Mark Barigye: New to the Stage

Written by Josh Robinson. Media by Kayla Morton.


There’s nothing like improv! This is Greenville’s version of “Saturday Night Live” and “Wild ‘n Out” combined. Many people have tried out for Greenville’s improv team, Joyous Chaos, but only a few were able to make the cut. It’s either you have a really good sense of humor or you don’t. The newcomers to the team have been very exciting to see, but one has stood out among of all the newcomers. His name is Mark Barigye.

Mark Barigye – Photo by: Kayla Morton

Mark Barigye is a junior here at Greenville University. He’s also a captain of the Greenville football team.

At first, Barigye never wanted to try out for improv. His friend, Bryson Davis, one of the Joyous Chaos veterans, suggested that he should try out. Barigye had doubts about trying out. When Davis began repeatedly asking him, he gave in and decided to give it a shot. During the interview, Barigye talked about the process of the improv tryouts.

“They had us doing warm-up games, and it was a lot of fun,” Barigye said. “Everybody had a chance to put aside their habits of being uptight and just let loose and be goofy.”

Barigye also talked about the many different games they got to participate in. One of his favorite warm-up games consisted of everyone walking in a circle until somebody says stop. Then the spokesperson would name a scene. One of the scenes that Barigye had was helping somebody give birth. After tryouts, he made the cut and was officially a new member of improv.

Barigye also talked about the process of the rehearsals. “The rehearsals are basically like the shows,” Barigye stated. “We just get settled and play one game after another.”

Source: Joyous Chaos Facebook Page

His very first improv show was held during homecoming week on Oct. 20. It was a huge crowd, filled with students, citizens of Greenville, and alumni. Some people say that it was the largest crowd that improv will have this year.

Barigye was very nervous, but who isn’t during their first show? He overcame his feeling of being nervous and was able to give an outstanding performance. “I really didn’t know how I overcame it,” Barigye said. “The really easy thing about improv is that you get to be yourself. There’s no lines you have to memorize. So once everything started, I was just myself.”

Throughout the tryouts and rehearsals, Barigye has been able to build a relationship with his fellow cast members.

“They’re really awesome,” Barigye explained. “If it wasn’t for improv I wouldn’t have gotten to be with them, hang out with them, or get to know them.”

He also shared his opinion on who was the funniest cast member out of everybody in the group. “I would have to say, Austin Simmons is really funny,” Barigye stated. “He’s really quick with making a funny character and sticking with it!”

Barigye has made a major impact on Joyous Chaos already and looks forward to making more people laugh. He wants to inspire other people to get out of their comfort zones and just be themselves.

Watch the full interview below.

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