Before, there was caroling about the number 12. Today, there’s camping on the North Lawn for 12 hours. It’s all for the sake of cancer research.
From noon to midnight Friday, UF’s student improvisation troupe Theatre Strike Force is hosting its seventh annual 12 Hours of Improv event.
About 80 active TSF members put together 30 teams to put on a 12-hour improv show to raise money for Relay for Life. The event is free and takes place in Orange & Brew. 12 Hours ends with a two-hour Gator Nights show.
While there’s no entry fee, donation jars will be located at each table, as well as a large bin on the Orange & Brew stage.
TSF Philanthropy Chair Jessica Sheldon said each of the 30 small teams decides what it wants to do during its time slot.
12 Hours includes regularly cast TSF members, short- and long-form improv and sketch comedy throughout the day.
“It obviously makes us feel good doing something for the community besides improv,” Sheldon said. “But in the spring, when we’re doing all these fundraisers for Relay, everyone’s working toward one main goal.”
The TSF Relay team has raised nearly $4,500 through its team’s fundraisers so far this year, Sheldon said. Date Auction, an event that auctions off members, brings in the most money. However, 12 Hours is TSF’s biggest event.
TSF President Liz Anderson hopes the club breaks $1,000 in donations tomorrow. The team earned $682 at last year’s event.
“We’ve gotten close but never made it past the thousand mark,” she said.
After a TSF member showed interest in starting a Relay for Life team “years ago,” Anderson said the club found out it was a simple way for members to bond and raise as much money as possible for the American Cancer Society.
“It doubled as being a great cause and great way to bring the club together,” Anderson said. Even for the most experienced TSF members, 12 hours of nonstop comedy brings exhaustion and sometimes the need to pull random stunts.
Last year, members took audience requests, seldom refusing what they asked. That included people taking off clothes.
Anderson wants to get that vibe back for Friday’s event but without the scandal.
“You never know,” she said. “It’s improv. Anything happens.”
