In Our Prime

In Our Prime
Years Active	2012-Present
Cast	Jessica Arjet Gloria Rabil Bankler Ryan Hill Paul Normandin

In Our Prime is an improv troupe that focuses on grounded, dramatic longforms.

Summary

In Our Prime was the brainchild of Paul Normandin. Paul and Gloria Bankler became close friends after Kaci Beeler's Romance and Intimacy Elective at The Hideout Theatre in 2011. Gloria and Paul met Ryan Hill when they all took an elective workshop at The Hideout Theatre entitled Andy is Mean to You, wherein Hideout Education Director Andy Crouch would give very direct feedback to students. Soon after, Paul approached Gloria and Ryan with his idea for a troupe that would perform extremely grounded, even dramatic, improv with very little focus on comedy.

The troupe was briefly named It'll Come to Us until the name In Our Prime was decided on due to the older-than-average age of the cast and the primeness of their number (three). The trio performed a debut show at the Hideout.

Ryan was a teaching assistant for Hideout Theatre co-owner Jessica Arjet at the time. When he told her about the troupe she asked if she could play with them. The four rehearsed together once. Ten minutes after a very successful second show with Jessica guesting, the troupe asked her to join permanently.

The troupe has played in the Oklahoma Improv Festival (2012-13), the Improvaganza Hawaii Improv Festival (2012), the District Improv Festival in Washington, DC, (2013), Wafflefest (2012-13), Frontera Fest (2013-14), and The Out of Bounds Comedy Festival (2012-13). They played a regular monthly slot in The Free Fringe at The Hideout Theatre through 2013 and have also performed a month-long Threefer run there. The troupe's Free Fringe shows tended to be more humorous and less grounded.

They were coached for a period of several months in 2012 by Jeremy Lamb. Shannon McCormick also coached them for several months starting in June of 2013.

History

• 03/01/2012 - Debut @ The Hideout ("Printing Presses")
• 04/05/2012 - The Hideout ("Disobedient Daughter") w/ Jessica Arjet
• 07/20/2012 - Improv Festival Oklahoma ("Survivalist Family")
• 09/01/2012 - Out of Bounds ("Dating an Environmentalist")
• 09/29/2012 - Hawaii Improvaganza Festival ("Art")
• 10/04/2012 - Threefer Run ("Gay Boy")
• 10/11/2012 - Threefer Run ("Drugs and Kids")
• 10/18/2012 - Threefer Run ("The Car Accident & The Brady Bunch")
• 10/18/2012 - Free Fringe Curve Ball Format Debut ("Hell")
• 10/25/2012 - Threefer Run ("Run-Away Dad")
• 11/10/2012 - Wafflefest ("The Affair")

Media

Videos

• The troupe's debut show.
• The troupe's third show.
• Their 4/5/12 show, their second with Jessica Arjet.
• Their 7/1/12 show.
• Their 2012 fundraiser for their trip to Hawaii's Improvaganza festival.
• The troupe's seventh show.
• 8/19/12: the troupe's eighth show.
• Their 9/20/12 show at The Free Fringe.
• Their 4/11/13 show at The 2013 Improvised Play Festival.
• Their 6/22/13 show at The 44-Hour Improv Marathon.

Photos

• Photoset by Michael Yew which includes their 11/10/12 performance at Wafflefest.
• Photoset by Michael Yew which includes their 7/18/13 performance in The Free Fringe.

More Information

• In Our Prime facebook page
• In Our Prime website
• Interview with the troupe on The Theft Forum.