Monthly Fooligans Show a Hit with Students

The Fooligans performed their monthly comedy show in Adler Theater on Sunday night. The Fooligans, Ramapo College’s improv troupe, are a part of AYO, the theater honor society on campus.

Sunday night’s showing consisted of nine students. Their performances were made up of a number of skits where each Fooligan must use their improvisational skills to entertain the crowd. The actors performed in an intimate environment, with rows filled with people watching their skits.

“I love the Fooligans. They are a unique group,” said freshman Christina Gallego. “They’re very entertaining.”

When entering Adler Theater for the show, AYO had a concession station set up outside the theater.

“It’s a free show, but we always hold concessions,” said junior Rachel Valovcin. “We are trying to raise money for AYO’s dance at the end of the spring semester. Holding shows like the Fooligans is a great way to bring students together and a way to support each other, whether it’s to raise money or to get involved. It’s hilarious, it’s fun, it’s a great environment to be in.”    

The Fooligans had a seven-skit lineup for the night that were full of laughs and surprises. Being that much of the show is audience-centered, nobody knows what the Fooligans are going to do next, which makes everything fresh and interesting. The improv talent was truly incredible, especially the way they all blended together. Skits that received the most laughs and applause were “Whose Line?” “Costumer Service” and “Character Wheel.”  

“Whose Line?” was a big hit with the audience; the lines are all written by students and pulled at random by two Fooligans when they are acting out their skit. What was so engaging about this skit was the audience contributions. A lot of the students who contributed in this skit used bizarre lines to throw the actors for a loop.

The skit “Costumer Service” consists of four actors in a scene, and one Fooligan plays the role of trying to guess what the other three actors are doing–in this case, returning items to a store. The audience got to choose what the actors would be returning, and by using their acting skills, it was up to the sole Fooligan to try to guess what they were acting out.

The Fooligans‘ last skit of the night was “Character Wheel.”

“My favorite skit to participate in is ‘Character Wheel.’ It is a 15-20 minute game where each of us get to be a part of,” said sophomore Warren Dolan. “It not only shows individual creativity and the character that you create, but it allows us to work together and show how we can smoothly make each character blend together in a world that wouldn’t exist outside of an improv show.”

The Fooligans as a whole stated that participating in this improv group is a good way to express themselves, and once again, they put on a great show full of laughs, creativity and unity.

“We are Fooligans as a whole, nine people coming together, going out there and completely trusting each other,” said senior co-troupe leader Dan Kropa.   

jrinzuel@ramapo.edu