A couple of weekends ago I saw my absolute favorite performance group on campus (not a compliment to be taken lightly from someone who lived in a dorm full of theater and performing arts majors her freshman year), Mee-Ow. It was the perfect way to spend a Thursday night. Mee-Ow is a comedy group that performs with a band, and the show is one-third improv comedy, one-third sketch comedy and one-third rock n’ roll.  The troupe is made up of a dozen or so of some of the funniest people I’ve ever met on campus, and I literally spend two hours guffawing with laughter every time they perform. The always-fantastic student live band does covers of both recent and throwback songs  — Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” was a big crowd pleaser at last Thursday’s show — to provide dance breaks during the set.  The improv games are my favorite portion; they’re creative and require just the right amount of audience participation. My favorite from Thursday had two audience members provide the sound effects for one scene: Watching two of my peers try (and fail) to make the appropriate sounds for Mee-Ow members acting as two bumbling white collar jewel thieves was hilarious.

Mee-Ow’s sketch comedy is also fairly Northwestern-referential, so the jokes always go over well. As a result the whole show feels very intimate — the vibe is similar to the informal atmospheres at comedy clubs, but the added bonus for me is that I get to cheer on and witness the comic development of my classmates who’ve been performing with Mee-Ow for years! Because of the sense of community, but mainly because it’s two full hours of belly-burning laughter, I’m a complete Mee-Ow groupie.

–Ava Wallace

photo source: Mee-Ow’s Facebook.