A New Group Gets Its Stripes

Differing significantly from the musical slapstick of "Triangle" and the improvised antics of "Quipfire!," "Stripes" – the new sketch comedy troupe at Princeton — is now working to find its own niche on campus.

Dissatisfied with the theater options at Princeton, Jesse Yang '04 decided this past fall to simply create his own group. "Sketch comedy filled a role that I thought was missing from the Princeton theater scene," recalled Yang.

He made some posters advertising his idea and eventually found a group of six freshmen from Rockefeller College who were interested in pursuing the concept along with him.

Without a specific plan in mind, the group simply called on their creative muses and waited to see what they would come up with."

We just sat around and came up with ideas for sketches we thought we could do," explained Kita Schmidt '04, publicity chair and one of the original members. They eventually wrote enough material to put on an hour-long show and, supported by Rocky College, performed for two sold-out nights in the Rocky-Mathey Theater.

The first performance was a test of the group's acceptance on campus and was relatively low-key, with a minimal set and Yang's roommates running the lights.

Spurred on by a positive reception, "Stripes" kicked into high-gear second semester by recruiting new members and gaining recognition as a student group from the USG.

They managed to attract four new members and lost an old one due to time constraints, ending up with a group of nine freshmen.

The group's writing process is entirely collaborative. They brainstorm in a group, then one person is in charge of writing the sketch and entering it into a shared file on the computer network; everyone plays a part in the revision process. Although they have delegated roles within the group's management structure, rehearsals and staging are also communal. Schmidt said, "Whoever wrote the sketch can say 'I envisioned it like this,' but we all take charge at different times."

This collaborative process yields sketches that have one-liners zinging from every corner of the stage, as each actor works loosely from a script, yet develops their own character and individual jokes.

Yang explained, "You go from having one person's idea and one stream, to nine people and nine jokes all happening at the same time."

The outcome of this creative process conjures up distinct memories of MTV's now-defunct "The State," with a taste of "Saturday Night Live" thrown in. The show involves live sketches interspersed with video clips of "Stripes" around campus.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"We do a lot of videos because there are just some things you can't simulate on stage," Schmidt said.

Although one sketch involved imitations of political candidates and another postulated about the merits of mattresses made out of puppies, most of the humor is Princeton-centric.

One must remember that this is a group of freshmen who have not yet tired of references to Dean of Admissions Fred Hargadon's infamous memory or of the caricatures of constantly-blundering proctors.

Eating club humor is universal and they often play with it very well, yet one grows to dread the regurgitation of cracks about Quadrangle Club's low enrollment and what "Stripes" labels as the "mindless assimilation" of Ivy Club.

Almost all the sketches are funny ideas (if not completely original), but they don't always come through strongly with a finish for the joke.

After a few sketches, which were obviously enjoyed by the audience, no one knew whether or not to clap because of the lack of a clear end.

Understanding their technical limits, one was still distracted by the fact that the actors were frequently standing out of their lights.

"It's a new show," Schmidt explained, "It takes a little while to get into the swing of things."

But what "Stripes" is doing right now, they are doing very well. The group has extremely promising theatrical instinct. They ended with their strongest piece which parodied MAA education in the residential colleges and finished off the show with a rousing song about the ethnic unity which could come as a result of internalized copulation.

Sketch comedy is very difficult to hit just right and, currently, "Stripes" is the only group on campus attempting to master its art. Yang explained their goal as the ability to "find moments that just stick with the audience." And in this they have been victorious.

"Stripes" is attempting to attract some upperclassmen to their ranks, and certainly this will advance their humor beyond the limits of adapting "Survivor" to Outdoor Action and forming sketches around the dining hall card swiper.

Practice does make perfect and one can look forward to watching the group grow and mature as both writers and actors. There is a very positive future ahead for this young group.

"Stripes" performed their second piece "Princeton Comedy: a little bit sketch" last weekend in Rockey-Mathey Theater.