DTR Creates Uplifting Comedy

Cedarville students will have the opportunity to enjoy a free show this weekend, put on by student org DTR, that is guaranteed to make them laugh. The show will be held on Saturday, Sept. 20 the Recital Hall from 6:30-9 p.m.

“We want to light up an environment,” Johnathan Coraccio, DTR’s vice president said. “We want our shows to be uplifting.”

DTR is Cedarville’s improv comedy org and this will be the first show of the year, an introduction to who they are and what they do. As always, introductions start with a name.

“It’s just a fun name,” Michael Wood, DTRs president, said. “For those that don’t know, DTR means Defining the Relationship, and it’s the name of one of our favorite skits. In it we bring a couple on stage, usually faculty, and have them tell their love story of how they met. We then try to act out the story and we give the couple a horn and a bell. When we act something out correctly, like if we say ‘I saw her and thought she was the most beautiful girl ever’ then the guy might ring the bell. When we act out something wrong the couple has a horn that they honk.”

DTR focuses solely on improv comedy and their shows are mostly unscripted. The group may have planned a list of skit ideas and rules, Wood said, but the comedians must improvise to create the humorous skits for the audience. Because of this, the results are always unexpected.

“It’s different every time,”  Wood said. “That’s the beauty of improv.”

Along with skits, the org includes debates, impressions and dancing in their shows. Wood said they also include Cedarville-exclusive jokes poking fun at things that Cedarville students can relate to.

“The commonality makes it better,” Wood said. “We all understand it.”

The comedy group is comprised of 13  members, seven of whom joined this past spring, when the group held its annual auditions.

The main focus of the group is best described by their mission statement: To glorify God by serving and by bringing joy to members and audiences through clean comedy.
Wood said that this year his priority for the group is making sure that God is glorified through their performances. To do that, the group will strive to grow spiritually, allowing their joy to overflow into the audience, Wood said.

“Before our meetings begin we try to spend about half an hour praying together as a group,” he said. “Then we usually sing a few hymns that people request.”

The time spent in prayer is a reminder to the group that to shine God’s light on others, they need to be plugged into the source, Wood said. The group strives to be Christ-like, he said, so they also take the pledge of clean comedy very seriously.

“It’s an event you can go to and not have to worry about what you may hear, like at other movies or events,” Wood said. “You know it will be clean. You don’t sit there thinking, ‘I just wasted my money on this?’”

There is a ‘penalty box’ that comedians are sent in if they say something inappropriate, Wood said, but they’ve have never had to use it.

The group’s comedy also extends to the community as a whole. Not only does the group ease the burdens of life with laughter, they also try to provide financial assistance to charities by hosting Charity Nights. All of the funds collected at the door go directly to charity.

Taylor Hobbs is a freshman psychology major and reporter for Cedars. She enjoys stereotypical Canadian things like saying “Eh” and watching hockey.