The Buttered Niblets, Hopkins's own improv troupe, put on a comedy show that will never be replicated on Oct. 21st.
The show got off to a rocky start when two of the group's members stood on the sides of the theatre, shirtless, attempting to mimic each other. No one in the theatre seemed to take notice of the two strange gyrating men, and it did not add to the atmosphere in the slightest.
Thankfully, things started to pick up as the show began. This particular show included the introduction of three new members to their group. For the most part, the three seemed very confident in their abilities and contributed to the show in a very positive manner.
The show started out with the "Dating Game" in which two members of the group were on a first date and two others sat beside them, speaking as their inner thoughts. It was fairly successful, earning the occasional laugh from the audience.
Then they moved on to the next game in which three people rotated through three different scenes between two of the three people. The game was very funny at first but unfortunately it dragged on for a bit too long. The audience cringed collectively in one particular scene, which involved a father and son discussing a Rubik's Cube.
Although good at first, it took an inappropriate joke just a little too far. The next game was one of the most humorous in the entire show. The audience yelled out the name of a made-up Shakespeare play, Clementines in the Winter, and two members of the Buttered Niblets acted out various scenes from the play.
Their ability to come up with humorous Shakespeare-inspired lines on the spot was exceptional and had the audience in hysterics. The next game involved the audience giving three text messages they had received that were humorous outside of their context.
This led to three separate scenes. The first scene involved a little boy who wanted his rubber duck back from the shower and his mother who was currently showering.
Again, the Buttered Niblets lets took it just one step too far. The second was a rather strange scene between a diner owner, a customer who refused to drink liquids, only ice and the customer's wife.
The idea was very original and humorous, but sadly, since there were not many places to go from there, it ended quickly. When they came back to that scene later, however, they took it in a new direction, with the husband bullying the wife into hitting a pizza deliveryman.
It was endlessly funny and more than made up for the abrupt ending of the first part of that scene. The last scene was about a woman who was pregnant and decided to get an abortion but still wanted a "surprise fetus party." There were jokes about fetus shoes and loot bags at the party with fetus-shaped chocolate. They finished the scene with the eating of the fetus.
The end of that particular scene could not come soon enough.
During the next game, four of the Buttered Niblets attempted to market two items yelled out from the audience, snow globes and stress balls. It was very entertaining, with only one moment of slip up when they themselves started to laugh at their own jokes.
The Buttered Niblets next explained they would be playing a game entitled, "It's Boring." Turns out, the title of the game was extremely accurate. After the audience yelled out the location of a trailer park, they spent a few minutes sitting on stage pretending to sip beers in a trailer park. Another member of the Buttered Niblets brought them a new case of pretend beers when they ran out and that was the end of that.
The audience sat in silence, unsure of how to respond to such a scene. Thankfully, they quickly moved on to their next game in which they had a panel of experts answer questions they had the audience write down as they came in.
The game was momentarily interrupted when, what one can only assume was a mouse, ran beneath the Buttered Niblets' chairs. However, they were unfazed and continued with their current game.
It was extremely comical, but the best moment actually came from one of the questions a member of the audience had written. They explained, "My boyfriend spits on me in the shower and then slaps his stomach and says he's the champ," before asking what they should do.
The Buttered Niblets ended their show with songs about a member of the audience. They made the best of a somewhat unfortunate situation, picking a girl from the audience who did not seem able to grasp a few of their questions, and ended on a humorous note.
The show was the perfect amount of time. It didn't drag on and it left you wanting more. Although there were some cringe-worthy moments, on the whole it was highly entertaining and, considering it was improvised, extremely impressive.
