By Victor Dixon, Staff Writer
Over spring break, Newman’s Sloppy Joe Improv troupe, which is celebrating its 20th year, traveled to a competition in Nebraska and came back with inspiration and big plans for the rest of the semester.
The Sloppy Joes were looking for a theatre or improv activity that they could travel to over spring break for team bonding and found an event in Omaha called Cards of Destiny.
“The only issue was we knew very little about what the actual competition was. The website does not explain it very well,” said Deqlan Mitchell, co-captain of the team. “We knew nothing about the format or if there were prizes or anything.”
Over two days, participants competed over several rounds and drew challenges based on tarot cards. The host judged their performances based on audience applause, and the best performers did one last round together, with one final winner each day.
“All of our competitors weren’t college students,” Mitchell said. “Seeing that we could stack up against actual improvisers that have a lot more experience than we do I hope is a big confidence boost for some of the less-confident people on the Sloppy Joes.”
Co-captain Gabe Treviño won first place on one day, and performers Luke Jones and Melissa Arguijo won first and third on the other.
“You’re never going to be prepared for improv: It’s all spontaneous,” Arguijo said. “It also allowed us to work better together. We were able to work not only with our team but with random adults.”
The trip took a lot of preparation and fundraising so that performers could pay for an Airbnb, fuel, activities and food.
“We accept donations at Sloppy Joes shows, but even that doesn’t get us all the way there,” Mitchell said. “Winning Lip Sync Battle and winning the Loudest Club competition at the basketball game gave us a little over $1,000, which basically doubled the amount of money we had, which really is what made the trip possible.”
The next item on the team’s plan for the semester is its first alumni show, which happens at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Treviño started reaching out in October to alumni who used to perform as part of the troupe and said he hopes that the show will become a tradition.“I hope they do it like every five years because then every five years I can come back and perform,” he said. “I’m sad that I only have two shows left, but I’m also happy that I get to leave a legacy.”
Treviño, a senior, said he hopes to contribute to the team in the future and encourages others to do the same.
“They’ve been a big part of my four years in college here, and they gave me something to do, but also they became a really close family,” he said. “I’m just hoping that everybody comes to the alumni show in support of not only the Sloppy Joes but also the theatre department in general. With us inviting alumni back, I just hope they relive the great moments they had at Newman.”
Admission to the alumni show will be $5. An open bar will be included for attendees over the age of 21 with a valid ID. It will be a two-hour show with an intermission.
The Sloppy Joes will also have their annual senior send-off show, which will be rated R, at 10 p.m. on May 8. At the show, they will announce next year’s co-captains.
PHOTO: Courtesy, Dylan Rohde
