Do you have a family that, for kicks, pretends it can't stand up, talks in a Gothic style, and sings about chicken grillas? More importantly, is your family actually funny when it does this? Probably not.
But for the Cheap Sox family, that's the case. "It's really true that we're a big family," senior Gabby Buonassisi said. "This is so bad, I'm being so cheesy."
Maybe cheesy, but true, Cheap Sox is a tight-knit group of ten talented improvisational actors that has successfully established itself as one of Tufts' best performing groups.
While Cheap Sox always has a large attendance for its shows, the group looks forward to a big turnout at this weekend's Winter Comedy Showcase, where it will do a few things they've never done before: host other improv troupes, and perform on consecutive nights. Sunday night, This is Pathetic from Emerson College, and Strange Bedfellows from Bates College will open the show. ImprovBoston (a professional troupe), and Harvard's IGP will perform on Monday night. The show will feature Cheap Sox both nights, one night in a long form and the other in a short form.
Senior and director Jeremy Wang-Iverson explains that short form improv is games - popularized by the show Who's Line Is It Anyway - such as party quirks and tridub (where characters on stage speak for one another). Long form skits are more like improvised plays, where the group takes an audience suggestion and keeps building on one scene for about 25 minutes.
Up until last year, Cheap Sox was primarily a short-form troupe. But after former director Sean Cusick (LA '00) introduced and encouraged the long-form style, the group has been working it into its shows.
So far, Tufts audiences have been less receptive to this new style than they are to the familiar games. But Wang-Iverson hopes that will soon change. "Hopefully it will start to grow on them as they see it more and we get better at it," he said.
Cheap Sox is composed of seniors Wang-Iverson, Buonassisi, and Rachel Evans, juniors Charlie Semine, Melissa Holman, and Rah-nee Kelly, sophomores Allan Rice and Graham Griffin, and freshmen David Greene and Stephanie Schussel - a group of people who exercise their drama muscles outside of the improv scene, as well. Greene, Semine, Wang-Iverson, and Holman were all featured in the drama department's Romeo and Juliet, Schussel was in the freshman play The Marriage of Bette and Boo, and Evans is part of Hype!, Tufts' mime group.
Cheap Sox members also work behind the scenes. Kelly will direct 3Ps' major production Stop Kiss next semester, and Holman and Evans recently directed some 3Ps minor plays. To add to the varied list of talents, Rice has his own show on TUTV, and he and Wang-Iverson hosted the Sarabande Super-Show this past Sunday.
There is a strong bond within the members of Cheap Sox that shows when one watches them on stage. They play off of one another with skill, laughing and applauding fellow Sox when they're on the mark.
And the closeness translates to life off the stage. Evans has been in Cheap Sox since her freshman year and said the group has been an important part of her Tufts experience. Performers treat one another like family and always have each other to fall back on.
"We look out for each other, we hang out together," Buonassisi agreed. She said that last year, while abroad in Chile and Spain, Cheap Sox was what she missed the most at Tufts.
This bond has been particularly helpful to Greene, who was originally recruited to Tufts to play football. After having to sit out part of the season because of illness, he immediately jumped into the drama scene. Semine talked him into trying out for Cheap Sox, and soon Greene found his niche.
"Everyone in Cheap Sox is genuinely funny," Greene said. "Half the fun of being in Cheap Sox is just being in Cheap Sox." Though a freshman, he felt an immediate bond with the group, which helped make his transition to college much easier. "If I need something, I know someone in Cheap Sox can help me out."
The only downfall to improv-ing that the Sox seem to feel is the nervousness almost all of the members get right before a show. "Everyone is really tense, but it's a happy tense," explained Evans, who said she has gained more confidence on the improv stage over the years.
Although Cheap Sox practices an average of six hours a week (consisting mostly of warm-ups and playing games), it has no idea whether you will succeed or fail on any given night, Greene said.
Wang-Iverson stressed that this weekend's shows will be great because all of the featured groups have diverse styles. Cheap Sox is using the Balch Arena Theater for it showcase, making the show "infinitely better," Wang-Iverson said.
Cheap Sox "Winter Holiday Showcase" will show at Balch Arena Theater on Sunday, Dec. 9, and Monday, Dec. 10. Both shows are at 9 p.m. Tickets are $3 at the box office.
