Get your funny bone hit by 'Oncoming Traffic'
FSU theatre students provide free laughs, antics on and off campus
Photo courtesy Oncoming Traffic Expect lots of laughter when local improv comedy group Oncoming Traffic performs at Club Downunder
by Jan Bennardini September 30, 2004
"One hundred panties walk into a bar," Oncoming Traffic member Dorian Norman said during a recent Union Green performance. "The bartender says, 'We don't serve your kind around here.' The panties say, 'Fine, then we'll just take off.'"
Not bad for something off the top of her head. This "game," as the troupe's members call their different types of vignettes and skits, is "100 (fill in the blank) walked into a bar." The audience supplies the noun to be used in the joke, so the performers have no idea what to expect and they must think fast in order to hold the audience.
Oncoming Traffic is composed of FSU undergrads and grad students with about 20 rotating members, including a stage manager and technical director. Not all 20 members are always present, but it doesn't take that many theater kids to create hours of entertainment. With its informal shows on the Union Green (usually once a week during the cool evening hours), one can stop by for just 30 minutes of fun after class or an entire evening of chuckles.
"Armed with a whole lot of nothing, Oncoming Traffic is ready for anything," the troupe said on its Web site. The group has a repertoire of "games" that are often familiar to fans of the troupe, and audience members often request their favorites. These games provide a scenario to be acted out by the performers and it is different every time. In "Two-Headed Expert," two performers play a two-headed expert on a subject chosen by the audience.
"Proctology!" shouts a student in the back row, followed by titters and groans from the crowd. Two male performers stand together, posed as a two-headed person and answer questions on the subject asked by Norman, with each head responding alternately word-by-word. The talented actors make this formidable task look easy, but it can't be, for one head has no idea what the other head will say next. Sometimes jokes fall flat and sometimes it takes a while to rouse a laugh from the crowd, but somehow it's impossible to leave. Since it is all improv, one knows it is only a matter of time before the group says something side-splittingly funny.
Other games include "Interrogation," "Human Props" and "Half-life." Those with stage fright are advised not to volunteer for "Human Props" -- volunteers will be expected to get up on stage and arrange the performers' bodies as they do dialogue for a scenario made up on the spot.
With their awkward, campy humor, Oncoming Traffic members could have a future on "Saturday Night Live." It wouldn't be inconceivable, considering the group's extensive resume. On April 16, Oncoming Traffic set the world record for the longest, continuous improv set. One can only imagine all the convenience store and fast food runs behind that feat.
Oncoming Traffic performs almost constantly, with free shows on Thursdays on the Union Green and shows every Tuesday at the Warehouse with a $3 cover charge. One may also look for the troupe at Club Downunder Sept. 30, also a free show.
For more information about Oncoming Traffic, one may visit its Web site at www.oncomingtraffic.net. In particular, one may want to check out the "Cast" page, where moving the mouse over the members' photos causes the photo to make a funny face.