Vargas said, with each club member able to voice their opinion about which games should or should not be performed.
The content of their first performance of the 2024 Fall semester was inspired by “Brat,” the most recent album of British singer-songwriter Charli XCX.
“We had our Brat themed show, ‘Fantastiprov Presents Brat to School,'” Seligmann said, “and I think it’s one of the strongest shows we’ve done.”
As auditions for the new members were held recently, this previous performance was the last show presented by last semester’s troupe.
“I think we finally got into our groove of being a team, and that was a great way to kind of leave that team in memory.” Seligmann said.
According to Vargas, the club meets twice a week, and while meeting hours are later than those of many other clubs on campus, they are attainable as the members have created a space where everyone enjoys spending time with each other. Vargas said the members often tend to stay even later, because everyone is so close and friendly.
“You show up and you’re tired, but everyone kind of just brings up the energy and the vibes,” Seligmann said.
The Fantastiprov team is more difficult to join than others around campus, as they are searching for specific skills, communication and community between club members according to Seligmann.
“We have the audition process which is pretty rigorous,” Vargas said. “And due to the fact that we do long forms with everyone involved, we can’t have a crazy big team.”
However, this does not prevent new students from engaging in the improv scene, as Fantastiprov holds many open rehearsals as well, Seligmann said.
“We’re going to have a lot more open rehearsals this year,” Seligmann said. “[These are] rehearsals that are open to anyone in the community and that’s a really good way to get improv in.”
In these open rehearsals, students can learn about the different games that happen in the club, and potentially involve themselves in the games as well. While this allows a wider community an opportunity to experience this kind of improv, it can also prepare students who may want to audition for the club in coming years, Vargas said.
According to Levy, the shows are so engaging to watch because the actors take themselves so seriously, while what is happening on stage is so ridiculous.
“It’s all comedy,” Levy said. “Part of the fun of improv and what makes it interesting to watch is that we’re not just up there trying to be funny the whole time, we’re trying to build real characters, real interesting worlds to watch.”
In addition to typical performances, the club engages with musicals with the help of piano accompaniment. Vargas explained that the pianist may begin to play a song when it seems that the actors will start singing, and each song is completely improvised between the pianist and actors, requiring a lot of previous practice. This is usually an event planned for the end of the semester closer to November and December as the “Big Wow!” final show, Seligmann said.
Levy said the club is not directly interactive with the Occidental theater department — while many people in the club engage in other theater projects, Fantastiprov’s main focus is the improv they create on their own.
“We’re mostly more of our own thing,” Levy said. “It’s interesting, there has been kind of a fluctuating amount of people who are actually involved in theater who are part of the team.”
Though previous theater experience may be helpful when auditioning for the team, it is not necessary according to Levy. In addition, Vargas said students who may not be accepted on their first attempt are welcomed to audition again the next year.
“It’s a fun group,” Seligmann said. “We’re all just kind of always learning from each other.”
Contact Amalia Rimmon at rimmon@oxy.edu
