It’s Friday night and you want to cut loose but it’s too early to go to the party, it’s too late for dinner, and you’re too broke to go do anything extravagant. What do you do?
Left Right Tim is CU’s only student-run improv comedy group who brings laughter to Boulder weekends. Founded in 2008 by Matt Barats and Richie Alfson, the group started out small with eight members who performed a few shows every month. Since then, the group has nearly doubled in size and now performs every Friday during the school year at 8 p.m. in Hale 270.
(Courtesy Left Right Time)
Left Right Tim provides students with an outlet to develop and work on comedic skills they may not otherwise be capable of. Blair Britt, a member of Left Right Tim member and 21-year-old senior evolutionary biology major said that the group fills a void on campus.
“CU doesn’t have a comedy program and I think LRT gives access to this very regular thing that goes beyond what other student groups have,” Britt said. “LRT is an opportunity to do something I have always liked. Being a part of it has really helped push me into doing comedy after I get out of school.”
Every week the members of Left Right Tim practice for hours, honing in on improv and comedy skills, learning skills crucial to life after college, and just spending time getting to know one another. Lauren Cross, Left Right Tim member and a 19-year-old sophomore political science major, said she likes to push boundaries in the group.
“Improv is a venue in my life where being a smart ass is commendable and I get to have unadulterated fun,” Cross said.
Along with holding shows every Friday night, the group also performs at different venues and competitions across the country and the world. The group performed at the Bovine Metropolis Theatre in Denver, participated in the College Improv Tournament and they performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland last August. This February they will be travelling to Kansas City, Mo. to compete in the College Improv Tour.
Not only do they compete, but the group also gives students a chance to learn how to improv as well. Every week, Cam Johnson, a Left Right Tim member, teaches interested students the fundamentals of improv as well as how to play improv games.
Dylan Bragassa, a Left Right Tim member and 19-year-old sophomore film studies major, said the group is always looking to connect with their fans.
“We all want to get better and meet more people who are interested in improv,” Bragassa said. “We want to be in the back of students’ minds.”
Beyond all of the workshops, shows and competitions, the group is fundamentally a community of close friends. Bragassa said members have a lot of fun together.
“We’re all friends who are super tight, kind of like a cool cult or a sports team without so much hazing,” Bragassa said. “We’re a family, I’m surrounded by people who are like-minded and weird like me.”
Members of Left Right Tim credit much of their success to their fans and fellow CU students.
“We wouldn’t exist without the fans,” Bragassa said. “We’re a student group that works with students for students, so there isn’t a bunch of arms and legs attached to it.”
Having attended several shows last semester, Corin Castro, a 21-year-old senior history and anthropology major, said he appreciates Left Right Tim’s charity shows.
“The charity shows bring more adults into the audience, not just students, so it raises the bar a little bit,” Castro said.
Left Right Tim is always looking for more “Lefties” and encourages passionate students to audition. Auditions to join the group will be held on Sept. 13 and 14 at 8 p.m. in Hale 270.
“You need to want it,” Bragrassa said. “We need people who are easy going, fun, goofs. We do this because we’re in love with it.”
To learn more about Left Right Tim visit their website or email them at improv@colorado.edu.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Crystal Anderson at crystal.anderson@colorado.edu.
