Smile and Nod

Smile and Nod is an improv team at Cal Poly that members are required to audition for. This year, the team has 18 members. Every Saturday at 7 p.m., the team performs in Phillips Hall and charges the audience $5 to view and participate in the show. The acting in every show is driven by suggestions from the audience.

“I’ve never met more welcoming people,” said fourth-year business student and Smile and Nod member Anders Griffin.

“It’s just a blast to come to like a family here…you know…a few times a week and to make people laugh and leave happier than [when] they arrived,” said fourth-year economics student and member Caden Schlosser.

Members of the club also get improv experiences off-campus.

“We went to Scotland together — that was crazy,” said fourth-year theater arts student and member Megan Hunt. “I got to perform at the Fringe Festival with this club, and that was probably one of the highlights of my life.”

On Oct. 15, Smile and Nod’s show was a special improvised musical number. The theme was “frolicking in the sand,” which was picked out by an audience member. According to Griffin and Schlosser, that was one of the largest crowds they have ever seen at a Smile and Nod show.