Room 408: The Roaring Twenties of Student Comedy

There’s a new show in town, and it’s anything the comedy students want it to be.

If you frequent The Theatre School building, you might have noticed a rapid increase in the volume of flyers advertising student work. As of this autumn, The Theatre School has implemented an entirely new production process to serve the developing Comedy Arts program. Tuesday through Saturday every week, TTS room 408 provides a venue for a wide variety of student work from comedy arts majors. Some examples include stand-up comedy, murder-mystery improv, original sketches, and a Lois Griffin impersonation night, to name a few. The process is simple: students fill out a Google Form, get approved, and are assigned a date. “They create the show, they run it, they produce it, they invite an audience. It’s all student done” says Liz Joynt Sandberg, the head of the Comedy Arts program and pioneer of this new practicum. Comedy arts major Lazarus Howell says that now, “it is up to us to create the work that we want to create on our own devices. There is an advantage to that because now we are free to do whatever we want. It is really our responsibility to do the work that we want to do, to see the things that we want to see.”

The idea for this residency in 408 came about when Sandberg noticed a void in comedy arts opportunities. Nearly three years ago when Sandberg interviewed for her position at TTS, she became aware of the fact that the students— the first ever cohort of comedy arts majors— had few built-in chances to perform. “When I was a freshman, we didn't have these opportunities. We turned our attention elsewhere,” says Howell, now a third-year. Sandberg’s solution was simple: "I thought, ‘oh, got it. I can solve your problem in twenty minutes. Do you have a student center? Do you have a microphone? Do you have a hallway? Do you have literally anywhere?’ These students just need to perform all the time.” So now, they do.

When Sandberg thought about the best way to use the space, she realized, “oh, I'm doing the thing that comedy is allergic to, which is creating a hierarchical structure of ‘I know best.’ Let's let students program it. Let's truly make it an open, democratic resource.” According to Sandberg, they’ve been able to put up every show a student submits for performance. Howell reflects on the significance of this resource: “It’s important for us to practice the art of initiative and the practice of doing a lot of work. It's very seldom that comedy work is precious. It needs to be fast. We are constantly writing and rewriting and holding and perfecting things. I was one hundred percent excited to put stuff up on my own devices.”The sheer speed and volume of 408 shows, as well as their open availability, is crucial to comedic education.

The newness of the program and eagerness of its students allows for a great deal of flexibility and trial-and-error. The 408 production process has strikingly minimal structure and management— and DePaul’s comedians like it that way. On the point of management, Sandberg argues that “if you want to learn how to be a great comedian— which is fundamentally an anti-authoritarian art form— you have to have space to practice in an anti-authoritarian way.” Sandberg puts a great deal of trust in her students to hone and present their work by their own volition. That freedom has proved to be fruitful.

“Very seldom do we have a director who is appointed to us. It's all wild west, figure it out ourselves. We put it together through the collaboration of many minds that are different and diverse and special,” says Howell. The freeform nature of this process is radical for TTS, where conservatory structures have provided comfort for so long. “We can deescalate the way that ‘professionalism’ is leveraged as a gatekeeping tool,” notes Sandberg. “We’re discovering that we can make a lot of stuff if we free ourselves from assumptions of what a performance has to look like.” The non-structural nature of this production practice aims to serve the comedy arts community and its audiences by upholding freedom as the central tenet of comedic creation.

“It's about giving students the opportunity to ask what it would look like to take the familiar expectations of this institution and practice ways to deviate from it in a way that is still focused on serving the community. You have to circumnavigate systems that tell you there's only one right way to do it. This comes from comedy theory. A huge tenet of what we're doing when we do comedy is deviating from expectations. Comedy happens between an audience and an artist. It is deviation as an act of service and generosity.”

It’s not only the comedians who are benefiting from this type of performance; there is merit for audiences too. The infectious creative energy fostered by this type of work “causes audiences to wonder ‘wait, what rules and structures do I participate in that don't actually serve me?’ and ‘what would I do if I entered a community space with that freedom? What is uniquely mine to give?’” asks Sandberg. For her, that sense of honesty experienced by an audience is the very “invitation of comedy.” Sandberg, a working comedian herself, knows the value of that honesty. Speaking on her experience being a part of Baby Wine, a queer improv group, Samberg says “it's very joyful. The thing that happens there is that connection with the audience. Because they can see that we are present and acting as artists in that moment, it deescalates the idea that preparation supersedes presence. It's such an interesting value to question. What if we're enough in our disorganized, doing-the-best-we-can state?” In this practice, vulnerability and honesty are virtues of performance. If the performers feel comfortable in that space, their audiences will too.

According to Sandberg, that performer-audience relationship which is so central to theatre is further amplified in live comedy: “Comedians are different from other theatremakers in the sense that we make our work in public, not just share it in public. We make it in the moment, often with an audience. We're showcasing the process as part of the artmaking rather than saying ‘that's best hidden.’ The process is what we’re celebrating.” Having a public methodology builds trust, not only for each other or for audiences but most importantly, for the students themselves. Sandberg seeks to allow the comedians to curate their own environments for joy in creation: “I refuse to buy into the oppressive idea that this process is less than, or that there's something wrong with it. Clearly, it's not, look at all of this! Look at what they're making! You can't argue with the joy, the flourishing, the brilliance, the depth of it. They are really telling some truths to some powerful people.” If you’ve seen a few 408 shows, you know what Sandberg is talking about; the energy of the student work speaks for itself.

The 408 model has merit outside of TTS too. The Comedy Arts program has just begun its ten-week residency at The Annoyance Theatre, where TTS comedians will perform both new and familiar acts— for example, look out for Bound For Error, the aforementioned murder-mystery improv show directed and produced by first-year Sydney Breedlove. With a 90-minute show every Sunday night, TTS comedians get a chance for real-world application. The residency, produced by Howell, consists of five weeks of a variety show called The Pickle Jar. The latter half of the season will consist of shows pitched by students: “Those shows can be 408 shows, one hundred percent. Or they could be shows from Mess Fest, they could be completely new. It really depends on what the student wants. Because technically, they don't need this show to graduate, they don't need this specific show to advance their career. This is more of a wanting endeavor than a needing endeavor” says Howell. “Right now, I feel like we're living in the roaring twenties of comedy arts. We have 408 shows, The Annoyance shows, and also Wrights of Spring. We are living in a world where we can lavishly do lots of things. We're looking at an abundance.” The new programming is a big step for comedy arts, and I suspect it won’t be their last.

“It’s not utopia, it’s not perfect,” Sandberg concedes. “But it turns out that there are enough moments where students do something they didn't even know they came here to do. It's worth it.” Hopefully, this new production series will set a precedent for what future alternative practices could look like at The Theatre School.

UPCOMING SHOWS IN 408*: 4/21 Improv 7:30, 9:00

4/22 Under the Covers 8:00

4/23 Open Mic 8:00

4/28 Bound for Error 8:00

4/29 Variety Show 8:00

4/30 Open Mic 8:00

5/5 Weeze 8:00

5/6 Chip Chats 8:00

5/7 Improvised Seussical 8:00

5/12 Intro to Improv Show 8:00

5/13 Silly Time Sketch Show 9:30

5/14 Silly Time Sketch Show 8:00