By 
This Sunday, the money generated from ticket sales of Octavarius’ show will go to my Alma mater (and the Alma mater of 8 of our performers), Illinois State University. The event will be catered by one of the finest catering services in Chicago, Fox & Obel, and our opening act will be our college improv group, The Improv Mafia. If you are an alum of ISU, this will be a special night. If you did not go to Illinois State University, I can tell you that not only will our show on Sunday be as fun as usual, but this will be for a cause that is near to our hearts.
While I was at Illinois State University, I was offered so many amazing options for learning and I was given the freedom to get exactly the experience I wanted out of that school. I took a class called “American Literature: Baseball as a Metaphor for Life” and I was able to be involved with two student organizations that shaped a big part of my learning at ISU: Theatre of Ted and The Improv Mafia. Obviously, the Improv Mafia had a major influence on shaping me and shaping Octavarius. My favorite memory is actually a Theatre of Ted memory. One of the perks of being host of Ted’s weekly late-night show is that you get to host the end-of-the-year mock award show. This show has incredible potential to be horrible. It runs the risk of being too tame or incredibly offensive and you have to strive to strike somewhere in between while still being entertaining. This situation forced myself and my hosting partner, Marc Muszynski (yeah, the one from Octavarius), to really work to create a show honoring our peers achievements while mocking their foibles. In this event, the verdict on your job is immediate. Having your peers cheer and laugh in response to you holding up your mirror to them was one of the greatest feelings in my life. That is my favorite ISU memory.
