Over the past three weeks, the Mee-Ow Show’s nine members wrote a two-hour show from scratch.

The improv and sketch comedy group has met every weekday this quarter for four hours to create its upcoming performance entitled “How Do They Pee In Mee-Owter Space?” The Mee-Ow Show will perform five times in Shanley Pavilion from Jan. 27 to 29.

Each member was required to bring two sketch ideas to the writing sessions, meaning they often wrote for one to two hours outside of meetings. Communication junior Liv Drury described how the intensive writing process forced her to discover fresh ideas.

“I’ve just never had to be so prolific at one time,” Drury said. “This forces you to write, write, write and weed through a lot of gunk in your brain. But eventually, you’ll find a gem that you wouldn’t have found if you weren’t forced to write so much.”

Sketch lengths can range from five-minute scenes to punchy one-minute jokes, which the group calls “blackouts.” The members sometimes bring in work they have refined for years, and other times, they present drafts written at 2 a.m. or 10 minutes before the meeting.

Communication sophomore Alondra Rios, who joined the Mee-Ow Show this year, said she was intimidated to share her work at the initial rehearsal. However, she has since found the group to only be encouraging.

“No matter how horrible I think a sketch of mine may be, there’s nothing but positive feedback,” Rios said. “Now, I can bring in the most bizarre sketches and not feel any shame.”

The members described how the group varies in senses of humor, from wacky characters to adolescent nostalgia. Their comedic inspirations include kids’ shows, gender equality issues and historical events.

Communication senior Jared Zavala said he was struck by a sketch idea after getting tested for COVID-19 at the Donald P. Jacobs Center.

“I pulled out my phone, and I pretty much wrote all the dialogue out loud in 30 seconds,” Zavala said. “So it is kind of a little voice in the corner of your head saying, ‘Oh, that’s funny. Write that down.’”

None of the Mee-Ow Show’s performances will be exactly the same. Each will be a different combination of improv games and, according to Drury, about 17 sketches selected from more than 250 ideas that the group brainstormed.

Looking ahead, Zavala described what a successful show will look like for him.

“In the end, if the audience is consistently laughing, and if you can come off the stage feeling like your creativity in the past couple months and in the moment culminated in something, I feel like you can’t ask for anything more,” Zavala said.

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