The Bakersfield College Drama Club hosted an improvisation show, “Brian’s Beard,” Feb. 9-10 in the black box room.

The cast of actors consisted mainly of BC students and the audience was a collection of students, teachers, and members of the community.

Like most “improv” shows there was no written script, therefore the actors began by asking the audience for suggestions.

Blanca Trujillo was the first to respond and her suggestion of “sex” elicited laughs from the audience. Shane “Spirit” Wright, 33, took the suggestion and began by sharing a sex related anecdote about his life, this laid the foundation for the actor’s scenario.

With this scenario the actors would go up two at a time and act out a scene, while the rest of

the cast stood behind.

When an actor had an idea, they would come up and tap one of the two people and take their place in the scene.

Myles Worthy and John Spitzer started off by pretending to be a couple that had trouble with intimacy without a recording of the former’s father.

Nolan Long then grabbed a chair, tapped Spitzer and proceeded to pretend to be Worthy’s father as Worthy asked him for permission to record him.

Though the cast was made up of mostly males, the actors seemed to have no problem getting into their roles.

Nolan Long, 19, went as far as fondling Carlos Vera’s chest, which drew laughs and claps from the audience. The rest of the first act continued much like this until intermission.

The second act consisted of the same cast all sitting down in chairs.

Spitzer, 26, then asked the audience if anyone was scared of the dark, to which he received just one response.

He then assured the person he was not judging him, but shared that perhaps in his head he was but definitely not aloud.

The cast then sat around and took turns describing a squid, until finally in unison they said “I am squid.” The lights then proceeded to go off, and it went silent for a moment until a bell rang and the cast began to act out stories, some about submarines and others about art. Some topics broached body image and sexism.

Every time a bell rung the topic was changed, though an actor could bring back a topic by saying “cut to” whatever scenario, and resume their act.

The bell rang for a final time and before the lights came back on the audience clapped and cheered.

This unusual addition of a “blackout” in the show was quite different in comparison to traditional “improv” and most were not familiar with this type of format.

“It was a collective choice to do it [the blackout], we tried it during practice and then we just decided to do it,” Long said.

The earnings of this show and the upcoming spiring play, “Our Town,” will be used to send some of the students to the American College Theater Festival held at The Kennedy Center.

“Our Town” is set to open next month in BC’s Performing Arts Center.