Grandma Mojo’s is a student-run improv comedy group that performs at the Maintenance Shop on select Wednesdays. There are nine members in the group: Natalie Curtis, Adam Holesha and Bria Cox are seniors, Emily Peschke, Connor Ahrens, Charles Faden and Eli Newland are juniors, Mead Hardacre is a sophomore and Benjamin Jubeck is a freshman.
This group performed Wednesday night at the M-Shop, and the crowd was erupting in laughter all night. What the performers did first was a warm-up they called freeze.
Freeze is a warm-up they do at every show. This exercise includes two people performing a scene the audience suggests. When someone else has an idea, they yell “freeze” and take the place of one of the people performing the scene. They then try to create a new sketch from the position they are already in. After that, they went right into the show.
First in the lineup was a game called Critical Improv. During this set, two performers played out a scene while another performer was the “dice roller.” While the scene was being performed, the dice roller stopped at random times to roll the dice on different traits the characters had. The performers then had to carry on with those traits.
After that, the “mojos” did multiple other fun games, including party quirks, three rooms, a minute-long scene, pocket lines and change lines.
The group ended with a game called Questions. In this game, the performers presented a scene, but they could only ask questions. The group got laughs out of the whole room during every game.
“My favorite part about performing in this group is having just a really cool group of people around me to perform with,” Jubeck said.
Jubeck was the commentator at the beginning of the night and put on a great performance in the games with minute-long scenes and pocket lines.
“I feel like when you’re an adult there’s not many opportunities to play, and this is a great place to just play and hangout with friends,” Peschke said.
Peschke was outstanding in the show and got lots of laughs from the audience in her role as Peppa and in her performance in the game Party Quirks, where she played a lemur with human feet and superpowers.
To close out the interview, the group was asked what their favorite part of every show was.
“The best part about every mojo’s show is seeing the smiles rise from people’s faces from the crowd because I’m a firm believer that laughter is always and will always be the best medicine,” Holesha said.
The Grandma Mojo’s show is a great way to spend your Wednesday evening and relax during a stressful week. The last two Mojo’s performances of the semester will be Nov. 20 and Dec. 4. The show is from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and costs one dollar at the door. Dates and times of the group’s upcoming shows can be found on their website.
