Two pigs discovering love, a drummer who can’t do a cartwheel and a case of a smashed-up dinosaur egg were just some of the scenes The Titanic Players came up with during the group’s first show of the year. 

The long-form improv group performed at the McCormick Foundation Center Forum Friday night. The players used their first show to encourage people to join and attend more of Titanic’s shows. It also served as a welcome back to the group’s dedicated fanbase. 

“I’m feeling ecstatic and very optimistic. It’s a new year, and we saw a lot of new faces in the audience,” Titanic player and Communication junior James Cavanaugh-Gialloreto said. “Hopefully we’re gonna get a lot of people who are interested and keep building that audience.” 

The group has several teams that each perform for 20 minutes. Players start by asking for audience-suggested words and then jump from one storyline to the next. 

On Friday, The Titanic Players only had two teams: Pee Shy and Dirt Birth.

Communication senior Sam Buttress in Pee Shy said the teams stay together throughout their time at Northwestern. As seniors graduate, some teams get smaller and eventually no longer exist, making room for the next batch of players. Buttress said Friday’s performance was an adjustment since some members have graduated or are studying abroad. 

Pee Shy started its performance by asking the audience for a word that describes something they are looking forward to. An audience member said “Jeff.” After that, performers made up scenes about going to a bad dentist, getting lost in a department store and a garage band whose drummer can’t do a cartwheel. 

Cartwheels were a running joke throughout Pee Shy’s performance. Buttress said his favorite part of the show was rediscovering his talent for cartwheeling.
“I knew I could cartwheel,” Buttress said. “But then when I did it, I was surprised by how effortless and good it felt. Like, I was on one hand at one point.”

Dirt Birth has five members, who performed first with the audience-sourced word beginning with a “d”: dinosaur. 

Dirt Birth created storylines about a girl whose dinosaur egg was smashed by her friend and an awkward promposal. Players acted out a scene where two daughters competed for their mother’s affection, which finished with a passionate kiss between two pigs. 

Audience members said they enjoyed the group’s wild storylines and jokes. Joe Scott, a parent of a NU student, said it was a great comedy show.

“(It was) amazing, absolutely amazing. The creativity, the spontaneity, the facial expressions, the acting,” Scott said. “It’s fun for all adult ages, quite honestly. I don’t think it’s just college students.” 

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Twitter: @shannonmatyler

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