The Team!

Hello EVERYONE! DeBono is back and better than ever! We are pleased to present the team for the 2012-2013 school year. We have two great new members: David Naber and Terrance Rogers. If you want to get to know these two studs in person, then make sure to check out the show OCTOBER 24TH!! This will be the first show where the new guys are performing.

As a reminder, DeBono performs every Monday night at 8 o'clock in the Illini Union's Courtyard Cafe. Tell your friends! Tell your mom! Tell the squirrel you just passed on the quad!

So, without further ado... We present DeBono!





Jordan Lange-
Jordan Lange is an old coot and wishes to be left alone. His hobbies include improv, night terrors, and cloud-yelling. He wants to be a doctor when he gets out of college, but the stress might kill him first. Secret super power: Carrying immense amounts of groceries at once. Kooky fact: He once lifted an entire school bus full of children above his head for 4.5 seconds (the strength of a mother is unfathomable). It is his last year here on DeBono so stop by Murphy's and buy him a drink.








Jaime Lemens-
Jaime Lemens is a pre-med senior studying molecular and cellular biology with a music minor. She has been on DeBono since the spring of 2011. She is a proud owner of two, adorable pet rats named Heidi and Pepper. Her go-to food is pizza (topped with sausage, onion, green pepper, and spinach!), but she also loves fine dining and breathing. Jaime enjoys improv, autumn, singing, rain storms, the color green, the book "Life of Pi", and virtually everything having to do with football (GO PACK!). Her most recent obsession aside from her rats has been the T.V. series Doctor Who. 










Brendan Sweeney-
Brendan "B-Sweets" Sweeney is Debono's most senior member. This is his fourth year on Debono. He serves as minister of hand-hitting. Brendan enjoys performing one-man improv and stand-up in addition to performing with his team-mates on Debono. He is pre-law, majoring in psychology and minoring in philosophy. Brendan hopes to keep a place for performing comedy in his life after he graduates. He is a strong admirer of shamrock shakes, scallops, and tiramisu. His three favorite animals are: 1.) Bear, 2.) Moose, 3.) Lynx in that order.







Clare Cutler-
Clare cutler has been on debono for 3 years and its like she won't even shut up about it. She is a junior studying urban and regional planning while minoring in landscape studies. 
With these degrees Clare aims to get closer to her plan of creating wilderness like "jungle cities" where she can employ her finely honed survival skills and reign over the meek. Clare is the only member of debono to be implicated in both the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and the Roswell incident of 1947. Clare's singular flaw is that she sometimes drools in her sleep, but she's working on it.










Nicholas Dietrich-

Nicholas Dietrich is a 24,000 year old etherial being composed of pure positive energy. His invisible guiding hand has shaped the course of human development over several millennia by means of subtle suggestion and seemingly insignificant interventions. Though his wisdom transcends the need for language in its entirety, he speaks primarily in atonal song and slant rhymes. This is his third year as a member of DeBono Improv.

Julie Brady-

Even though the existence of Julie Brady is doubted by those who claim to be backed by "hard facts" and science," eyewitness accounts seem to indicate that there is, in fact, such a person, and that she has much less body hair than Bigfoot. Although the veracity of these claims is dubious, those who profess knowledge of the subject assert that she knows more about baseball than them, has an unhealthy love for horror stories, and wants to major in Cats. She allegedly plays guitar for DeBono, in addition to being a third-year member of Potted Meat Sketch Comedy and the Titanic Players team PK BARNJAM. 

Kimberly Arquines-

Kimberly Arquines, a.k.a. Kimi, a.k.a. Who are you and what are you doing in my house?, is a hot mess and too turnt up. Her favorite word is "ratchet" and if you don't know what that means then something is clearly wrong with you. On a typical day you'll find her at the piano playing and singing Disney songs to her husband, Zachary Levi. Also, she is severely directionally challenged and thought the Leaning Tower of Pisa was in France. This is her second year in DeBono and second year doing improv, ever.

Jessica Shryock-

This little lady is a second year member of DeBono, as well as its advertising and optimism officer. She is also a member of the Titanic Player's second year team: On a Stick!  Once on a bus ride, she was called "delightful" by the driver, and she clings to the description. In her free time, she makes money by writing trashy, smutty articles about cheating celebrities and doing crazy nail art. When life ever gets her down, she simply reminds herself that she gets to take Tinkerbell vitamins in the morning and it is all better. 

David Naber-

David Naber is a mere freshman this year, majoring in Computer Science, but is rather uncertain of what he REALLY wants to do with the rest of his life. He hopes this will rub fof soon. He is also a member of the newest Titanic Player's incubator team as well as Engineers Without Borders. He is also an avid fan of theatre, and whenever possible, auditions for shows. David also enjoys a good book, song, movie, or video game. And popcorn. God forbid, if you ever give David a batch of good popcorn, you may very well find yourself a new best friend. 

Terrance Rogers-

Terrance Rogers, the only African American member of DeBono, is simply AWESOME! Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Terrance's love for improv was born out of boredom. After having absolutely no life in high school, he finally decided to join an after school matters improv group and has loved it ever since. Currently a freshman at the University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, Terrance has no idea what he wants to study. However, being a honorary member of Gryffindor (pottermore certified), being the poster child of "The Hunger Pains: the story of urban struggle", and being an expert on everything Disney, Terrance is AWESOME!

New Season, New Opportunities

Hey there, comedy lovers!

It's us, DeBono, again, and we're back for another great year at the University of Illinois! It feels good to be back on campus, now that everyone has drinking... er... syllabus week under their belt, it's about time to fall into your semesterly routine!!!! Go to classes on Monday-Fri. But skip that class on Tuesday morning since lectures are online and its always so crowded and smells bad. What? The prof started taking attendance? Well better start going to that.  Don't forget to go to lunch with your best friend from high school on Wednesdays at noon. Only blow him/her off if you have a lunch date with a hottie you met at that bar/party/gas station/Labor Day BBQ. Don't forget to text your friends every Saturday afternoon to know whats going on tonight. On Sunday do HOMEWORK LIKE CRAZY. Damn... back to monday.... oh wait... not damn...

FREE MONDAY NIGHT IMPROV IS TONIGHT!!!! HEEELLLLL YEAH!!!

Seriously people, make it a part of your routine. We're not just saying that cause we want to rack up attendance numbers, we want to see you, too! And many of us can speak from personal experience, (me included) even being outside the group and going to these shows is a huge stress reliever. Show your pretty little faces up at 8 PM at the Illini Union Courtyard Cafe for DeBono, or at 7 PM to see Spicy Clamato, too (and you should they're fan-flippin-tastic). Theres no fee, because its absolutely free. Just be at the Courtyard at 7! I even took the trouble to draw you a map:

Know how long that took me? 2 hours. Yeah. But we did it because we care about you guys (and now you owe me 2 hours back in Improv-Audience form) I did that with a trackpad, too. My wrist thanks you.

Oh my, I'm so imbarrased. Even more embarrassed that I started spelling it with an "i" and then just kept going because I dont bullshit. I keep it real. Anyway, I'm embarrassed that I didn't even explain what improv IS! Ok well have you seen those shows like SNL, Whitest Kids U Know,  MAD TV, All That? Yeah we're not like that. We're do those same kind of sketches except if we had no prior preparation or costumes or props, but we're better! Oh, crap... well that didn't make it sound very exciting... let me put it another way.

If you and a group of your friends are at dinner and lets say your funny friend Sid tells a joke. Everyone laughs! Wow that was funny! But Amanda thinks it's so funny that she spurts milk out her nose, and that makes everyone laugh even harder, busting a gut and crying from laughter. Its a good feeling. Now the next day your friend Josh (who wasn't there) asked what you did, and you say "Omg Sid told this joke, and then Amanda shot milk out her nose!" The thought of it makes you laugh, even now. But Josh is not amused.... he doesn't find that too funny. You say" Oh... I guess you had to be there."

Improvisational comedy is the "You had to be there" of the comedy world. Everything else like tv shows, movies, sketches, even comedians have their material written out before they perform, and it usually is quite hilarious! But IMPROV COMEDY thrives on the pure spontaneity and quick-wit of the moment. YOU the audience get to be part of the show! We'll ask you for suggestions and set an entire piece/musical off of that suggestion! No scripts, no blocking, but pure hilarity and entertainment. Trust me, just go to at least one show and you will no regret you did. I'm sure you'll be comin' back for more every week. What's even more... is that DeBono combines all that stuff... and throws it into a big Musical Stew. Like Wicked if they had just met and said... "oh crap.. Um. Oz! A 1-2-3-4...!"

Since this post is getting rather lengthy, I'll get right down to my last point- If you think that improv and musicals and singing are things you may be interested in (or even just interested in 1 of them) please audition for our troupe! NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY! We love people trying new things, and its often worked out for the best :) All the info you need is here https://www.facebook.com/events/435067116535271/ but meet east outside Gregory Hall at 7 PM on Wed 9/5/12 (weather permitting) and we'll move inside from there. I'll even draw you another map:

That one? That took 5 hours. Mmhmm. You're welcome.

So hope to see you all at the shows and auditions! It is GOOD to be back, people!

~Jordan of DeBono

TL;DR Free Monday Improv. 8 pm Union. 
Auditions- Wed 9/5/12 7 pm at Greg Hall. 
Improv+Musicals= Genius

Michael and Simeon's Last Show!

Even though it took a while to get these uploaded, below are the two youtube videos that make up the last  DeBono show of Spring 2012. We did a storybox, freeze and a DeBono Musical, and it all turned out very well. I decided to name the musical "Skiing Uphill" for reasons you'll see later.

I wrote to Simeon and Gaschler privately about them leaving, but I would like to take a little time to just say a little bit about them.

These two senior members of our group are  invaluable and will be sorely missed. Simeon's been on the team for 3 years, and Michael for 4, and I think they've enjoyed DeBono quite a bit. Not only have they been given joy from being on the team (i can only assume) they've really given much more than that. Leaving the team this year are two VERY talented young men who always were ready to teach improv, accept people, host events, or just hang out and talk. There's no one who can make me laugh harder than these two, as they are the freaking funniest people ever. They gave so much to this team and helped DeBono to the awesome level that it's at today.

To Michael and Simeon, I just really wanted to say thank you. Thank you so so much for your friendship, lessons and time spent with this group. I've made memories with you guys that I will NEVER forget. I'm gonna miss the crap out of you guys.

To the rest of the public: enjoy the videos! They are epicly hilarious ( i don't care that that's not a word)

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

I'd also just really like to thank everyone who ever came out to one of our shows this year. I hope you enjoyed DeBono and we're preparing to give you more rockin' improv in the 2012-2013 season!!

Signing off,

Jordan

Malignant Humor Festival and a Story Box

Hi there, Jaime here!


This past weekend was a blast and a half! Our sister team, Spicy Clamato, hosted the annual Malignant Humor Festival. Performing with us Friday and Saturday night were UIUC's titanic teams On a Stick, PK BARNJM, and Quest for the Swivel Hip, Red Light School District from UIC, 8th Floor Improv from Ohio State, Ad Liberation from the Purdue area, 45 Kings from Loyola, Improv Mafia from ISU, Tricky Mickey from Chicago, and The Other Other Guys from Chicago. Overall, a big thank you to all that performed!


DeBono had a fantastic set based on the suggestion "haunted house". Everyone on the team brought their A-game and we put out a fabulous show. Unfortunately, I do not have the video of the set right now, but Kimi's dad recorded the show, so hopefully, I can put that on this here blog soon!


(Just so you know all of the hyper links bring you directly to each team's facebook page!)


So, to fill the video void, I have a bit of one of our rehearsals from a few weeks back.


We have been trying out a new game called story box. It is very similar to the beat box but instead of having each person add their own sound bite to the beat box, each person  continues a story sentence by sentence.


The suggestion for this was lobster bisque. Oh, and when Simeon asks for the appendix, watch Michael's reaction. It's gold.

Cheers!


Jaime

A SHOW!

a beautiful day to you good sirs and madams!!!!


actually, the weather here in urbana is quite crappy....BUT! what makes today beautiful is a new post! b/c it's been a long long long while!!! so here's a nice lil' show for ya'll

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!


hope you enjoyed it as much as we did making it!


Cheers!

What We've Been Up To

DeBono has had a long and prosperous week. We spent Wednesday the 28th of March gearing up our 25-minute mini-musical. We had to be in practice and ready to go on Friday for our awesome trip to Chicago! We performed with our new friends Clown Car To Sicily, shown below.

They are beautiful people.

We, uh, didn't take a group photo in Chicago. We were busy!

As a group, we had a fantastic show. It was set in a Mustard Museum. We also got to hang around afterward and play Musical Freeze with the cast of Clown Car To Sicily as well as some audience volunteers. A few of our members even had their own adventures in the Windy City!

Simeon spent Friday night making up a song. It's called Sticky Situation! We'll have to record it for you. We spent a good part of the car ride singing it.

Jordan took the rest of DeBono on an a capella adventure! He had several a capella CDs sitting around in his car. He knew all the words to everything.

Nick asked every passer-by in Chicago what the best band is. The three non-sarcastic/profane responses he received are as follows, in order of how strongly the person felt about them:
1. The Beastie Boys
2. System of a Down
3. N*Sync

Wow! Chicago has such a diverse taste in music!!


Anyway, while we were hanging out with Clown Car To Sicily we had a musical epiphany, so we promptly came back and brought as many musical instruments as we could to practice. Our practice this Wednesday contained a bunch of cool stuff.

1. Acoustic/electric guitar (named Darnielle Kimberly) and an amp, played by our beloved and sometimes frightening Julie Brady.

2. A keyboard! This was a first for DeBono. It was played by our resident Pokemon master Kimi Arquines.

3. Vocal warmups directed by our most vocal member, Jaime Lemens!

4. Finally, Jordan brought his cajon. If you don't know what a cajon is, it's this.

It's for drumming on. It makes cool noises.

Nick, Jordan, Jaime, and Kimi all took turns playing the cajon. It was great fun!

We can't wait to show you all the cool stuff we've been working on. See you on Every Monday at 8pm at the Courtyard Cafe in the Union!

-DeBono

PS we are so sorry for how campy this post is