Casey Myers-Morgan ’18 has been in CUP since her freshman year of college, and has risen through the ranks to presidential status as of this year. I asked her to do this interview to give me more insight into the inner workings of CUP and how CUP has changed her college experience.
Her Campus Rhodes (HCR): What made you want to get involved with CUP initially?
Casey Myers-Morgan (CMM): I did improv in high school so I was already interested coming to Rhodes. Then during welcome week I saw the CUP show and was sure I wanted to audition and be part of it. One, because they were so darned funny. Two, because at that time 1 of the 6 members was a girl and I thought they could certainly use some more funny ladies. Sure enough, that year 3 people made the group. All girls.
HCR: What responsibilities do you have as president?
CMM: My main responsibility is to keep a group of scatter brained, genius, showoff, comedians on more or less the same page. There are 10 of us and we all are very busy about campus so it’s a lot of work to just figure out how to get everyone in the same room at the same time once a week. In addition to that I work on fundraising, advertising, scheduling, and running the shows themselves.
HCR: What is your favorite part of being in CUP?
CMM: I love performing and I love making people laugh, so that’s a big part of being in CUP. The best part, though, is the bond you form with the other group members. There’s a certain amount of trust that it takes to walk up on a stage with no script and no plans and nothing to rely on but the other person standing there with you. My favorite part of CUP is the moment I start a scene and my teammate in the scene with me immediately knows exactly what I’m doing and where I’m going, like they can read my mind.
HCR: What’s a typical CUP practice like?
CMM: We practice for 2 hours once a week, from 9-11 (on weeks with shows we practice twice). Usually we play around for the first couple minutes, then we do some sort of warm up, then we practice the different games and long-form we do in the show. We spend a lot of time talking about what makes a good scene, what we could do better, what’s funny, what’s not. It’s all about building that common mindset that we all have to possess during a performance so we can improvise together.
HCR: What is one of the biggest struggles you have as president?
CMM: Getting everyone together. By far. There are a lot of people with differing schedules and temperaments so keeping everyone on the same page is definitely the biggest struggle. I try and learn how to talk to everyone in the way that they can best hear.
HCR: How do you guys come up with your improv bits, etc.?
CMM: We make it up. There’s really not that much more to it than that. We steal stuff more often than the audience probably knows. But what we do in practice is lay a groundwork, teach ourselves how to make things up, how to construct narrative and relationship. We pull a lot from ideas we have developed in practice or by ourselves, but a lot of it is just drawing from that same source kids do when they play pretend. Letting ourselves be creative and silly, and allowing ourselves to construct a new reality.
HCR: How has CUP changed and shaped your college experience?
CMM: Better! It’s cool to be part of something, especially something that so many people on campus enjoy. I’ve made some of my best friends through it and had some of the memories I know I’ll remember forever.
HCR: If you could tell anything to an audience member of a CUP show, what would you say?
CMM: SPEAK UP! Everything about improv shows is more fun when the audience is engaged. We perform better. The audience enjoys it more. Yell out suggestions when we ask, don’t be afraid to laugh or groan. The more energy the audience has, the more energy the show has. They should be having as much fun as we are.