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Attention ladies (and most gents): a few weeks ago America was blessed with a new sex symbol. Let’s take a moment to bask in the geeky glory that is:



I’ll wait for the nerds to stop screaming about how I’m a bandwagon fan and how I don’t deserve to like Star Trek because I don’t know Khan’s full name.

(Are they done?)

The new franchise (“Star Trek: The Search for Mo’ Money”) is doused in a sheen of hotness; it is full of youthful, energetic actors that fit snugly into the familiar roles, and who stand to make more money off of them than Shatner could have dreamed of. Through this hottie overload, for some reason its our favorite Vulcan, played by the lurvely Zachary Quinto, who induces the most girlish sighs out of the audience, more than even Captain “My Head Is Shaped Like A Shoebox” Kirk. Why is that, gentle reader?

It is because the movie-going public is slowly realizing something TSFers have known for years: smart is sexy.

Read on to discover just how sexiness can be tied to improv (it's possible!)...

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Hey everybody, I got another interview for you! Josh Breit left TSF about 3 years ago for Chicago and has been rippin it up ever since then.

Among his many talents, Josh is known for his insane freestyle rapping ability. He showcases this talent every week at the ComedySportz theatre in The BeatBox, a show that blends hip hop and improv into an amazing spectacle of long-form improv and fast-paced high-energy rap.

See a clip of Josh rapping as Challawood after the break...

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Strike Force has a rich history that is really interesting to me. I love learning about alumni and where they’re at nowadays.

This past summer I had the good fortune of being in Chicago for two months and I went out of my way to meet and watch TSF alumni do their thing across the city. It was insane! All the big name improv theatres like iO, The Annoyance, The Playground, and ComedySportz had Strike Force Alumni performing and they were some of the best talent as well. It made me really proud to be a part of this organization.

I wanted to momentarily put the spotlight on one alumnus that I feel is doing a lot of great work in Chicago but has gone under the radar of modern day TSF for a while.



Continue reading for Rudy's insightful interview with Jon, delving into his improv history with TSF and now in Chicago:

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It's summer in Gainesville, and the city is on fire.
Gas prices keep our windows down and our wallets empty. Economic woes are making us sweat even when we're out of the heat. Some men, it seems, just want to see the world burn.

So what do we do? Do we place our hopes in an idealist politician to clean up the streets? Do we channel our fear to fight our enemies on our own terms? Or do we simply ask...
...WHY SO SERIOUS?

Come laugh away your worries with a wild night of FREE improv comedy with Theatre Strike Force. Starting Friday night, people will laugh.

Meet us at the auditorium (room 1064) in Weimer Hall, the journalism building that is located across the North Lawn from the Reitz Union. Show starts at 10 p.m., and seats are first come, first serve, so get there early!

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About a month ago I was riding the bus home late at night with a friend when we happened to meet a girl. She was a student; reserved yet outgoingly friendly. She had the relaxed charm of a chain smoker, but she didn't smoke. And she had an accent.

...e-yah-yah-yah!

We talked with her the whole ride home, but despite our fun conversation, her subtle flirts, and the supportive set-ups from my friend, I completely stalled. The kid with noseplugs at the top of the water slide. I couldn't make a move.

Afterwards, my friend asked me why I tanked. I responded that I didn't know what to say. Knowing that I'm an improviser, he said, "Dude, you do improv. IMPROVISE!"

He had me there. One of the supposed benefits of doing improv is increased spontaneity in social situations. Many companies nowadays offer improv workshops to help employees relax in interpersonal settings and learn to communicate with others more directly. We say improv is like life -- if I can perform a scene where I'm hitting on a girl, why can't I do it in real life?

I think there's a lot of pressure on improvisers to be "masters of social situations." My family thinks I have a response to everything. Employers see "improv training" on the resume and expect a cool guy who sits in the chair backwards and can make a brick laugh. Non-improv friends expect us to be the life of the party and get lots of girls.

Is this the case? No! I'm single and I usually bore the hell out of everyone at parties by talking about improv too much. Job interviews suck for me because I immediately feel guilty whenever I say something good about myself. And I've gained ten pounds from all the times I've stuffed my mouth with food to avoid talking at family dinners.

Hell, I can't even order a pizza on the phone without a script.

"Hello, this is Five Star, is this for delivery or pickup?"
"I... don't... know..."
Click.

A lot of us do improv precisely because it isn't real. We play pretend on stage, and if we're lucky, people laugh at us. I know I'm never going to be a badass surgeon who performs a heart transplant while wearing a leather jacket and making out with the nurses. (Is a leather jacket still cool? It's not exactly environmentally-friendly.) But I can totally do that in a scene if I want to. There's a safety net on stage where it's okay to make mistakes, to look ridiculous.

On the bus, making mistakes is a bad thing. (Unless this is the Magic Schoolbus. Remember, Ms. Frizzle is a teacher, not a lover.) "Funny" and "quirky" do not necessarily mean "sexy." Every line, every gesture, every nervous tick at the corner of your mouth counts, and anything can make or break the situation. Sexy foreign girls are typically less forgiving than an audience who wants to be entertained.

Improvisers are not by definition "cool people." Many cool people do improv, sure, but so do many weirdos.

We aren't jaded by being in front of audiences all the time. Our hearts pound just as fast as the heart of the shy girl who's reading her love poem in front of her 7th grade English class, with the poem's subject sitting in the front row. We're just normal people who try to do something extraordinary.

In the end, though, we're still just normal people.

Erik Voss is the president of Theatre Strike Force, but can't use the potty by himself.

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A few days ago I got the most exciting of the Facebook notifications: the +1 Friend Request. Upon clicking the link, I suddenly found myself gazing into the low-res eyes of my father's work ID picture.

Example of what kind of picture my dad used as his main profile pic. Randi G. Hiller is not my dad, despite any resemblances.

After a hesitant accepting of his request (and an adjustment of my
Privacy and Limited Profile settings), I clicked through to the book
that belongs to my dad's face and found one of the grossest misuses of social networking. He's trying to reconnect our family.

Linked from his page I was able to find profiles for my uncles, aunts, and my dad's best friends. These baby boomers (of whom my dad, born in 1947, isn't even the oldest) are reaching out to what Money magazine tells them is a cool way to connect to your kids, DiGiTaLLy!

My dad actually has twice as many applications as I do without any full understanding of what they are for. He regularly shows our difference in age and mentality by scrubbing his Facebook wall free of all comments and returning it to a nice, egg-shell white.

My dad's transition into being the cool dad isn't exactly going smoothly, but I did find a video on my cousin's Facebook (yes, found her through dad's Fb.) proving that the cool parent is not a myth. They exist, can be obnoxiously cute, and perhaps are at a level that allows them to connect more deeply to their kids. Keep reaching for those Raybans, Dad.

Read on to see the World's Milfiest Dancer / Cool Mom (TM). [CREEP-ALERT]

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Hey everyone,

Erik Voss here. I'm currently studying abroad in London, spending the first half of my summer visiting museums, seeing plays on the West End, frequenting pubs... and going bankrupt in the process. Since every dollar is only worth half a pound, I'm twice as bankrupt as I thought I was.

The only thing I haven't been doing is improv. None. My talk radio call-in name would be "Improv-less in London." I'm taking a much-needed hiatus from an obsessive two-year relationship with the mother of all ball-and-chains, which we know as Theatre Strike Force.

But enough creepy romance metaphors (I've got issues). The day when the Strike Force dragon wakes up from its Summer A hibernation and purges the sinful is rapidly approaching. The Summer B semester at UF begins in July, and with it, our improv class, TPP 3124, goes back into session for those overachieving upper-classmen and "special" Summer B freshmen who are stuck in town over the summer. That means improv with TSF will go from being a wet dream to an awkward reality.

So if you'll be in Gainesville this July, check out TSF. Register for the class -- it's a lot of fun and a great way to spend those long, summer days. And it's in an air conditioned acting studio in the Nadine Maguire, a cool sanctuary from the assault of swampy heat outside. We'll also be doing some after-hours jamming sessions; look out for those as well. I also want to look into doing some sketch, for all those writers out there.

We'll keep you posted. Check your e-mails, the Web site and the Facebook group for notifications about any developments over the summer, and for news about the upcoming year.

Now, back to sobbing over the heartbreaking pound/dollar exchange rate.

Though we know it's TSF that really broke my heart...

Regards,

Erik Voss

Erik Voss is the President of Theatre Strike Force, but he still makes his mother dress him every morning.

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This past Saturday, TSF was represented by 3 different teams at the Moe's Burrito Eating Contest. The teams ("EMoe's," "Team Chris Mullet," and "Theatre Strike Force") were mostly competing against themselves, as the fastest player on each team to eat 3 Moo Moo Mr. Cow burritos, won Free Burritos for a Year.
While all the members of the EMoe's and Team Chris Mullet were in it to win it, Team Theatre Strike Force did what it does best and rigged their own competition in order to guarantee team member, Filup Molina, free burritos for a year. Molina, a too old to still be in school TSF member, recently paid his way back into UF and wiped out his bank account in the process. TSF was there for him and have guaranteed that he will die young and obese, but with his appetite fully satiated.

Filup represented Strike Force well by placing fourth overall out of 150 contestants.

Check out the article I wrote about it for my reporting class:

"Kid-sized burritos too much for some at eating contest"
by RICHARD KLOPFENSTEIN

The best part about losing on purpose is how badly you get to do it.

Read on for pictures of the various methods Strike Force members used to lose.

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For those of you planning to attend Summer B semester, and:

• You haven't picked your classes yet (really? you haven't picked your classes yet? )
• You've got any interest in learning how to do the same kind of improv that TSF does (really? you see TSF as role models? ),
• You'd like to take a fun (and pretty easy) class that's also a 3000-level humanities credit (really? you want to have fun AND get gen-eds out the way? ... wait, no... ...there we go)

RUN, don't walk, to a sitting position in front of a computer, and sign up for:

TPP 3124 Improvisation and Social/Political Issues
Credits: 1 to 3; can be repeated for up to 6 credits. 3rd Period, M-F. That's daily improv fun from 11am-12:15pm.

The class is taught by graduate acting students and also actual TSF performers (that's right, your teachers will be the same people who regularly offend society... and now, you can too!).

If you're not around for the Summer, feel free to register for Fall instead (or in addition). Fall improv will be Tues. & Thurs. 9th and 10th periods (4:05pm-6pm).

It's a lot of fun and a great experience. Not only did most of us learn our craft there, but many of us were introverts who were taught how to overcome stage fright and truly come out of our shells*. So hurry up and get to ISIS (here, I'll give you a boost) and I'll see ya there.
*-Of course, some turned out to be actual turtles. Very unlucky turtles.

P.S. For those of you keeping up with UF news, don't worry, this class isn't affected by budget cuts... Luckily, improvisers already have everything they need.

It's only $47 MILLION DOLLARS.

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