A Knack for Improv
Sean Sullivan (CAS’07), director of BU’s improv comedy troupe Liquid Fun, has participated in improv since high school.
For funnyman Sean Sullivan (CAS’07), there’s a science to improv comedy. “It’s as well researched as any acting field,” he says. “But at the end of the day, you either have it or you don’t.”
And so the director of the Boston University improv group Liquid Fun relies on intuition and a few basic guidelines to get him through each show. Take the “Yes and” rule. If a character suggests something to him, Sullivan must take the suggestion and expand on it. Otherwise, he can expect an unresponsive audience.
Sullivan has participated in improvisational theater, a type of comedic, spontaneous performance with multiple participants, since he joined a group back in high school. “With improv, you make your own choices, you develop your own story, you develop your own characters,” he says. “You are allowed that freedom.”
Liquid Fun’s most recent shows have been based loosely on the television hits Lost and Survivor. In February, the group placed third in the ImprovBoston Beanpot Tournament, an annual competition for regional college troupes.
After graduation, Sullivan says, he will devote a year to acting. “I think it’s a jones I have,” he says. “Not to follow it would be kind of tough on me.”
Brittany Jasnoff can be reached at bjasnoff@bu.edu.