“Truthfully, we have no idea what we’re doing,” is the motto the Jinx group picked for their t-shirts.
But seniors Adam Meyers and Christan McKay did have some idea of what they wanted to do when they started this improvisational acting group at Milligan.
“We wanted to do improv at Milligan for a while,” McKay said. “Then, one day Adam said, ‘Let’s just do it.’”
This marks the first year for the improvisational acting group called Jinx, which meets on Thursdays from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Wilson Auditorium or lower Seeger Chapel.
Meyers estimated that around 60 different students have participated in Jinx. However, he said they average around 15 students weekly.
McKay said, “We performed once during sauté night in the cafeteria and we also put on a performance and workshop for the drama club at Elizabethton High School.”
The co-founders already had some improv experience. McKay participated in improv in high school, and Meyers attended a workshop put on by a group called Second City this summer at Barter Theater to learn the fundamental principles of improvisational acting.
This acting style calls on performers to react to a situation or object on the spur of the moment, without rehearsed lines or scenes.
Improvisational acting is the basis of the popular ABC television show, “Whose Line is it Anyway?”
Most of the “games,” as Jinx participants call them, came from this television show. These include such favorites as “Questions,” the game where two performers are presented with a setting and can only communicate with one another using questions. The first performer to make a statement that is not a question goes to the end of the line and a new performer challenges the winner.
“I do it because I can act stupid and fit in,” said freshman Kory Drake. “It’s also fun.”
McKay and Meyers said they set some ground rules for the games that reflect its place in a Christian organization. The Jinx actors are not allowed to use foul language, obscenities, stereotypes, sexual references or poke fun at others. McKay and Meyers said they have the right to veto anything unsuitable.
Meyers said that they hope to be able to serve dinner and do a performance at the Haven of Mercy next semester.
“We really want to incorporate ministry,” Meyers said. “It’s fun with a purpose.”
McKay said they will perform at Woodland Elementary and hope to travel some next semester.
The co-founders said they’ve tried to get younger members to participate in Jinx so that the club has the potential of lasting after McKay and Meyers graduate.
“I think we’ve laid a good foundation this semester,” Meyers said.
Jinx is still open to anyone, faculty or students, who want to participate or watch the group perform on Thursday nights.