To ‘make you explode with laughter.” the Lampost Theatre and Coffee Shop booked the self-proclaimed troupe based out of the Cedar Valley, Half-Masted. 

The troupe kicked-off their 11th season with afast-paced, 45-minute show to spectators who crammed the theater.

The family-friendly improvisation troupe is built from UNI students, professors, alumni and other members of the community as both a fun activity for the members as well as a stress reliever. 

“I am involved in other things,” said Jacob Meade, senior electronic media and a fourth year member of the troupe. “So for me, this is a creative outlet where I can have fun and try to be funny, at the very least.”

The event began with a game called Freeze which started with an orthopedist examining a fungal infection. The scene rapidly transformed into Frankenstein’s monster giving Frankenstein the cold shoulder which brought the crowd to tears of laughter.

“It was really entertaining,” said Jocelyn Jenks, sophomore family services and communications disorders double major.     

The troupe performed a wide range of games from “Should’ve Said,” where the actor/actress must rescind their last line and think of something completely different to an Irish Drinking Song (inspired from “Whose Line is it Anyway”) about spaghetti, to a romantic comedy about a horse being turned into boots, immediately followed by the World’s Worst plumber and ballerina and ending with Story Telling where all members of the group were given different topics and had to create a one-sided conversation.

Half-Masted has performed all over the Cedar Valley including shows for Waterloo-Cedar Falls Orchestra, theater professors and even the mayor of Cedar Falls. 

They will be performing shows all semester with monthly shows at the Lampost and on UNI’s campus. 

Due to the improvisational nature, the troupe relied heavily on audience suggestions and fully engaged spectators to create a one-of-a-kind show for all members.

“I thought it was really good,” said Kaylan Brant, junior accounting and MIS double major. “I try to go to all of their events because it is a different thing each time.”     

“I had never been to an improvisation thing before, I don’t know how they can come up with things off of the top of their head like that,” Jenks said.