Just horsing around
September 27, 2023
The curtain opens in the Fine Arts Center at High Point University. Eleven students in matching T-shirts step out. The auditorium erupts with laughter for the next hour. The audience is included in the show as they get to yell out suggestions for each game that is played on stage. That’s the beauty of improvisational theatre, that’s the beauty of Charcoal Pony.
Improvisational theatre (improv) is a form of comedic theater where the performance is unscripted, it can go any way the audience wants it to. It requires quick thinking and a tight-knit team of performers to be able to successfully pull off improv scenes and make them funny.
High Point University’s improv group, Charcoal Pony, works together to put on memorable and hilarious shows for students multiple times a semester. The group has been around for 12 years. They practice during the week to make sure they can put on the best shows possible.
“It’s a group of people who aren’t there to judge you,” said Hallie Carver, the president of the group, “it’s a space where we can laugh at and with one another.”
Their shows consist of a variety of improv games, each game featuring different ponies. Most of the games include suggestions from the audience, making each performance completely different and unpredictable.
A member of the group will “call” each game, meaning they explain to the audience what the game will consist of, pick the audience suggestions that are used, and control the timing of the scenes. Before each game starts the member calling the game will shout “3… 2… 1… PONY!” To which the other ponies will jump up in the air, spinning an imaginary lasso, and respond “RIDE IT!”
“I went to a show my freshman year before I even knew what Pony was,” said Carver, “I was in the front row, and I found the president at the time, after the show, asking when auditions were. I knew I needed to be doing this.”
The practices themselves are full of smiles and laughter just like the shows. They practice different improv games with members of the group shouting out their own suggestions for a location, object, or relationship for a scene to be based around.
Even when practicing, the ponies are dedicated to their performance and go full-out creating eccentric characters and environments. Just one practice can include a trip to the top of the Statue of Liberty, the tension between sisters-in-law, and a character called “the scrunchie man” all made up on the spot.
Holding auditions and open practices every year, the group added three new ponies to the stables this fall. The older members help the new ponies with aspects like creating funny characters or building the environment of a scene out of nothing. The group has to be able to feed off one another in a scene they make up together on the spot.
Carver shared that over the past few years, the members of the group have become closer than ever. They work together and learn from one another to complete one goal: make the audience laugh.
Carver wants to be able to focus more on outreach this year to create more learning opportunities for students who are not a part of Charcoal Pony, but who are interested in the group. She wants to utilize the group’s social media presence to make educational videos about how to play some of the games they perform. Carver plans to host multiple more open practice opportunities where any student can come play improv games with the group.
“This was the first thing that made me feel like I had a place at college,” said Carver, “I am happy to be able to give back to the group that gave so much to me.”
For more information about Charcoal Pony and upcoming performances, they can be found on Instagram @charcoal_pony.
