Recent (and hilarious) Memorial High School grads Alex Raney, Elliot Heinz, and Mack Chambers have formed their own group, Glassworks Improv, which will be making its official debut June 21 at the Grand Theatre in Eau Claire. Originally, all three planned on setting out for the wilds of Chicago for college but, luckily for us, in the end decided to get some general credits at Chippewa Valley Technical College first and share their collective comedic skills with us for a while longer. The name “Glassworks” was inspired by the Philip Glass album of the same name, which was used in practice in past years with the Memorial High School improv team. “The album Glassworks was kind of the roots for us in a lot of ways,” they said. “That word, to us, feels like a part of who we are. You want your name to be just that.” Glass’s minimalist music provided good opportunities for the emotions and the actions that can come from them. “One huge goal of mine,” says Mack, “is to get across to people that comedy is serious, at least to the three of us. It’s tough with improv to explain that because it is improvised. It’s such mind training, and we put a lot of time into that. I would hope people understand it’s an art.”

With the growing prominence of improv in the Chippewa Valley, Alex says, “I would hope to help out the improv scene in Eau Claire and elsewhere. Being around other improvisers is a really special thing.”

In a society in which much of our entertainment is rehearsed and calculated, improv is a breath of fresh air, and that’s literally the case in the guys’ basement which they’ve been purging and airing out in the hopes of holding two or three shorter shows there per month in addition to long-form monthly shows in larger venues. The goal, says Elliot, is “just spreading it out into the world. Spreading that honesty with everything.”

Glassworks’ first solo debut will be an hour and a half long-form show at the Grand Theatre on Friday, June 21 at 7pm. The cost is $5 a head – a head you should be prepared to laugh right off.

Find out more information about Glassworks Improv by checking out their Facebook page, Facebook.com/GlassworksImprov.