On Friday at 7:30 p.m., Baton Rouge will be sent into laughter from spontaneous jokes as Family Dinner Improv Comedy Troupe performs at the Hartley/Vey Studio Theatre.
Comedian Robert Rau said the improv group has been together for 12 or 13 years, and started because there was an improv interest coming out of LSU.
Rau became a part of Family Dinner after the original lineup of comedians had formed, deeply inspired by their performance.
“I joined because I was looking for something else other than stand-up comedy, and they were performing at Garden District Coffee,” he said. “I saw their show, and after a couple of months they invited me to join the because they needed new members.”
Family Dinner is closely connected with LSU’s history, as most of the original members are LSU alumni. Rau graduated from the university in 1999.
Despite being an integral part of the comedy scene in Baton Rouge, Family Dinner comes from humble beginnings.
“We first started out at a coffee shop, we performed at laser tag in Baton Rouge, which was a great space, but you wouldn’t people walking into a laser tag place wanting to enjoy comedy,” Rau said. “The manship has probably been the best place we’ve had for productions like ours”.
Now, the improv troupe often holds comedy nights at LSU’s Manship Theatre, as well as weekly practice.
“There’s a practice on Sundays at three [p.m.] at the manship, it’s a free practice, if anybody wants to get in the door that’s the best way to do it,” he said.
When it comes to the audience, Family Dinner maintains a policy of appealing to the audience’s sense of humor, despite the various types of humor any given audience may have.
“We’re looking at an audience with a wide range of ideals, it’s not really one thing, it’s going towards whatever the audience is laughing at,” Rau said.
The comedian said their style is mostly short gauge, meaning they primarily use short jokes instead of longer forms. He calls their jokes topical and more sarcastic.
The troupe also keeps audience participation in mind, but isn’t brash or forceful about this aspect of their performance.
“If they want us to interact with them then we do, we don’t make it seem like we have to do it, because there’s plenty of people who do not want to come on stage and interact with us, we totally understand that,” Rau said.
Tickets to the event are general admission and cost $3.50.