Festival of Fools hosts annual Halloween show

 Courtesy Photo / The Bison 

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The improv troupe, Festival of Fools, includes: (clockwise from left) Jacob Brown, Ethan Wood, Kaeley Mastin, Bayleigh Platter, Larashleigh Wallace, Justin Glover, Garrett Wheeler, Anna Smolen, Anna Caughlin, Zack Coake, Gabe Barnes. 

They have hosted several shows this semester. 

 Morgan Jackson

Arts Editor

Thursday, Oct. 22, Festival of Fools, Oklahoma Baptist University’s resident improv troupe hosted their annual Halloween themed show in the Potter Auditorium located in Raley Chapel, cleverly titled, “Night of the Living Fools.”

Festival of Fools is made up of students with various areas of study and interests who all share a common love for all things comedy and improv. 

This year, the group is led by co-captains Kaeley Mastin and Ethan Wood. 

The other members of the group are: Bayleigh Platter, Garrett Wheeler, Anna Smolen, Larashleigh Wallace, Gabriel Barnes, Justin Glover, Anna Caughlin, Zack Coak and Jacob Brown.

The energy present in the room prior to the show was nearly tangible. 

It is evident that many friend groups carved time out of their night to ensure that they had the chance to see the last improv show of the semester. 

Halloween costumes were encouraged, and it was fun to see some audience members arise to that occasion in a big way.

The show was hosted by troupe members Garrett Wheeler and Zack Coak.

After a fittingly spooky introduction, the show began with short-form comedy games that had the crowd laughing and fully engaged. 

The audience very eagerly supplied the hosts with scene suggestions, showing their committed interest to the show.

One particularly fun game that was played is known as Half-life. 

The actors would act the same scene out, cutting the time in half each time- starting at one minute and ending with a seven second scene.

Anna Caughlin and Bayleigh Platter both committed to hilarious, energized characters who were miners having a squabble over territory. 

The end result was truly ridiculous, and had the audience booming.

Another memorable game was The People’s Court. 

The troupe divided into two teams to debate a very serious issue: cake v. pie. 

Host Garrett Wheeler served as a judge for the decision, deciding which arguments and objections were worthy of further explanation.

There was a brief intermission, during which, co-captains Ethan Wood and Kaeley Mastin hosted a costume competition for the audience members. 

There were some truly inspired costumes in the audience, including some old ladies, Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, a scientist and other highly creative concepts. 

The troupe awarded the top three costumes with prizes.

After intermission, the troupe moved into more long-form improv. 

A Halloween-themed game led to hilarity involving a graveyard (sometimes you just have to be there). 

Overall, the show was a great success and a wonderful way for the troupe to wrap up their fall semester.

“With the success of the past two shows, I’m looking forward to next semester, especially to see how much we can push to improve and deliver even more quality shows,” Wood said.

Festival of Fools had been hard at work prior to this performance, practicing on Thursdays and Sundays from 10 to 12 p.m. 

Their rehearsals later in the semester were open to students, allowing those interested to get a look inside the process, and allowing them to participate in games if they wanted to. 

These rehearsals created a fun environment for everyone involved and provided a good outlet for those who desperately need a laugh. Festival of Fools is expected to hold auditions for the troupe next semester.