Cheap laughs can go a long way toward making a valuable contribution to one's community; at least, that's the idea behind this weekend's first annual Laughs of Love comedy festival, sponsored by Cheap Sox, Tufts' improvisational comedy troupe. The festival, which will feature performances by four Tufts comedy groups and eight groups from other schools, will last from tonight until this Saturday. All proceeds will go to Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings together youth from conflict-ridden areas across the globe in the hope that future generations will be able to coexist peacefully. Bringing comedians together
Senior Padden Murphy, president of Cheap Sox, first came up with the idea that grew into Laughs of Love two years ago. Cheap Sox travels to other schools around the Northeast to perform, partnering with other groups for shows. The group has never sponsored a comedy festival at Tufts before, however, and there are many nearby groups that they've never worked with. Murphy wanted to change that.
"Basically my thinking was: There are a huge number of schools in the area, and we hadn't performed with a lot of these troupes," Murphy said. "I thought it would be fun."
Murphy cites the quality of the performance spaces at Tufts as one reason for having a comedy festival on campus. The festival will take place in a different venue each day, hitting Goddard Chapel on Thursday, Sophia Gordon on Friday and Balch Arena Theater on Saturday.
"I'm really excited to show these visiting schools our performance spaces," Murphy said. The benefits of laughter
Murphy was introduced to the Seeds of Peace through Tufts' Institute for Global Leadership (IGL), which has a special relationship with the organization; Tufts helped the charity by training its first counselors in mediation and leadership. The counselors went on to organize the first conference between 46 students from Israel, Eygpt and Palestine. Sixteen years later, the program has expanded to include more than 3,000 youth from Pakistan, India, Cyprus and the Balkans. Murphy said Seeds of Peace "seemed like the perfect avenue for our support" because "it doesn't get less controversial than helping kids who've had a rough go."
"As far as Tufts' focus on active citizenship, it seemed like the perfect organization to help out," Murphy continued. "This is the first time I've ever worked with them. I've heard of them, and I talked with [IGL Director] Sherman Teichman and I suggested Seeds of Peace. It seemed like a no-brainer. Serendipitously, their first group was trained at Tufts in Tilton and Bush hall, so I got in touch with them and they were excited to work with us."
Senior and Cheap Sox member Joshua Altman said the festival is largely the result of Murphy's avid interest in IGL and his desire to use comedy for a greater purpose.
"This kind of show has always been his dream; he's been trying to get something like it to happen for about two years to combine his two interests," Altman said.
But while Murphy was the primary impetus for the festival, Altman emphasized that "Cheap Sox as a whole is delighted to participate."
According to Murphy, a representative from Seeds of Peace will be giving a short speech on Saturday night in order to inform audience members about the organization. He stressed, however, that the speech would only last around two minutes and that "the focus will be on the comedy."
Sophomore Brian Agler, who is involved in two Tufts groups that will be performing at the festival, The Institute and Major:Undecided, believes that Laughs of Love is an important demonstration of how student groups can be both entertaining and beneficial.
"I like how comedy groups at Tufts show how we're not just out to get a few laughs but also to do some real work," Agler said. "I've been really impressed by everyone's attitude about this show. I believe that comedy can have a purpose for the greater good." Whom to invite?
In deciding which groups to invite to the festival, Cheap Sox looked to groups that they had worked with in the past and did research on groups at surrounding schools. When Cheap Sox approached other groups with the idea for a benefit comedy festival, the response was immediate and nearly overwhelming. Even though many schools had to decline to participate because of spring break, so many schools wanted to be involved that Cheap Sox had to refuse some groups the opportunity.
"It's been remarkable because we've had more demand than we can really fill," Murphy said. "We've had to turn troupes away."
Housing and feeding the other groups has been the only major challenge. Murphy noted that he "will have a house full of comedians" this weekend as many groups are crashing at the apartments of Cheap Sox members. Cheap Sox plans to use money it received from the Tufts Entertainment Board and the Tufts Community Union Senate to feed visiting groups. Laughs of Love lineup
Laughs of Love comedy festival will feature four Tufts groups and eight comedy groups from other universities in the Northeast. Cheap Sox will perform all three days of the festival, bringing their usual style of long and short improvised comedy to the stage as well as encouraging audience participation through games. They will be joined by The Institute and Major:Undecided on Thursday and HYPE! on Saturday.
The Institute, Tufts' newest comedy group, specializes in film shorts, many of which are posted on YouTube.com. According to Murphy, The Institute will be joined by a professional video troupe on Friday.
Major:Undecided, a comedy sketch group, did something unusual in preparation for the festival. Typically, Major:Undecided performs only new material at each show, but this time, members searched the group's archives for classic sketches and chose some of their favorites to perform.
"A lot of people haven't seen some of the best stuff we have, and because we just had a show we don't have any new material to premiere," Agler, Major:Undecided's co-director of public relations, said.
Students will also get a chance to see groups from off the Hill this weekend. Tonight, Boston College's My Mother's Fleabag, the oldest collegiate improv group in the country, will join Cheap Sox, Major:Undecided and the Institute in Goddard Chapel from 8 to 11 p.m.
On Friday, Boston University's Sons of Liberty, Clark University's Peapod Squad and UMass Boston: Improv with Attitude will hit the stage with Cheap Sox in Sophia Gordon from 8 to 11 p.m. The professional group We Do Stand Up will also participate.
Two groups from Emerson College, This Is Pathetic and Jimmy's Traveling All-Stars, will perform on Saturday night in Balch Arena Theater from 8 to 11 p.m with Amherst College's Mr. Gad's, Northeastern University's NU and Improved, HYPE! and Cheap Sox. Tickets are $5 at the door and $10 for a weekend pass. All proceeds will go to Seeds of Peace.
In addition to this weekend's performances, Cheap Sox will also hold an open workshop at noon on Saturday to teach the fundamentals of improv comedy. There will be a small charge for participating. The workshop will "show the community how the groups prepare, what the process is, allow them to try it out, have fun and fundraise," according to Altman.
Cheap Sox will also sell $15 T-shirts for the festival. In the future
Murphy said that he intends for Laughs of Love to be an annual event and hopes to establish a good relationship with the groups attending the festival this weekend as well as accommodate the groups next year that were turned away this time.
"If nothing else, I hope we develop a tradition of Laughs of Love and it will gain some understanding about Seeds of Peace in the Tufts community," Murphy said. "I'm grateful to the participants for giving us their time and humor and doing it all for a good cause."
