Ignoring the dated Italian cultural posters that line the walls, it’s hard to remember I’m in Kresge Hall on this Sunday afternoon. There’s a chalk outline of a figure holding a gun on the floor, whose disproportional anatomy suggests he’s a man. It’s a leftover from yesterday’s rehearsal, which went rather well by all accounts. The conversation quickly shifts from stomach pains to an unusually heated debate over the merits of turkey bacon. Someone hurries to pull up a video from the Onion News Network about a law requiring women to decorate a nursery and name their unborn child before getting an abortion. ‘It’s culturally offensive,’ he says rather matter of factly. Halfway through the clip, director Chris Lyons enters and tells everyone to circle up and get ready to practice.
It’s an appropriate segue into Out Da Box’s weekend rehearsal. If anything, the student comedy group revels in all things taboo and controversial. ‘It’s raw and offensive, but it’s funny. We’re able to find the humor in that and bring it to our shows,’ says Lyons, a Communication senior.
‘We’re not afraid to offend. We push the stereotype until it becomes laughable, and you don’t see other groups doing that,’ Communication senior Mario Batres says, who is also assistant director for the group.
Nothing’s off the table for Out Da Box, or ODB as they like to call themselves. ODB is constantly developing material for potential skits and characters through various improv exercises. In one day of rehearsal, ODB manages to rip on Mormons, krumping, Congress and work visas. One improv scene ultimately ends with two characters sharing their enjoyment of having sex with jars filled with mashed-up body parts. Even Haiti gets the ODB treatment as the chosen setting for an improv scene.
‘We come at religion, race (and) current events and take it to an extreme, and not everyone’s happy with that,’ Batres says. This angle works really well for the group, part of Northwestern’s African American Theatre Ensemble. The major ODB performances only come around once a year and regularly sell out.
But beyond this drive for all things outrageous, ODB is like other comedy groups on campus-ever striving for funnier bits and material. The group is constantly developing skits and characters through various improv games, hastily jotting down key lines for potential work. As the rest of the cast works on an improvised 60 Minutes-style interview with a black Mormon and his family, Communication junior Myriam Schroeter does her best to keep up as she types the choice lines that come up.
‘Even if it’s just one line, we use the group’s energy to work on and form new skits,’ Schroeter says. ‘The creative juices are always flowing, all the way up to the show.’ ODB’s show this year, which goes up in Shanley on Feb. 18, will showcase all the group’s hard work in 25 skits and shorts, along with a couple videos-a new addition for this year’s show.
The majority of the cast members are also new to ODB this year. With only three cast members staying on from last year, ODB auditions brought them seven new members. ‘These newbies are extremely talented, though. We developed skits quicker than the camaraderie,’ says Batres.
ODB shouldn’t have to worry about any camaraderie that has yet to build. Like any good improv group, ODB has a great rapport that’s crucial for working together and producing the best material. At the start of rehearsal, when ODB members went around in a circle sharing their high points and low points of the day, one member is quick to silence his interrupting castmate. ‘Stop laughing, b—-.’ Uncontrolled laughter quickly ensues.
