Campus Celebrity – Aliza McKamey

HCMU’s Celebrity of the week is Aliza McKamey, a junior from Richfield, Minnesota. This humorous lady is seriously involved on campus. She’s a member of Alpha Omega Epsilon sorority, a Studio 013 Refugees Improv team member and writer and actor in 33rd & State (Marquette’s first and only sketch comedy group). You can see Aliza and funny friends on Friday, March 1st at 8 pm in Marquette Hall room 200 at the next Fugee show! 

Here’s what Aliza had to say about her experiences on and off stage:

HCMU: How long have you been a member of the Fugees?

Aliza: I’ve been a member of the Fugees since the beginning of sophomore year (So, since 2011), but I’ve been doing improv since 2007. I initially got into it because of an improv team starting at my high school and I’ve figured out that improv is really what keeps me going through the week.

HCMU: What is your favorite part about being a member of the Fugees?

Aliza: The best part of being a Fugee is being part of a really tightly knit group of people who you get to be stupid with for about four hours a week. So many of my classes (and some of the other Fugees’ classes) involve just memorizing and regurgitating information, that it’s fun to have a creative time twice a week at practices. We usually spend the entire time laughing!

HCMU: What advice would you give to people interested in improv?

Aliza: My advice for anyone who wants to do improv is to listen to your partners / teammates. It’s great when you have a unique idea for a scene, but it’s important to listen to other people, too. Their ideas may blow you away! Improv is all about making everyone look good, not just yourself, so listen and follow the three basic rules of improv (don’t negate, say “yes and”, and don’t ask questions).

HCMU: What is the most difficult part of improv?

Aliza: I think the most difficult part of improv is still the nerves I get before a show. When we’re in practice, we can say anything that we want, no matter how weird or inappropriate it sounds. When we have our monthly shows, though, I’m always worried that I’ll say the wrong thing or say something that isn’t funny and sometimes that gets in the way of me saying anything at all.

HCMU: How have you used skills you learned in the Fujis in other aspects of your life?

Aliza: Improv is actually really useful in my life. Over the summer I had an engineering internship and on multiple days the company sent us to professional development workshops. One of those workshops was actually an improv workshop at the Guthrie Theatre in Minnesota. Improv helps me be able to work with other people and build off of their ideas, converse with people who I don’t know much about, and it makes me unafraid to speak up and share my opinions in any setting. I used to be a painfully shy person, but improv has helped me come out of my shell (if only a bit).