A group of 12 improv players had attendees grabbing their sides with laughter. Mechanical engineering senior Matthew Schomisch, the director of the Roial Improv Players, said he wants to bring laughter to a campus that has been on edge.

“If we are laughing together, we are not as divided,” Schomisch said. “Comedy especially this day and age is a great way for people to kind of get some relief. Things are really stressful and things are really tense all over and comedy is a way to bring people together.”

Schomisch has been doing improv for eight years. He said he joined the improv group to have a creative outlet.

“Improv is my favorite part of college,” Schomisch said. “It is a great way to take a step back from school work and all of the stresses of that and be in a place where you are surrounded by people who are your friends or in the process of becoming your friends.”

Schomisch said with the growth comes a growing audience. “Arrested DeveLAUGHment,” their latest event brought, in more than 100 people.

“It started off as just being friends and family of people, but more and more brought their friends and they wanted to go to more and more shows,” Schomisch said. “We have a good group of returning people who like to come out to improv once a month.”

Schomisch has been leading the improv group for two years, he said. For him, improv is a way to find a family away from home. He said he found a new passion for teaching people.

“I always love the idea or the personal motto of, ‘You can’t laugh and be afraid at the same time,’ so I kind of live by that,” Schomisch said.

Residential College in the Arts and Humanities senior Elsa Finch has spent four years with the improv group. She has seen the group grow with herself and her improv style.

“I like being onstage and seeing how far the team has come over the course of the last four or five years,” Finch said. “The first practice I went to there was like six or eight people there. I can’t put into words how amazing it is to see the new people come in and be so good.”

English secondary education sophomore Ryan Gandy said the improv group has a common theme between them: the group is the foundation for their friendships.

“It is just kind of great to feel like you’ve done something and to be proud of that and seeing a bunch of people that you are close friends with also performing well and seeing them succeed,” he said.

Gandy said the most rewarding part for him is performing on the stage and being surrounded by comedy.

“I am one of the biggest laughers on the side stage because it is just so fun to see them performing so well and then to apart of that yourself is just like a whole other level,” Gandy said.

Schomisch said the group has open practices year round for any students who like to join the improv family.

For more information email Schomisch at roial.players@gmail.com