In any creative act, the method of “making things up as you go” may be an apt metaphor. For a theatrical improviser, this is the axis on which every performance turns. Members of The Austin College Improve Troupe, or TACIT, are led by Dr. Kirk Everist and supported by the dedicated staff of the Austin College Theatre Department. These talented performers have staked their claim in the world of emergent comedy and drama across stages and venues with diverse audiences as keen for laughs as they are for poignant creative expression.

For most of us, exposure to comedic improvisation likely begins and ends with late-night comedic television, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, or skit shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway? While the improv style performed and practiced at Austin College shares some of its genealogy with these short-form performances, its roots connect to a far more unique and expansive play mode: The Improvathon. Inspired by the scholarly work of improvisers such as Mick Napier and Del Close, the London Improvathon (which claims its descent from Canadian comedians) runs annually for a continuous 50-hour performance. This ambitious legacy is what inspired TACIT’s annual Epic Improv.

During a 2013 JanTerm studying English theatrical history, TACIT members approached Dr. Everist and asked about possibly performing their own Improvathon. Taking on the perspective of a working, developing laboratory for experimental improvisation, this student-led proposal for “Epic Improv” began to take shape. This collaboration between instructors and troupe members to build an eight-hour performance from little more than genre awareness and chutzpah has grown into an annual act of defiant theatre open to the entire community.

The question of what makes these hours of improvisation special is tied into its chronology. Styles have ranged from high fantasy epics to pulp narrativization, from TV serials to superhero showdowns, and as the hours fly by, maintaining the threads of a cohesive story becomes an increasingly arduous artistic affair. Whether adopting the form of a sentient gummy bear, a bewitched hand puppet, or an interstellar tax accountant, each performer commits to finding laughter and heart in every discovery on stage. More than ten years later, the Epic Improv is still making things up as they go. Each spring during finals week, these intrepid students prepare for what has grown into a twelve-hour performance. The delight and diversion from finals week has resonated with campus audiences.

This project would not be possible without the collective efforts of key individuals across campus. Dr. John McGinn has lent his substantial creative talents to devising music for many Epic Improv performances. Technical Coordinator Dan Pucul ’04 has likewise provided lighting and constructive wizardry to bring improvised sets to life. At its core, Epic Improv has become an expression of the intertwining nature of the studies of the liberal arts; a symposium of creative talent bridging disciplines of all shapes and forms, with current troupe members representing majors from biology to English to music.

As alumni of TACIT move into creative spaces of their own beyond Austin College, the reverberations of their work on campus continue to live and grow. From immersive projects such as Sarah Davis Reynolds’ ’15 The Twenty-Sided Tavern to Lizzie Lincoln’s ’14 showcase performances in New York City’s Kraine Theater and The Puppet Lab, members of The Austin College Improv Troupe are part of a new school of thought in theatrics. As this proud legacy continues, one can only guess where future creativity will lead. It may all be made up, but that’s what makes it matter.