Scatterbomb entered the room and broke into a dance performance to break the ice.
BARBARA VASQUEZ / THE QUADRANGLE
Barbara Vasquez, Editor-in-Chief
Manhattan University’s (MU) improv group, Scatterbomb, brought students back in time this past Friday with their latest performance, themed around “traveling back” from a trip to ancient Greece.
Scatterbomb members entered Hayden Hall, room 100, dressed in outfits ranging from togas made of sheets to sets of armor with fake swords included. The whiteboard background featured a rendition of the name “Scatterbomb,” written using the Greek alphabet, alongside multiple other Greek symbols.
Colby Hicks, a sophomore political science and communications double major and member of Scatterbomb, shared how this theme, and others in general, typically come to be.
“People pitch something, and usually we come to a general consensus,” Hicks said. “It’s got to be something not too distracting and general, costume-wise. Sometimes it plays into the show, like today, all the words were [related to the theme]. That’s the thing with getting a lot of personality in the audience, sometimes they play in.”
The actual show began with a dance segment, with Hicks taking center stage during the moment. The cast members then delved into their usual routine of asking audience members to shout out words to get the night rolling, such as the Olympics, borgs and Greek life.
Finally, cast members jumped right into their skits. For Hicks, trust is especially important among members when it comes to performing these improvised scenes.
“Everybody’s got to have each other’s back,” Hicks said. “If someone comes up with an idea, you have to be willing to just throw away what you had in your head and go with it, or else it’s going to be a problem. You have to trust everybody.”
Alex Castello, a sophomore mechanical engineering major and member of Scatterbomb, shares a similar opinion to Hicks when it comes to supporting the ideas of other castmates.
“The key to a successful Scatterbomb show is to work together and not shut anything down,” Castello said. “The smoothness of it comes from everyone doing ‘yes, and then’… and trying to make sure everybody’s ideas stay there, because you never get to the best part if you don’t let things build. If you shoot something down too early, it never has the chance to really blossom.”
Castello went on to tell The Quadrangle about the importance of being friends with members of Scatterbomb, and how a good relationship can be vital to a smooth-running show.
“Especially for improv, [a good relationship] is so important because you always have to try and be on each other’s page,” Castello said. “You start to really understand people. Being friends with these guys is really helpful when you try to make other people laugh. Sometimes miscommunication works, but you have to understand each other to really have a good show.”
This relationship amongst the cast is built through the days of practice and time spent with each other, according to members. Lucia Kobayashi, junior political science major and Scatterbomb’s historian, spoke about the pre-show specifically and how everyone interacts to let loose of any jitters.
“We’re getting dressed, and we always text in this GroupMe that we have, a bunch of jokes to get ourselves ready to go,” Kobayashi said. “It’s really funny and makes me excited to see everybody because it’s so fun. Before we go on, we’re hanging out for like an hour. It’s just really fun.”
This chemistry amongst cast members paid off for Friday night’s show, as audience members were lit up with giggles and laughter throughout the performance. For audience member David Appih, the show was overall fun and quite enjoyable.
“I think tonight was a really fun, good show,” Appih said. “The improv was really good and these out-of-nowhere moments were really fun… They played around with [the theme] well.”
In terms of upcoming Scatterbomb performances, Kobayashi shared what students can expect in the future.
“We do full send here,” Kobayashi said. “We get injured, we do whatever we can to fit the bill. So come for spontaneity, injuries and maybe some inappropriate joking.”To stay up to date with Scatterbomb and not miss their next performance, be sure to follow them on Instagram: @scatterbombmu.
