The lights dimmed, and there they were, six brides walking down the aisle, complete with wedding bells ringing in the background. In any other context, this many brides would induce puzzled looks and sideways glances. However, in the Black Box, this was perfectly normal. As they strutted down the aisle, they handed out tampons in lieu of flowers, not discriminating between their male and female attendees.
This image was the scene captured from Let’s Try This!’s Women in Comedy Night. This resident troupe of Georgia Tech students was complemented by other female improv groups from the Atlanta area. From trophy wives to Uncle Jerry in a cow costume, this two-hour comedy show kept viewers entertained and left the audience with a sore belly from the sheer amount of laughter the performers invoked.
Although advertised as a comedy show, the improv groups took viewers through a rollercoaster of emotions. One character struggled with the very real sadness of losing her best friend to marriage. She stood, hands by her side and head down, and practically transmitted her sadness to an equally devastated audience.
It is a universal experience to have those you love fade out of your life, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Everyone in the audience could relate to the red-headed woman stress-eating her mayonnaise sandwiches and lamenting how she was going to be so lonely after her friend’s marriage.
On the other hand, we saw Uncle Rick, who sold barrels of dehydrated food. Unfortunately, his business wasn’t doing so well. His wife threatened to leave him if she didn’t get a nine-by-nine plot of land. So, he turned to the only solution he could find to appease his wife – murder. You can only imagine how that ended.
And then we were transported to a sleepover in the nineties. The quintessential teenage girl experience. This blast from the past was complete with all the classics. A mom screaming at the girls to be quieter, one who had to be zip-tied into her sleeping bag so that she wouldn’t hurt anyone in her sleep, and one girl who thought her mom would turn into a clown if she got too angry.
Finally, Let’s Try This! themselves performed on stage. They were dressed in beautiful dresses and dazzled their audience with an equally entertaining performance. The story took many twists and turns, and a nice farm wedding was somehow quickly converted into a goth wedding with dyed chickens and sheep.
The main purpose of this new annual show was to highlight female comedians both at Georgia Tech and the surrounding Atlanta community.
“Improv is a white, straight male-dominated field,” Anand said.
She believes that holding more events such as these will raise awareness that there are funny female comedians and inspire young women who can see themselves represented in this field. She wanted to have an event that “shows that there are a lot of women and gender diversity in improv.”
She then shared her personal journey with improv. She stated that she had no prior experience, and only got interested during her college years. She said she attended a week of welcome workshops and fell in love with both the people and doing improv. She also said she loved watching shows such as “Who’s Line?” which further compelled her to get involved.
For those who would like to get involved, Anand says that weekly workshops are the best way to get your feet wet. They are held on Mondays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. When asked whether you will have to perform right off the bat, she stated that students are welcome to just watch at first until they feel comfortable enough to actually perform. In addition, Anand says that students who are worried about the time commitment should know that it is very much that “you get out as much as you put in.”
Female comedians are on the rise, and gone are the days of all-male casts. Uma and other female comedians in Atlanta and beyond are changing the narrative in order to prove that women can succeed in this male-dominated field.
Students who want to contact or learn more about Let’s Try This! can visit their website at letstrythis.org.