On October 12, 2025, students and community members alike gathered in the Franklin W. Olin Building to witness the zany humor of an improv comedy group on Luther’s campus; Top Banana. 

Top Banana, formed in 2013-2014, is an improv comedy troupe at Luther College. They put on a performance about once a month, entertaining students (and Decorah locals.) with an hour’s worth of skits and improv games. While the troupe this year has seven members, Top Banana has had as many as ten members performing at once. Callum Nimrod (‘28), who joined the Top Banana ensemble last year, explained the simple process of joining. 

“My dad- he went to Luther- he told me to try out for improv comedy,” Nimrod said. “I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve never done [improv] before!’ So I showed up to the auditions, and I did some silly things and they let me in!” 

Another member, Jordan Kahl (‘28), joined this year and felt equally welcome, despite being new to the improv scene. 

“I’ve been a part of Top Banana for about a month,” Kahl said. “I got to know some of the people who were in [Top Banana], and I was like, ‘Oh, this might be something that I might enjoy doing!’ I auditioned for the heck of it, and they were like, ‘Hey, you should join!’ And I did!”

Improv, short for improvisation, shares similar elements with other forms of performing arts, such as theater, as both involve the act of playing animated characters and projecting to reach all members of an audience. However, improv deviates from other performing arts with its comedic, unscripted and fast-paced nature. 

“[Improv actors don’t need] much [skills for improv], [actors] just need to be quick-thinking,” Nimrod said. “[Improv actors] need to have the ability to listen because a lot of improv is just listening to what people are saying and what people are trying to set up around you.”

Kahl agreed, and leans into the low-stakes style of acting that improv brings. 

“[Improv is] very different because [actors] just get to have fun. There are no expectations, really, [actors] just get to go up [on stage], say things, and make jokes with friends, essentially,” Kahl said. “It’s just a good time.” 

An average Top Banana show involves a series of various skits and improv games. The show on Sunday, October 12, involved games such as “Press Conference,” “Party Host,” in which the audience decides a quirk for three actors that a fourth actor has to guess, “Quotes,” in which actors take quotes from the audience and work them into their improv scene, “Late for Work,” in which the audience chooses a ridiculous reason for why an actor is late for work, “54321” and “String of Pearls,” where the actors create a comedic story by building off of each other’s quips. Audience participation was necessary for each game, as the onlookers were encouraged to shout out ideas for settings, characters and other concepts for the actors to craft wacky scenarios from. 

“We play [an improv game] that’s called ‘Press Conference,’ where someone leaves the room and while they’re gone, we decide something important that they did or invented. Then they come back and we ask them questions as if they’re giving a press conference,” Kahl said. “By the end, they have to try and guess what they did or invented.”

“My favorite [improv skit] is called ‘5,4,3,2,1’. [The game begins with] five participants, and they all do a little scene, like maybe they’re shopping at a grocery store and something crazy happens. But at the end of that scene, the audience will vote out one of the participants, and then there will only be four people playing five characters.” Nimrod said. “[The remaining actors will] have to run around and switch roles constantly so all five characters are still being portrayed. And then after that round, they’ll go down to three [participants], and two [participants], until finally just one person is playing five roles, running around, and trying to make sense and trying to keep the original plot idea.” 

With the light-hearted, unserious nature of these improv performances, Top Banana shows create a fun environment for audience members and actors alike. 

“I really enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone a little bit,” Kahl said. “I never did improv all that seriously in high school, or at all, so it’s fun to be able to [perform] in a way that is fun and low-pressure.” 

“I like just having that break [with improv] to decompress and be silly. There’s not really an expectation of doing anything specific; you just kinda go and you run around and be crazy and do whatever. I really enjoy [performing for Top Banana].” Nimrod said. “It reminds me not to take life too seriously.”

Top Banana hosts auditions for the year every fall. 

“All you have to do is sign up for an audition, and then you show up, and the audition is literally just [Top Banana actors] playing games,” Nimrod said. “Anyone can join; you don’t have to be a theater person. You don’t have to have any experience; I had never done improv before I joined Top Banana, so that was not a limiting factor for me.”

Top Banana puts on a show about once a month, with their next show landing on November 1. It’s free to attend their shows, and audience members are sure to get a bunch of laughs!