Its most recent show, "A Guy Walks Into a Bar," uses sketch comedy – a genre of entertainment consisting of a series of short vignettes – to portray different characters, scenarios and perspectives that all unfold within the familiar setting of a bar.

Co-Director of "A Guy Walks Into a Bar," and public relations senior Nikki Siciliano said one fun aspect of this year’s production is that one vignette takes place in, of all places, a fish tank. 

“That came from a writer's room, where people were like, ‘What about this idea?’”

These writers’ rooms are just one part of the depth Roial puts into its productions, where an almost year-long process allows written sketches to be chosen and eventually form a plot around them, creating a show. Students can take the roles of actors, crew members, directors, writers and even editors. 

In previous years, MSU Jacks, the Roial subsection that focuses on sketch comedy, used minimal set pieces. They also had actors use their own names to form a performance based on the premise of writing a sketch show, with the big reveal that they’re all in purgatory because of their friend, whose unfinished business was a sketch show they were writing, cursed them in the basement of Sydner Phillips Hall. 

This year, Roial’s sketch comedy will feature 26 sketches, and Siciliano said it is different from any other Roial show. 

“We have a very specific set. The characters aren't the actors' names, they’re character names, and we have a fourth wall that we've established,” she said. “Each year, we've kind of expanded on our format to be bigger and bigger and more, like, try to transcend what sketch comedy is usually known for.”

Roial has other subsets focused on musicals and plays, and being a member of Roial means you can be involved in those processes if you’d like. 

Some performances that Roial has done include Shakespeare’s "Hamlet" and the musicals "Next to Normal" and "Cabaret." 

The group itself is “fruitful,” said Co-Director of "A Guy Walks Into a Bar," and English senior Micah Prince. 

“It's such a collaborative space, and something that I've always heard everyone that comes into Roial say is how unique and special Roial is, that community, and the people-focused focus of our group,” Prince said.

For animal science senior and actress in "A Guy Walks Into a Bar," Kateleigh Schlink, being in Roial is rewarding. 

“I think watching other people have that same spark and passion in their eyes, and in their heart, it's just really cool to, I don't know, bond with people that way," Schlink said.

"A Guy Walks Into a Bar" will showcase in the RCAH theater in the basement of Snyder Phillips Hall on April 18 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Roial also has a showing on April 19 at 2 p.m.