Name: Simone Norman
Year & School: BC ’15
Why do you perform?
Performers like to say they do it because they’re dedicated to the beauty of the craft, whether that be comedy or drama or what have you- and that’s great- but I’m here to tell you that most people who perform do it because they just love to be on stage, under the lights, in front of an audience. When you’re a little kid and you notice that you can make a group of people laugh, it sticks with you, and you’ll seek it out going forward.
You’re co-president of the all-female improve group, Control Top, and last year held the same role in Columbia’s sketch comedy group, Chowdah. How are your experiences different–do you prefer improv or sketch comedy?
I started off doing sketch comedy pretty much immediately after getting to school, when I got into Chowdah my first year. I’ve had a blast with sketch, and even tried my hand a few times at writing some of my own scenes. But I had no idea I was even interested in or capable of doing improv until Control Top opened for one of our Chowdah shows, and I thought “Damn those ladies are funny, and how the hell do they DO that, it looks completely terrifying…” I decided to try it for myself, because college is the time for doing cool and terrifying things, right? So I auditioned sophomore year, and I guess it worked out! Sketch has its own merits; it gives you the opportunity to really develop nuanced characters and establish plot lines. But improv is one of my favorite things in the world. There is nothing more exhilarating than getting a laugh with something made up totally on the spot, coming genuinely from you- I think it’s much more gratifying than getting laughs from rehearsed lines someone else wrote for you.
Who is your comedic inspiration?
There’s obviously the holy trinity of current funny ladies, Kristen Wiig Tina Fey Amy Pohler. They’re fantastic, and I watch their shows/sketches and want to harness that, but my real day-to-day comedic inspirations are probably my friends- the girls in Control Top, the hilarious people I’ve met through Chowdah and other comedic ventures on campus, etc. The people I spend most of my time (laughing) with are the funniest I know, and they also push me to develop my personal relationship with/understanding of comedic performance.
What’s your most embarrassing moment on stage?
It’s more of a retroactive sense of embarrassment I feel whenever I watch the tapes of my high school musicals and plays. I was so, so serious about those shows and thought my roles were revelatory dramatic performances…as like, Girl #3 in Eastchester High School’s production of “Footloose.” Besides rehearsing, where else can we find you on campus? I work at the Speech Perception Lab in Milbank, so you can find me there testing some subjects and other cool science things. Or in the Hamilton stairwell having a minor cardiac episode on the way up to Italian class (I will literally NEVER GET USED TO THOSE STAIRS, it’s been 3 and a half years and I still have this problem!!) Or in Hewitt, because even as a senior living off-campus I still freaking love eating in Hewitt. Please don’t complain about Hewitt to me, because I will smack you with the banana I just dipped in their free-flowing peanut butter and nutella. Hewitt is constantly updating their menu options and there’s a ton of gluten-free stuff (lol) and they have really imaginative create-your-own-dessert options sometimes!! Honestly I’m probably gonna go there right now.