The plotlines are absurd and unrealistic, but that's okay. Most people would probably die laughing if life were just half as hilarious as a Major: Undecided sketch.
This Saturday, the group will perform their aptly titled show, Major: Undecided Goes to Church, in Goddard Chapel.
The sketches performed will address a wide range of subjects, notably dead bodies, hypothetical vaginas and submarines. The group's humor ranges from the literary to slapstick to locker room varieties. Though its audience regularly bursts out laughing, the members of Major: Undecided somehow manage to keep straight faces, remaining exuberant in their performance and solid in their delivery.
Major's assortment of topics and styles is impressive. In "Two Bodies, One Grave," the group gives voice to its morbid side as two families debate over how to bury their recently deceased loved ones. "Haiku" is an original and effective stab at poetic humor; three characters each speak in a different type of poetry (haiku, couplet and limerick), making an everyday situation extraordinary. One of the group's first sketches, "Shawshank," addresses the pressure that students face as they attempt to complete their academic careers at Tufts.
That's one topic that hits close to home for Major: Undecided this year; its founding members will graduate in May and head out into the real world. Having declared their own majors long ago, these intrepid comedians will leave their group in the hands of the younger students they brought into the fold.
The founders of Major: Undecided met their freshman year in a comedic theater and performance class taught by then seniors Graham Griffin and Allan Rice through the Experimental College. Although most classes don't make for great bonding time, the members had become friends by the end of the semester, and they were looking for a way to continue seeing each other.
"That class was unique because we all became good friends and hung out a lot outside of class," President Luke Yu, a senior, said. "[Major: Undecided] was a great way to stay together after the class was over."
Some of the group's original members had previous experience with theater, but putting together a comedy sketch performance from scratch was difficult.
"We were all learning together," senior Jonathan Silver said.
Much has changed since Major: Undecided first performed at Tufts. The group has grown to include around 35 members and is much more selective about the show's content.
"For our first show, we performed everything we wrote, which was around four sketches. Now we perform less than 1/4 of what we write," senior Meghan Fenzel said.
"We've become a lot more selective," Silver said, "Now we only perform the cream of the crop."
Major's upcoming show includes around 15 sketches, all of which were voted to be included in the performance. The sketches are written by students working in pairs, and after they're approved, the authors cast the sketch. Rehearsal ensues.
According to Major's senior members, the most difficult part of getting a show together is communication between actors and authors.
"The hardest part is getting the actors to figure out what the writer's idea was," Silver said.
Major's founders are proud of how the group has grown since its inception. They cite a strong freshmen presence as evidence that Major: Undecided will be around long after they leave.
"It's pretty awesome to know that the group will at least outlive our academic careers. It's sad to leave, but awesome to see it continue," senior Eric Misbach said. "I'm proud of the troupe as a whole, and I think they'll always be strong from the bottom up."
"It's great seeing the dynamic change, and seeing that the group will continue," Yu said.
All in all, the founders of Major: Undecided are confident in the quality and longevity of the group they created four years ago.
"It's really funny and so accessible. It's better than 'SNL'," Fenzel said.
Major: Undecided offers a decisively hilarious show. They will perform twice, once at 7 p.m. and once at 9 p.m. Tickets are $3 for the 7 p.m. show and $5 for the 9 p.m. show.
