To a member of the audience, improv comedy can seem like just a bunch of silly games being played on a stage. Every Monday, Spicy Clamato proves that pulling off those games and making an audience laugh takes talent, teamwork and most of all, energy.

Spicy Clamato is the longest-running improv comedy troupe at the University. They are a student-run group and have been performing on campus for 20 years.

Marybeth Kram, senior in LAS and president of Spicy Clamato, joined the group when she was just a freshman. She said that the process of joining is relatively easy, starting with an audition where the potential new member is put into a few different improv scenes or games. If the audition goes well, there will be a callback, which leads to a fresh face joining Spicy Clamato. Kram said the group takes as many people as it can, and usually has about eight to ten members each semester.

Practicing for a show that is completely unscripted may seem like a difficult feat, but the group’s practices turn out to be just like their performances. They meet a few times a week to play short games and act out quick sketches. They also evaluate their previous shows, discussing the ups and downs of their routine and how to improve future performances.

During their shows, the group must think on their feet while doing fast-paced games and sketches.

“We do short form, which is kind of like ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’” said Allison Gulick, senior in LAS. “We take turns hosting and introducing games and stuff like that, to make it all flow continuously. We try to make it kind of professional.”

The group also strongly encourages audience participation in their shows. They go to the audience for ideas about scenes and how to act in their sketches.

“Every single game requires some form of audience suggestion. We usually like to ask for nonfamilial relationships … and locations that can fit on the stage. It’s really fun to just hear what the audience thinks can fit on the stage, because we’ve still managed to get things like, ‘India!’” Gulick laughed.

While Spicy Clamato may be best known for their free performances every Monday at the Illini Union Courtyard Café, they perform at other shows and venues as well. They opened for a sketch group at the Canopy Club last weekend, giving them an audience outside those students they see at the Illini Union. Charity shows and fraternity comedy shows, such as “Betapalooza,” are also part of their repertoire. The group also organizes and hosts a comedy show at the University every April.

“We get improv teams from other colleges to come perform here, and we also perform. It’s a big festival. And it’s free,” Kram added. “We’ve been doing that for seven or eight years.”

Although improv comedy is just a hobby for current members of Spicy Clamato, the group has alumni who have gone on to make it a career. According to Gulick, Eric Siegel and Ben Campbell, both 2009 Spicy Clamato alumni, are now with the improv team “One Group Mind,” which performs in Chicago.

The alumni who make careers for themselves on the improv comedy scene provide inspiration for current team members.

“I think that probably most of the people on the team, we all dream of Saturday Night Live or Second City,” Gulick said.

Many of the members of Spicy Clamato say that the best part of being on the team is just all the laughter that comes from their games.

“It’s really fun. Everybody is really goofy, and it’s a really comfortable environment,” said Maura Walsh, senior in LAS. “We just get together and laugh together and play around.”

The fun dynamic makes Spicy Clamato a club for people who are looking for something to lighten up their daily routine.

“It’s a sanctioned space to be silly,” said Nick Martin, junior in LAS and Illini Media employee. “I guess it doesn’t stop me, but usually people are like, ‘Don’t just yell things at strangers!’ or ‘Don’t just put shoes on your hands!’ But people in this group say the opposite – ‘More shoe hands!’”

Not every Spicy Clamato member has put shoes on their hands, but they all appreciate that they have a place where it would be acceptable to do so.

“My favorite part is just that it’s so different from what I do in class,” Walsh said about her molecular and cellular biology major. “It’s a really great creative outlet. What I study is so straightforward, and there’s not a lot of room for silliness. It’s nice to have this time to let loose.”