It’s 6:30 on a Friday night at the University of Southern California, and Matt Keibler is just chilling. There isn’t any indication from him physically that he is about to do something he has never done before. Other than some papers in his grip, he looks like he could be watching a show – not performing in one. His calm demeanor seems to be the exception, as the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts is buzzing with a hushed activity and anxiety. Actors and crew members surround Keibler with an intense level of urgency, moving around the space like atoms in a balloon, trying to prepare to host nearly a hundred people into the studio for a new live show.
This “crazy thing” is a new live sketch comedy show at USC called Comedy@SCA Live! Keibler is one of twelve new cast members on the show, which is a collaboration between four classes as part of the comedy initiative at the School of Cinematic Arts.
Acting has been more than a dream for Keibler. The 20-year-old from Punta Gorda, Fla. is dressed in a slick, striped white shirt, with an open jacket and a dark tie to go along with dark jeans and brown shoes. He has a couple of hours to relax a little before rehearsal starts.
Keibler has always wanted to act, saying, “I was nervous that I wouldn’t be good enough. You hear the whole ‘tough business’ and all of that.”
Keibler is a sophomore who, after spending a semester at Edison State College (Fla.), was a spring admit during the 2012-2013 year. He made up his mind after high school that he wanted to be in film, act, and produce. To him, that meant being in Los Angeles.
“I had never been west of Texas before coming out here,” Keibler said. “I knew that I eventually wanted to make it to Los Angeles. Instead of taking the spring admission, I could have gone to a state school, where I’d have gotten in and in-state financial aid is pretty good. So that would have basically been a free ride to a state school, get my undergrad and all that. But the idea of being in a school atmosphere is not as daunting as moving out to L.A. Getting to know the city over four years, getting an introduction to where I wanted to be, that seemed a lot more appealing.”
He had found a niche in improv on campus, but on this particular Friday night, he was going to partake in a project that would be much different than any of the acting projects he has taken part in. One doesn’t have to assume this is awesome for Keibler; he’ll tell you, it is awesome.
Yet, it is also a big challenge for him.
“I remember when we first got in here, the first class meeting, and I was nervous,” Keibler said. “We walk into the studio, and there’s 40, 50 people there, and everyone’s playing their play, acting like they know what they’re doing. Over the course of the day and the next week you see walls break down, and you see people coming together for this ‘thing’ that we have to do tonight.
“Sketch acting is interesting because you have to play very, very big. Because you only have 30 seconds to two minutes to get the laughs and get out of there as soon as possible.”
Rachel Kohn is one of Keibler’s best friends at USC. Kohn and Keibler arrived on campus during the same spring semester, and Kohn, a journalism major, has seen Keibler perform for most of their time at school together. Kohn says that Keibler jokingly has been telling her thatComedy@SCA Live! is the next best thing to Saturday Night Live.
“Matt is very sweet, and caring, and a little wacky, which is why I think he also fits in with the film and theater kids,” Kohn said, effortlessly describing his personal style as well as his acting persona. “He’s not just straight-laced, he’s got a little quirk. And that’s what you love about him. He makes it different. He’s not afraid to be in your face and sarcastic if he has to be, but he’s also a silent observer when he has to be, which is kind of cool.”
While Keibler performs comedy, he says he is not “dead set” on comedy. It just fits him, for now. His style is just, well, different. Whereas many actors use sketch comedy to bring forth “in-your-face” type of characters, Keibler usually plays his roles straight, preferring the subtle comedy that one might find in The Office. This is an opportunity for him to do something different, but at the same time, he won’t allow it to break him.
“Of course I’m stressed as hell about the future, given what I want to do,” Keibler says. “But I’m not crazy worried about it just yet. It still a little ways off, the whole ‘real world’ and all that. But it’s definitely in my mind, and I’m doing everything that I can to prepare for it.
Sketch comedy is rarely attempted at the college level. In fact, Comedy@SCA Live! is the first live sketch comedy television show. It’s a huge opportunity for Keibler and the rest of the cast to get themselves out in front of the camera to do something truly exclusive. Kohn believes that it is Keibler’s chance to expand his talents beyond what he’s been able to show in improv.
“The one thing that bothers me [about his improv troupe] is they do this long-form comedy thing where they pick one genre, they pick their characters, and for the next four weeks they do the same skit, but with different things; they’re all the same characters every week,” Kohn said about Keibler’s improv group, Spoiler Alert. “I thought that the character he had for that was great for a week, and then it got to the point where he couldn’t do anything to spice it up or change it. I think with the sketch comedy … it gives him the freedom to do more, to be more characters.”
Keibler was set to be in only one sketch during the live broadcast – a pledge initiation, where Keibler and fellow cast member Nelson Dial were hazed by upperclassmen played by cast members Jesse Rapaport and James Morosini. It aired eight minutes into the start of the program. It was the first sketch of the show that directly addressed a specific college experience.
Keibler and Dial wore plain white t-shirts tucked into blue jeans in front of a thin wall with Greek letters, sharing rumors about the things the fraternity, “Alpha”, had past pledges do: “I heard that ‘Alpha’ has the most brutal hazing on campus,” Keibler exclaimed, clasping his head with both hands.
The frats, Rapoport and Morosini, then enter and demand the pledges to get on their knees. At one point, Rapoport grabs Keibler’s head in a rage and jams it into his hip repeatedly while Morosini describes the pledges’ dedication, drive, and strength. When the pledges are told to chug from water bottles, they do so, anticipating it to be beer. But it was a mix of “superfruits and antioxidants to stay healthy and grow strong bones.”
Matt Keibler (white shirt, right) in his first sketch on Trojan Vision’s new live sketch comedy show Comedy@SCA Live! He appears with a fellow pledge (Nelson Dial).
“Start your day on a path to wellness,” Rapoport said, in an exaggerated rough voice.
Morosini then demanded that Keibler get out his cell phone.
“Don’t make us do this!” Keibler says.
“You’re going to call … your mother,” says Rapoport.
“What?”
“Call the woman who gave you life!” demanded Morosini, who stands intimidatingly behind Keibler.
The final phase that the frats introduce, “The Gauntlet”, was to bring the pledges together and “bond on an interpersonal level.” Once the pledges hugged, they felt the worst was over.
“Now that you’re in peak physical condition, you’ve said bye to your mother, you have a new best friend: prepare to lose him!” Rapoport shouted, as he broke a staff over his knee and held one half from Dial while handing the other half to Keibler, who maintained various looks of fear and bewilderment throughout the sketch.
The sketch featured the most physical comedy in the entire show, and part of it was unscripted. “The directors told the other actors in the skit to do something that would throw me off during the show,” Keibler said. “It’s kind of funny to hear them apologize for it afterwards, but I thought it was cool, to do something when it’s not expected.”
While Keibler wasn’t thinking about this particular show having larger implications for his future, that wasn’t the case for all of his fellow cast members. Keibler ran into cast member Ian Elmaleh, a junior from New York, before the show. After Keibler went off to get ready, Elmaleh spoke of how the show revitalized him and refocused his goals at USC.
“I was distracted my first two years, mainly a lack of inspiration and motivation,” said Elmaleh, who spends time with The Groundlings in Los Angeles. “But this is refreshing. I came to USC because of The Groundlings. SNL, that’s the process, that’s the dream. Kill SNL, then get an Academy Award.”
Morosini, another senior, had a different take about the show’s process.
“I think there are some kinks still being worked out, in terms of administration having a little too much control and making sure it goes smoothly,” said Morosini, standing backstage and contemplating his thoughts carefully. “There’s a lot of bureaucracy that gets in the way of stuff that’s actually funny. I think the intention is still being distilled.”
“I was shocked about how fast thirty minutes went by,” Keibler said. “You saw the dress rehearsal. It was crazy to see two sketches get cut midway through for syndication purposes. I wasn’t in those sketches, but people who were (in those sketches) were getting ready to go on and were like, ‘oh, wow, that’s it.’”
One of the things Keibler is trying to take advantage of now is the opportunity to work with the writers and directors on the show. “They’re our peers too,” he says. “They work with us on this show, and the actors want to start writing. We’re split up, but it is still good to talk with them.”
“That’s really what Hollywood is all about, the relationships,” said Kirstin Eggers, an adjunct professor in the School of Dramatic Arts who was charged with managing the new cast through auditions and for the first show.
Former Saturday Night Live cast member Horatio Sanz hosted Comedy@SCA Live! on April 11 (SCA Comedy Live).
“Improv is just off the cuff, whatever comes to mind that day,” Keibler said, “but this … people have been working on this, and there’s a certain skeleton you have to follow, to fill in. It’s more interesting.”
The developing chemistry in the cast is perhaps one of the most interesting plots to the show. Keibler didn’t know anyone in the cast before the show started. He is closer with his improv group, having performed with them for longer. “There’s just more time spent together, it’s more casual,” Keibler said.
Some cast members, like Liz Frederick, have hit it off quickly with the cast. After the show, Frederick, a senior, rode off with two of the other women in the cast, Joanna Brodecki and Emily Raboy. “[Chemistry] is not a priority, it just happens,” Frederick said. “It’s natural.”
But as soon as the show was over, Keibler mentioned that the cast wanted to start doing more together outside of the normal class hours. There are two live shows in April, so it’s a quick turnaround compared to the eight weeks leading up to the first show. Keibler looks ahead and is passionate about the work that it will take to shine through on camera.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Keibler said. “This is just a great chance to break out and show something.”
Even though Keibler says he will take anything in acting, this is what he has for now. Perhaps he is letting comedy come to him. If so, he is getting ready to fully embrace it. He wants to keep an open mind to The Groundlings in the future. He’s going to take more acting workshops. And he is determined to get as comfortable with the camera as he is with the more relaxed improv setting. When Keibler was asked what he most wants to get out of the show, he said confidence.
“Just being confident with the choices that you make,” Keibler said. “If you’re not confident on stage, and if you’re not comfortable in front of the camera, it’s going to show. It’s going to look nasty and bad and you’re not going to get hired.”
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