On the Spot
This improv actor will do anything for a laugh, including curse you out.
Photo by Krysta Johnson
A former believer that acting was childish, Jaeger now
loves improvisation and does all that he can to make
sure the audience is entertained.
Brian Jaeger thinks PG-13 is lame.
During an improvisation show in Jacksonville, he cursed incessantly. In the middle of his performance, the stage manager pulled him aside and told him the show was “PG-13.” Trying to “kick it up a notch,” Jaeger spilled out more profanity. Only after the show ended did he realize that “PG-13” meant family-oriented.
James Gallen, an improvisation actor at the University of Florida, says the story demonstrates that Jaeger will do just about anything to make a show better. He is never afraid to take his performance to the next level so that the audience can have the best viewing experience possible. Gallen believes that even though Jaeger is labeled as the profane one in the group, he is still one of its cleverest members.
Jaeger is a member of Theatre Strike Force, a class at UF and the largest improvisation group in the nation. He is also a member of The Sunday Group, a branch of Theatre Strike Force that one must audition for, which is made up of eight members and two alternate members. Jaeger has been involved with the two groups since the fall semester of 2003 and will continue with them until he graduates in 2006.
In The Sunday Group, Jaeger and his fellow members work on strengthening long-form improvisation, instead of the jumpy, fast-paced form used in the show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” Long-form improvisation focuses on developing monologues and scenes from specific material that is gathered from the audience.
One style of improvisation developed at UF that The Sunday Group uses is the “North Carolina.” In this form, the group starts out by going into the audience and asking a question, which could be something like, “If your house is burning down, what is the one thing other than photo albums, children or dogs that you would want to save?” The audience member’s answer becomes the inspiration for the scene. The group will perform monologues and various scenarios that are connected to the answer and the show unravels from there.