Dartmouth's oldest improvisation group, the Dog Day Players, will perform their first-ever 24 hour improv show in front of Dartmouth Hall, starting at 4 p.m. today.
The performers will take donations to benefit Benefit for a Better Chance, a non-profit organization with the aim of "increasing the number of well-educated minorities capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in American society."
The Dartmouth was able to interview a few of the members of the venerable group yesterday. Joe Thistle '04 and Heather Harrington '03 were the first to show up -- several players arrived late.
THE DARTMOUTH: Why 24 hours of improv?
JOE THISTLE: 24 hours is a nice, round number. We originally thought, 'no, we're going to beat every show we've heard of. We're going to go for 40 hours.' Then we started realizing how much it kills us just to do all-nighters.
TD: Is there anyone you're particularly worried about?
JT: I get very ornery when I get tired. I feel I'm going to be very cranky and pugnacious.
HEATHER HARRINGTON: Joe's a pugnacious fellow. When he was born his parents named him Joseph Pugnacious Thistle.
TD: Do you think your sense of humor will change as the night wears on?
HH: Yeah. We like to have a pretty intellectual sense of humor and stay from the obvious prostitute/porn/dildo jokes. But I envision that as we hit hour 21, the word 'vibrator' itself will be enough to make us laugh.
JT:I think we'll we start out and things that are usually funny -- like big, fat Southern men and old World War II generals -- will be funny, and then it will go on to, you know, 'toilet humor.' And I'm sure bodily function will remain funny throughout the entire thing. Bodily functions will never lose their humor.
TD: Have you had an experience like this before?
HH: I've pulled all-nighters. (Pause.) I've made jokes while pulling all-nighters.
JT:I'm sure Heather's all-nighters aren't funny. Her last one wasn't funny.
HH: (Explaining) We had to have an intervention with Joe.
JT: I have this certain problem where I have mail-order brides, but it's actually only one bride and it's my sister. I pawned her off to Larry in Food Court. Missy in Food Court. The guys behind the grill in Food Court. I basically tried to sell my sister to Food Court. (He sobs) I just want free fro-yo!
HH: After she ended up in the salad bar one day, it was time to intervene.
TD: What games will you be playing during this?
HH: Every single game that we have ever played. Party Quirks, Shoulda Said, Old Job/New Job, Complaint Department, Productivity, Genre Switch-a-Roo, um...
HH: ...Dating game, a little bit of longform...
JT: ...we'll probably even start playing some warm-up games like Thousand-And-One, or 'What Are You Doing?' I think given that the longest thing we've done is two hours, so we're going to become very, very desperate for games.
HH: It's going to be very fluid and up to what the group wants to do as well. Although I do usually rule with an iron fist.
JT: Or sometimes use the latex fist.
HH: I usually use the iron fist. I beheaded an '05. Questioned my leadership.
TD: Do you think there's going to be a time when no one's there?
JT: There's going to be a time at 4:30 a.m. or 5:00 a.m. -- too early for runners, too late for drunken people -- maybe we'll have the Walk of Shame people.
HH: Oh, that'll be awesome!
JT: We can taunt them.
(BRETT QUIMBY '02 enters.)
JT: Hey Brett.
BRETT QUIMBY:Sorry I'm late.
TD: Oh, we can start again. Are you anticipating a time when there won't be anyone there?
BQ: I'm anticipating a lot of those times and I'm going to go crazy. I was planning on having a monologue that lasted an hour. I feel like when there's nobody around I'm going to tell a story that will be so dumb and stupid that I'm just going to keep going.
(ELI JORNE '02 enters)
ELI JORNE: Hello!
TD: Can you pull up a chair?
EJ: I thought you were going to say, 'can you pull up your pants?'
TD: I was just asking about whether you think there's going to be a change in the sense of humor of the group?
EJ: Definitely -- there's going to be a point where it will just get dramatic. Like with Cliff, especially? (everyone laughs.) It won't be funny for awhile. It'll going to become serious -- like, Cliff and Joe are long-lost brothers and Cliff has been sleeping with Joe's wife.
HH: You know what I think about? We're all going to smell really bad.
EJ: There's going to be some moments that would never happen in any normal show -- like characters that could only be thought up by somebody who's been up for 14 hours straight. In rehearsal there's some characters, like Brett one time played this old woman that needed her diapers changed. (Joe laughs) Do you remember that?
JT: One time Colin was this hunter that didn't say a single thing, but just hopped around, shot arrows and then yanked people's intestines out.
EJ: I know that with professional improv. groups, a lot of things that we know now --a game we play, or this is something we use -- just happened randomly and was the gimmick of the night. It'll be fun to find what weird things we come up with.
