One of the biggest fears that people have is public speaking, so imagine having to speak publicly without any script. This is what students in Buena’s improv club do under the leadership of seniors Aryanna Morales and Gianni Nicolini.

The club meets every Friday in Room 160 at lunch. Students and teachers come together to perform scenes from their own minds or using prompts that Morales and Nicolini have prepared.

“Usually, we have an audience. We get volunteers to join on stage and play games,” Morales said.

The games that the club plays are chosen by Nicolini and Morales. One game they’ve played is called “Freeze Change.” After two people have begun to perform a scene of their choosing, someone in the audience will yell “Freeze!” and replace the person who has been on stage the longest to start an entirely new scene.

Some may feel apprehensive about having to get up on stage and come up with a scene from the top of their head. However, Nicolini believes that this should not discourage people from attending.

“Anybody that’s going up there is panicking for their life,” Nicolini said. “Even people who have experience, it’s still scary for them.”

While both facilitators feel empathy towards newcomers to improv, they believe that the stress they’ll feel is ultimately rewarding.

“They will definitely get out of their comfort zone,” Morales said. “I was quiet and shy, but when I did it, I loved it. I met amazing, new people who were very outgoing and it very much brought me out of my shell.”

The two facilitators have thought about the future of the club and where they’d like to take it as participants grow more comfortable with the games.

“We’re working on writing different games and seeing how flexible our usual comers are,” Nicolini said. “The more people that come, the [likelier a] chance we have of having people come on and just do stand up.”

The club leaders have even been discussing the idea of having a quarterly event to take the club beyond weekly lunch periods.

“We want to have an improv night [where] we have parents participate as well,” Morales said.

While Buena previously had an improv club prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the club did not return when students were allowed to attend school in person. Now they’re back to continue taking the stage and playing games.

“We just want to have fun.” Morales said.