[ Audio from live improv show, back and forth chatter, from the falcon hub, april 2024 - clapping and cheering ]
[ FalconCast theme fades in ]
[ 00min 04sec ]
Fredo Robinson (Host):
This season of FalconCast, we are focusing on the extracurriculars and campus involvement at Fitchburg State University. Today, we are here with Nick Castillo and Anna Gauvin, the current and incoming presidents of Improvatron, Fitchburg State's improv club.
Nick is a comm major who has been a part of the club since his freshman year 2021. He is also a member of the musical theater e-board. He is the current president but, due to his upcoming internship, must step down from his current position.
Anna is an Engineering major who has also been a member of the Improvatron since her freshman year in 2019. She has been on the improv eboard since 2022 and she is the current vice president and the incoming president.
[ improv audio - cheers ]
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Fredo R.:
What does Improv do other than just meetings?
[ improv audio plays quietly in the background - improv games ]
Nick C:
Yeah, so what we do, we have shows, four shows in a semester, where different members of our eboard host them.
We have sort of a way that we gauge our club members sort of eligibility but also readiness for a show. We sort of, like, teach the skill but also like, at the end of the day, we are just, you know, having fun in the club.
People that are eligible. Usually, we base that metric on if they've shown up to 50% of the rehearsal since their first – and then show readiness is essentially based on, you know, different skills that we bring up in rehearsals. Is something that they sort of follow through on.
You know, not everybody that shows up wants to be in a show, so we sort of have that as an opt-in basis.
From when you know, we pick who's going to be in the show, we sort of have show rehearsals for the people that are going to be in them and then we perform sort of once a month. And then something that we started doing recently was open mics.
We actually from the day that we're recording this, doing one tomorrow [ laughs ] –
[ improv audio cheering and clapping ]
– and it's essentially, like you know, comedy, music, poetry, a monologue, if people want to. Music you know, instrumental stuff.
People have the opportunity to be a part of that in any way that they want to, and if they want to to, you know, sign up for them. They can just feel free to reach out to us, something that we've been starting to do, but it's been received very well.
We typically collaborate with WXPL on campus for it.
Anna G:
Another thing we do, aside from club meetings, is we've also recently started trying to host at least one workshop per academic year. We did our first one most recently, in the fall semester of 2023, and it's something that we'd like to hone in on in the future.
Fredo R.:
What part of this club would you say you love the most?
Nick C:
I'll start this one off.
I think for me because I've been able to kind of take a leadership position this year as president of the club, it's been really nice to just kind of see people grow and see people sort of build up the skill and show interest. Because a lot of people – I've heard different things – but one of the main things that I hear is just like I didn't know a single thing about improv. I just wanted to try something new.
And to just kind of see people quite literally start from zero and build their way up, you know, in the club and, in turn, just make a bunch of friends in the process is just, you know, it's very heart, like very –
It warms my heart to see, you know. Yeah, and to just kind of be in that environment and like, now that I've been, you know, in the leadership of the club, to be like I was a part of making that happen, it just makes me feel very proud of myself, but also of them. So.
[ improv clapping ]
Anna G:
So yeah, I think for me one of my favorite things about the club is looking back at myself and the transformation that improv brought me really early on – and being able to look at some of the newer members and see that same transformation of kind of timid freshmen who doesn't really know what's like going on to, all of a sudden, one of the most confident people in the club.
It's so amazing to see – like, watching people's growth, watching people develop their own sense of like comedy. Having people like develop their own style of comedy.
Cause a lot of people will come into improv not really having a sense of like, their own flavor of comedy and they'll just be like referencing or imitating other comedians or other people they see in the club. And then as they spend more time and like practice more, they start to like, they start to shine on their own and you get to see them come out of their shell and it's really cool.
[ improv clapping and cheering ]
Nick C:
Yeah, I just to piggyback off of that like comedy but confidence too is a big thing.
To just kind of see people who are coming in with like apprehensions, a little timid and now just being very vocal about not only like what we're doing in the club, having feedback for things, but also just like being vocal about themselves and like being able to be like, “yeah, I do want to do a show, I do want to be considered, I do want to, like you know, try my hand at this a little bit more.” Um, so just seeing the confidence increase is also very nice to have definitely.
[ improv clapping and cheering ]
[ 5min 12sec ]
Fredo R.:
So talking to one president and one upcoming president, what would you guys say it takes to become a president?
Nick C:
Something I brought up before was advocacy.
Definitely, something that we had to do a lot of in the past year was requesting money to fund some of the food for our events, and it's really important to stress that.
We typically have our shows in the Falcon Hub and we request pub service in the Falcon Hub sometimes. And one of the requirements that comes with having pub service is that you need to have food at your events. And it's something that we have to go to the financial committee for SGA and ask for, and it's really important to just kind of be like ”hey, this is the reason why we need this and why it's important to the club.” And you know, it keeps our retention because people know that there's free food there, then they'll, you know, – they're more inclined to show up and they get a free show in the process. So you know.
Fredo R:
Definitely. What about you, Ms. Incoming President?
[ 6min 19sec ]
Anna G:
Okay. So this is more telling of myself. I am the oldest person in my friend group. I believe currently – yes the oldest person in the improv club. And people make jokes about me being the mom friend and like being a mama bear, uh.
Nick C:
But you embrace it.
Anna G:
I yeah, I embrace it, I really do. [ laughs ]
My bio on our club's Instagram page says I'm kind of the grandma of the club, so I really lean into it.
But I really think that protectiveness that I have over some of my – or all of my members of the club. And when I say my members I really mean like in a sense, the club is mine to like, keep and protect because it means so much to me.
And I feel like one of the things that it takes to be president is such an intense like care for the club and a want for it to be the best that it can be. Which, honestly, I don't think any earlier than this upcoming year I would have had the confidence or the ability to stand up for the club that it would have taken to be president.
So I really feel like I'm coming into this role at the right timing for myself. Because I feel like I've developed a lot in confidence. Even recently.
It didn't all magically happen like freshman, sophomore year and then like poof I am like how I am today.
It really took a lot of, like, character development to gain this kind of confidence. And I feel like the confidence and willingness to advocate is what it really takes to be club president.
As well as thinking you're the funniest person in the room at any given moment.
Fredo R.:
A ha!
Nick C:
We can dispute after we’re done. [ Anna laughs ]
[ 8min 19sec ]
Fredo R.:
What does being part of eBoard affect your relationship to the club?
Nick C:
It definitely boosts it. I think, like I was saying before, having a hand in something and being part of the bigger picture is very helpful. Just kind of, with how much I enjoy being a part of the club, it just gives me a bigger hand in everything. And being at the sort of helm of things I get to sort of keep everybody else you know I guess, for lack of better phrasing, in check to go to my other e-board members and be like you know, “are we doing everything that we can to make this welcoming, to make this accessible, to make people want to return?”
And sometimes in those meetings, the answer is no and we need to figure out why that is.
And you know, especially in recent years, because – before I was president I was secretary of the club – so it was something, like, you know, how can I voice these concerns and make sure that everybody's opinion gets heard in this moment. So it's something that I really want to make sure that, like everybody is heard in our meetings, that we're doing our best to advocate for the club.
So I think what it's done for for me is it's really heightened the relationship that I have with it, because those questions I'm able to ask and I'm able to actually be a part of making that change, instead of sitting kind of by the side and seeing oh, this thing's happening. I'm not a huge fan of how that is. I get to actually be a part of that change and benefit the majority in a way.
[ 9min 41sec ]
Fredo R:
What would you say to people who know nothing about Improvatron but are interested?
Anna G:
I would tell them, if they're even a little bit interested but know nothing about it – at least like so you can go on Falconnect and check when any club meets. So even if they don't know when we meet, they could find that out on Falconnect.
Or I'd just, you know, tell them.
But my biggest advice to somebody who is even a little interested would be come to a rehearsal, see what we're all about, and – you don't have to participate if you don't want to. You could even just sit in the back and give suggestions and laugh at us. But just come see what we do. Come, like, observe. Or, like, talk to a current member or two. See what they feel about the club. That would be my biggest piece of advice.
Nick C:
Yeah, like I said before, I moved in earlier to go give, like, surveys out to incoming freshmen on their first day of orientation, and part of that survey was you know, “Have you ever done improv? Do you know what it is? Would you be interested in joining?”
And some people were – actually, I didn't have a section for them to be able to write on, but they were, you know, writing in. Like, you know, “went to an improv show. Never been interested, never done it before, don't know how,” and just kind of seeing that.
You know, it's quite a trend of people who, like never done it before, know nothing about it, but just kind of want to see what's up, and so what I was telling them.
What I would say going forward, is it's not as intimidating of a skill as a lot of people make it out to be. It's something that, especially at the start of the semesters, we kind of start from the ground up to just kind of be like, “hey, this is improv.” And even the people that have been there since the beginning of their freshman year and like myself that I'm close to graduating, kind of just sit down and are like let's kind of go through the building blocks again.
And because, especially when we're coming in the fall like we've had a whole summer, some people might've forgotten what improv is. [ laughs ]
So it just kind of gives us an opportunity to sort of build back up or build up from the beginning for people, um. So like, don't, don't feel like it's too intimidating to show up.
We'd love to have you, um, whether you want to participate or not, we do have people who just have will come by, sit in the back, and give suggestions, like Anna was saying, people who you know. Their one thing is to just sit in the back and be like yo, I'm about to end this man's whole career. [ laughs ]
[ improv show audio in background - cheering and clapping ]
Fredo R.:
Well, Anna Gauvin and Nick Castillo, it was amazing talking to you guys. I definitely am interested in the improv club. If you guys are, you guys should definitely come check it out.
I hope you guys enjoyed listening to this episode of FalconCast. I hope you join us for the next one.
[ FalconCast theme ends ]
[ 12min 53sec ]
Dave Gambone:
This is Dave Gambone, Class of 2026.
[ Perseverantia Theme fades in ]
A film major at Fitchburg State University. And you’re listening to Perseverantia, the Fitchburg State University Podcast Network.
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[ improv show audio in background continues - cheering and clapping fades out ]
