The Black V has been expanding their repertoire of games; they have two new games called Yogema and Gooby.
Junior theatre major and Black V member Becky Ochoa brought the basic concept of Yogema back with her from KCACTF, a theater festival that Northwestern students attend yearly.
“I learned the basis of Yogema at KCACTF in a long form improv intensive workshop I was a part of during the week. It was a bunch of random people coming together learning how to improv, and Yogema was one of the forms we learned,” Ochoa said. “I liked it and wanted to try it with the V. So I brought it back, explained it, and it worked.”
Though the V tweaked the game to be a little more open-ended, the core of the game is the same.
Alexander Lowry, a sophomore theatre major on the V, explained that Yogema “starts off with stories we tell that actually happened to us, which we then draw inspiration from.”
After being introduced at their last performance, the game was well-received by both the members and the audience.
“It ended with me, a German rapper named Hans Epithet against Kitrick Fynaardt as third-grader Timmy Chris. It was funny and we learned all about unions and workers’ rights,” Lowry said.
“For Gooby, we start with a vignette, and each person tells a short monologue that we then use to inspire our characters,” Lowry said, adding that it’s not very structured, which fits the Black V’s style.
Warren Duncan, a senior theatre major on the Black V who helped in naming the new games, compared them to other types of shows the Black V performs.
“They are not actually super different from some of the games we normally play,” Duncan said. “They have the same basic principles, with just a few adjusted rules. We are all trying to craft a story; the new games just give us different rules on how to do so.”
Duncan explained that the V decided to expand on some of their games in order to bring new experiences for themselves and the audience.
“The V is compiled of ridiculously imaginative people who are always bringing in new ideas for games. So when we hear an idea, we run with it,” Duncan said. “It’s really like, ‘Hey, I have this new game idea.’ ‘Awesome! Let’s try it.’”
According to Duncan, the open-minded and creative nature of the team has helped them launch into new types of games that will hopefully stay around after these members leave. It is also nice for the members to have some varying length in their new games.
“The new games are very fun and quick,” Duncan said. “We have a lot of fun playing them.”
Both Duncan and Lowry are excited about the potential that the new games bring for growth on the team and hope that they can continue to invent new ways to improv.
“We’re always looking into new stuff, so be on the lookout for more,” Lowry said. “We want to really stretch the limits of what we do, so there’s some really extreme ideas floating around right now that might surface soon.”
Duncan also mentioned that they’re always trying new games to use. Many of the types of shows that the Black V perform, such as game shows, scenes shows and saucy bombs have been around for years. The members this year hope to expand on that repertoire for future members.
The next Black V show will take place on Monday March 26 at 8:52 p.m. in the Proscenium theatre.
