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Tempe Late Night grows with addition of 14 understudies

Ludwig Ahgren hangs off of Chris Cali on stage at a Tempe Late Night taping on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 in the basement of the Memorial Union.

Ludwig Ahgren hangs off of Chris Cali on stage at a Tempe Late Night taping on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 in the basement of the Memorial Union.


What started as a team of one working on a Barrett thesis has grown to include 14 understudies, three of which were just promoted to full cast.

It’s Tempe Late Night, a comedy series that films in the Memorial Union on Monday nights and features sketches, stand up and improvisation.

Film senior Chris Cali, who was one of the first four members, said that the team's growth is centered around the team's general improvement.

“You could make a book with the before-and-afters and match the differences,” Cali said. “Every week, we literally have a meeting right after the show and we say ‘OK, how did we mess up today and how can we fix it?'”

Non-profit management senior Forbes Shannon started the show as a part of his Barrett thesis project.

“My thesis builds around how we can use comedy as a medium to tell stories to tackle difficult issues and then, of course, just to showcase student life,” Shannon said. “We write it because we live it.”

Shannon said having an entire group's input on different senses of humor was important.

“It really would not have worked with just one sense of humor, and then it really started to work with four senses of humor, and then we brought in another 14 understudies,” Shannon said. “So now we have, like, 18 different senses of humor in one room, which is a lot to work with.”

Last semester, two understudies joined and were moved up to cast members, and this semester, a large group of understudies joined. Three of those members were promoted as full cast members.

Filmmaking practices sophomore Jake Hosking was one of those members. He said being a part of Tempe Late Night is one of the best things he’s done for his major.

“Tempe Late Night feels real … it’s not something where it’s like ‘let’s see how this goes in a controlled environment,’” Hosking said. “It’s something that people are doing, people are trying to make something creative with other people, and as a film major, that’s something I want to do."

In the future, he said he hopes to contribute his own personal touch to the group in the form of more musical comedy because he enjoys playing instruments.

“As far as my role in the future, I think (I'll be) able to shape the organization more to bring my own passions and desires and the things that I enjoy to the organization, as well as what’s already there," Hosking said.

Accounting sophomore Jaesa Rogers was also promoted right before spring break. She said she wasn't sure she wanted to join at first but was convinced after going to one of their shows.

"It's really fun to have this in my back pocket, that I have written comedy sketches and have improv experience," Rogers said "All that kind of stuff, I think, is just a really cool thing to have as an extracurricular."

Related links:

'Tempe Late Night' brings fresh comedy to campus through both a live and internet show

Jack of all clubs: ASU Comedy


Reach the reporter at avcabral@asu.edu or follow @angeligagaa on Twitter.

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