"And the answer is "raisin prohibited'," says sophomore Ryan Mannix, as I walk into the rehearsal of the Buttered Niblets, Hopkins most popular (and only) improvisational comedy (improv) group.
The group had already been practicing for two hours when I arrived at 10:30 pm on Thursday night. Though a bit fatigued from the very physical demands of improv acting, the Buttered Niblets were nonetheless pushing on. Though it may seem like their craft needs no practice (they're making up jokes on the spot), the group regularly practices five to six hours a week and about 15 hours on show weeks.
"Even though we're coming up with stuff of the top of our heads, we need to kind of fine-tune it," explains senior Mike Mastrangelo. "We have to get a feel for each other's improv styles, because the most important thing in the group is making the scenes work by building off each other's types of humor."
On this particular night, four Niblets were involved in a mock session of Jeopardy!, with an audience of eight Niblets supporting them. With three contestants, including a professional cake decorator, a griftor and tutor for special children, each contestant tried to give questions to answers like "virgins rock."
The Buttered Niblets generally play these sorts of improv games during rehearsals. They usually take turns going up on the stage on the Arellano Theatre in Levering Hall, each creating characters and trying to answer very academic and scholarly questions. Members agree that the rehearsals are fun, yet intense. Each player has a few cards up his or her sleeves, with his or her favorite characters, topics, inspiration and stereotypes to make fun of, but each player is more original than the next.
This year the Buttered Niblets have grown, bringing in a total of six new members (five freshmen and one senior), which doubles the size of the group. One of the members, junior Mike Sheehan, is abroad in France this year, and will be returning next semester to join the group. With a total of over 30 auditions, senior Loren Dunn said that it was the most talented group that he has seen since his induction during freshman year.
"I enjoy working with such an interesting group of people and just screwing around with them," said freshman Amy Helman.
But this year the Buttered Niblets are changing it up. They are looking to do more sketch comedy and influence their shows with music. To do this, they recently acquired a piano player to accompany the show, much like Laura Hall on Whose Line is It, Anyway? The group also feels that the Niblets' sketches, which have been popular at events like the O-Show, should be included in their regular shows.
"Now that we've got 12 people in the group, everyone's coming up with sketch ideas, and we've got so many possibilities for characters," explained Mastrangelo.
Though their name is befitting of a sketch comedy group, one can't help but wonder exactly what it means. According to junior Bobby Griffin, the legend (as told by the graduated seniors), is that the buttered niblet was dessert on the menu of a Thai restaurant in Federal Hill. Griffin, unfortunately, was unable to describe the contents of the dessert. "I only eat macaroni and cheese," he explained.
Yet after a thorough amount of investigative research I was unable to find a desert by that name. By asking around a little more, it was clear that the legend, like so many others, had been distorted as it was passed down the Niblet family tree.
"The word "buttered niblet' may have not even been on the menu," claims Mastrangelo "The Thai ice cream that the founding members ate for desert had little green "rice' bits and golden yellow niblets of corn. I suppose from that they decided on "Buttered Niblets.'"
Either some of the group members were uninformed, or they just didn't care where the name came from. They were, after all, concentrating on other things, most importantly a major change to their show format.
On Friday, Oct. 10, the Buttered Niblets have their next show and there are more surprises in store. As well as showing off the new recruits, the Niblets are bringing in Port, an up-and-coming indie-rock band from North Jersey. They hope the band will bring more energy to the show, as well as create some short musical interludes. Port will play a total of three to four songs throughout the show, from their new album, Cold War Reenactment.
"I think it will be great to add a completely new dimension to the show," said Mastrangelo.
Moreover, the Buttered Niblets are doing this show for a good cause. Although the group has raised admission from $1 to $3 for the show, all of the proceeds will go to the Student Movement for International Relief (SMIR). Dunn, who went on a three-week long trip with SMIR to South Africa this summer, saw first hand the good that the group was doing. Dunn and others visited the elementary school for which SMIR is currently raising funds.
"The first thing that impressed me about the school is just how far a dollar goes there," explained Dunn. "You could never [build a school] in the U.S. for the same amount of money."
This year, SMIR has its largest endeavor ever, to raise $25,000. The group overall said that they thought it was a good idea to raise money for an on campus charity.
The money raised from the show will go towards building the elementary school in South Africa. The group hopes to raise $750 from the show.
"It's a great opportunity to create a significant dent in the fundraising that SMIR is committed to," said Dunn.
With the six new players, the Buttered Niblets are looking better than ever. All of the players are thrilled to be working with each other.
"The best thing about working with the Niblets are the company, the jokes and the hot asses," explained Faculty Advisor Mike Corderre.
"I'm proud to be a Buttered Niblet because of my special brand of off-color humor," declared freshman Zach Goodman. "My extreme xenophobia has vaulted me into the rings of the elite Buttered Niblets."
If you're looking to kick off your fall break weekend with some laughs and great music, as well as help out a good cause, check out the new Buttered Niblets this Friday, Oct. 10 at Arellano Theatre following Michael Moore's presentation.
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