BWW Blog: Cracking Up

"I'm going to branch out"-the famous last words of every newly-minted college student. In high school, I was tightly wound, unamused, and narrowly focused on anything that would add value to my college applications. Anything extraneous, anything that didn't show leadership ability or dedication to community service, was a non-starter for sixteen-year-old me. But, by the time I reached move-in day at Allegheny, I was completely disillusioned with the mythical resume and ready to uncover the parts of myself that had long been hiding. That's where the Egg Detectives came in.

I have loved Whose Line Is It Anyway for a long time-I spent the majority of my wisdom teeth recovery watching compilations of Whose Line on YouTube, laughing until I made my mouth hurt even more than it did before. The idea of joining the college improv group tickled the part of my brain that was much braver than the rest of me. That part of my brain chooses to forget the vague yet nagging anxiety that comes with me being onstage instead of in the prompt corner. Up until the last second, I maintained to my roommate that I "hadn't decided" if I was going to auditions. Somehow, in spite of myself, I ended up sitting outside the rehearsal room, tapping my foot and regretting my decisions.

The audition was nerve-wracking, but I told myself to just let loose and have fun. I can come off as uptight and anxious at the best of times, and I had never had a space to just be unabashedly silly. A few days later, I got the email-I was in. The hard part was just beginning. I was convinced that my audition was a fluke, that it was beginner's luck. Now I had to find that confidence within myself once a week at rehearsals and (I didn't even want to think about this part) at shows.

Joining the Egg Detectives was, without question, both the craziest and best thing I did during my first year of college. Despite being a little group, we were mighty. I found fast friends within the Eggs, and since we go to small college with an even smaller theatre department, I discovered that there was a whole network of friends-of- friends that would take me under their wing and help me out. Most importantly, I found a part of me that I was sure didn't-or rather, couldn't-exist. I was never the funny one in high school, and definitely not the center of attention. I was the emergency homework checker and paper editor, the book summarizer and the study guide reviewer. It felt good to have everyone see me in a different light, as a person who could get up onstage and pretend to be a cowboy or make up terrible slam poetry on the spot, seemingly not caring about what the audience thinks.

Call us what you want-hard-boiled, scrambled, devilishly funny-the Egg Detectives are where I found my place in my first year of college, and I can't wait to get back in the frying pan and crack another case.

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