No one on stage or in the crowd expected to see someone throw up as an end to the evening, yet as the audience was split between uncontrollable laughing and staring in disbelief Caleb Woodley held a small black trash can to his face to regurgitate into.

“It tastes even better the second time!” he yelled as he raised the can to his mouth eliciting more laughter.

It was the finale of the Grandma Mojo’s Moonshine Revival Comedy Troupe, during a bit where Woodley, senior in performing arts, along with Jared Thompson, senior in mathematics, took turns chugging two-liters of GT Cola and coming up with slogans for the soda brand. The idea came from shopping at Aldi’s, they said, mentioning the store lacked any shelves. And even after Woodley puked, he continued the skit and kept drinking.

Libby Schreiner, junior in chemistry, had a feeling a waste basket was needed.

“I thought, ‘He’s probably going to vomit,’” Schreiner said.

Grandma Mojo’s usually performs each Wednesday when the Maintenance Shop does not have another event booked. It rehearses its improv Mondays and Wednesdays but members insist they try never to use anything they do in practice in the real performances.

Thompson said he looks forward to Mojo’s each week.

“It’s definitely the high point of my week,” Thompson said.

“I’m home when I get here,” Woodley added.

The bunch has difficulty settling down after practice to talk about anything somewhat serious and even as they begin to get real, jokes about themselves find a way into the conversation.

The improv group is like a band, but with revolving members and a tryout each semester. On stage members said they don’t notice the audience members, thanks to the lighting, and having a good sound guy is critical to their shows. People become fans of the group on Facebook, get recognized in public and at parties and get hired to do various performances.

Regular attendees have brought cookies and other presents for them at the shows.

The M-Shop has been full for their shows this semester with each seat taken and the audience resorting to standing to watch. For Don Watts, senior in performing arts, this is a 180-degree difference of what it was like when he started.

“We definitely worked for our audience,” Watts said, who is on his seventh semester in Mojo’s.

The troupe credits Steve Satterlee, entertainment programs coordinator, for a hand in its success with his help managing and promoting the group.

The stage doesn’t end where the audience starts. In one show, half of the cast moves around the M-Shop in a bit where they all play pirates, with two separate ships – one on stage and one at the bar – and the bar ship is set on coming aboard the ship on stage to eat their breakfast food.

The second eldest of Mojo’s is Thompson, who’s on his sixth semester. A small unsuspecting blonde who student teaches in Gilbert, Thompson said he uses the skills he has learned in improv in his teaching.

“It definitely helps with kids,” Thompson said.

Though those elementary students may not want to be at the show unaccompanied, as one night Thompson riled up the crowd with a line when he’s stopped from singing during a karaoke setting and said, “I was about to moisten every woman in this audience,” and gained a response from Colin Morgan, senior in music: “Make it rain!”

The quotation is repeated as the skit involved rewinding all the actions and replaying them, each time drawing out an uproar from the females in attendance.

The only girl in the group is Schreiner but that’s one more than last year.

“Well it’s a man’s world,” Schreiner said, jokingly.

She said she’s comfortable there but admitted “some people just think girls aren’t as funny.”

The other members chime in they feel she has done a good job establishing she’s not going to take that. Schreiner is not the token girl as she plays guys and girls and some of the guys play girls, similar to a Monty Python skit.

Topics in shows sometimes deserve an R-rating, but the members say they try to avoid taking it too far. Schreiner described building to a funny arc then “wiping the scene” giving the audience just enough.

Steven Murray, senior in software engineering, said they try not to hammer on one religion too much.

“We might bring it up, have a laugh, then move on,” Murray said.

“Here’s the thing about censorship, if you’re worried about offending everyone in the audience you’re not going to do a good job,” Thompson said.

All of the members agree on the improvement it’s given them in everyday settings, from interviews to customer service, they have a confidence boost now.

“I think it’s enabled me to take more risks,” Schreiner added. “I may not have normally talked to that cute guy at a party but this helps.”

Only two of the 10 are majoring in performing arts, though all of them participated in improv in high school. The group mentioned future performances outside of the M-Shop, as they get hired out.

Members

Chris “Ted” Tedford

Jared Thompson

Brandon Wlosinski

Steven Murray

Libby Schreiner

Caleb Woodley

John Jones

Don Watts

Colin Morgan

Jordan LaVine

Next show:

10 p.m. Wednesday (March 10)

Cover: $1