Duke University Improv
From Duke Wiki
Duke University Improv or DUI is a student group at Duke University, and Duke University's only Improv comedy group.
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[edit] History
DUI was founded by a handful of freshmen in the basement of GA in 1996 in response to the lack of comedy outlets on campus. The group rapidly grew in popularity, and by the spring of 1998, The Big Show, DUI’s end of the year show, was born.
[edit] Performances and Venues
DUI performs throughout the year. Dorm shows are their most common performance type, but they also perform in all theatre venues on campus and at various recruiting events for the administration. They perform about 50 shows in a typical school year. A typical show includes about 11-12 short-form improv games, similar to the ones you would find on “Whose Line is it Anyway?” including the finale and crowd favorite, “Party Quirks.”
In addition to Big Show, DUI also performs a "Little Big Show" at the end of Fall Semester. DUI often experiments with Little Big Shows. In past years the group has improvised musicals and long form structures. Other large shows include the annual Orientation Show for freshmen, and the annual Parent's Weekend Show.
[edit] Current Members
- Brandon Curl (T'08)
- Matthew Manocherian (T'08)
- Lawrence Chen (T'09)
- Alex Berghorst (P'09)
- Brett Aresco (T'09)
- Andrew Tutt (P'09)
- Tom Blemaster (T'10)
- Scott Peppel (T'10)
- David Distenfeld (T'10)
- Vikram Raju (E '11)
- Alex Ellinport (E '11)
- marismela avciles (p'08)
[edit] Alumni
DUI alumni are all over the place, many performing. Some of the alums are members of improv groups at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York, while others are members of Second City and the IO Theater in Chicago. Also, Porter Mason, a DUI alum who wrote a successful Chronicle comic while at Duke, writes a comic strip called Bassist Wanted which runs in weekly papers. Dana Vachon recently published a book titled Mergers & Acquisitions which may be bought from Amazon.
[edit] The List (By Year Joined)
- (1996) Cason Carter, Harris Brodsky, John Grant, Matt Kovalick, Nupe Mehta, Porter Mason, Scott Hecker, Sean Loughlin
- (1997) Flynn Barrison, Andy Cies
- (1998) Bobby Jones, Dana Vachon, Laura Bronner, Tom Cass
- (1999) Bret Runested, Seth Weitberg
- (2000) Greg Anderson, John Marnell, Paul Downs
- (2001) Rob Painter, Jeremy Chapman
- (2002) Caroline Haubold, Ryan Welsh, Andrew Humphries
- (2003) Steve Cox, Laura Pyatt
