Mee-Ow Comedy Finds the Funny in Fashion
Mee-Ow Improv, a staple of Northwestern’s comedy scene since its founding in 1974, is taking a jab at the world of fashion in their first show of the year: “America’s Next Top Mee-Owdel.”
The format of Mee-Ow is tried and true. “Mee-Ow is a three-part, live, fully produced production. So it's part sketch comedy, part improv and then there's also a dance break in the middle where the audience gets up on stage,” said junior theatre major and returning producer Jaclyn Orlando.
Jake Curtis, senior RTVF major and co-director of Mee-Ow, sees the production as greater than the sum of its parts. “I like to think it's more of an event. It's not just the sketch, it's not just the improv, it’s not just the music, but it's kind of everything,” he said.
“It’s fun,” summarized senior theatre and linguistics major and co-director Ross Turkington. “That's the one word I'd say. It's fun. It's cute. We enjoy ourselves.”
“The spiel of it is that it's one-third sketch comedy, one-third improv, one-third rock ‘n’ roll,” explained junior theatre major Jasmine Sharma, a writer and performer for Mee-Ow. “But for the nine players on Mee-Ow, it's like 40 hours a week of writing and two hours of improv if we squeeze it in, but somehow the shows are so much fun that we decide we’ll do two of them in a quarter like crazy people.”
“It’s such an extensive amount of writing in such a short amount of time that it pushes you to your limit. It’s very hard to stay in your safety zone writing,” said Curtis. “I think it pushes you to change things up.”
Despite being around since the ‘70s, the Mee-Ow Show is invariably fresh and unexpected, thanks in part to its annual crop of new members. “We have a really high turnaround of people,” said Curtis. “The group's almost always majority seniors, so we usually lose over half the group every year.”
“The brainpower that we have in the group is wild. Between two members, you will never get the same sketch,” said Turkington.
“I just think that the cast we have right now is more cohesive than ever. Across the board, strong writers and strong performers. I'm excited to see the way they play off of each other,” said Orlando.
Additionally, every Mee-Ow Show has a new theme, usually a play on words, chosen by a group vote. This show’s theme, “America’s Next Top Mee-Owdel,” was proposed by Sharma.
“She [Sharma] mentioned it and everyone was like, ‘Yeah, we're good. That's a good one. Wrap it up,’” said Turkington. “Modeling is a huge part of our culture and modeling shows have been around for so long, so something that's a relevant theme that you can also generate a lot of content around is like a little golden nub.”
Given the large runway-like aisles in McCormick Auditorium, where the show will be performed, Sharma thought that a modeling theme would be the perfect fit. “McCormick’s a wacky space,” she said. “Getting to use this theme for this show specifically is gonna be fun.”
Curtis also revealed the theme’s ulterior motive. “We really wanted to look good in the promo pics. That was the big thing,” he joked.
In light of this show’s fashion-based inspiration, I had to know: what’s so funny about the world of fashion?
Sharma kept it short and sweet: “I think tearaway pants are funny.” Can’t argue there.
Curtis expressed a secret passion: “I think very tight clothing is funny. Anything spandex, lycra — I’m all in.”
On the other hand, Orlando found fault with the industry’s structure: “I think it’s funny that shows are not ready-to-wear. A fashion show is basically an abstract art show. It really should just happen in a museum. And then everybody takes it apart and analyzes it and critiques it, and then breaks down the designs just so that it can look like a normal t-shirt. I think it's hysterical. What business model is that? Who decided that?”
Finally, Turkington saw humor in his own lack of style: “I look in the mirror to see what my hair looks like before I leave and then I'm just fucking out. I throw the clothes on as secondary. But it's funny to me to see the stark difference between the troglodyte vibe that I have and the people who are so well put together.”
So, why should audiences come to the Mee-Ow Show?
“Mee-Ow is always new and exciting, which is the reason that I like to produce it,” said Orlando. “No show is the same. Every show features different sketches, slightly different songs, so it's a new show in itself. That's kind of the way it was conceived.”
“I just think we have a really good group of people this year who put in so much time into the writing,” said Sharma. “I think the sketches are stronger than they've ever been. The people who've been on Mee-Ow are always paying attention to the world around them in a way where then their sketches change as the world around them changes.” She paused. “Maybe that's douchey and I don't know what I'm saying.”
Find out for yourself if Mee-Ow is douchey or dazzling when Sharma and the rest of the players take the stage for “America’s Next Top Mee-Owdel,” showing Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 in McCormick Auditorium.
PHOTOSHOOT CREDITS:
Photographers: Grace Deng & Sara Gronich
Photoshoot Directors: Sebin Bok & Emily Burns
Makeup Design: Sebin Bok
Stylists: Miranda Andrade, Sean Malaisrie, Nicolas Petry-Mitchel & Annika de Vogel
Mee-Ow Cast: Jake Curtis, Ross Turkington, Willa Barnett, Jasmine Sharma, Carly Griffin-Fiorel, Arshad Baruti, Carden Katz, Sydney Feyder & Graham Kirstein
Photo Assistants: Nia Adurogbola, Sarah Loper & Samuel Maude