Who We Are
We are Cornell’s oldest improv comedy troupe. We specialize in long-form improvisation, where ideas, characters and scenes are all made up on the spot and can be as short as 30 seconds or as long as 30 minutes. We perform two big shows a semester, along with a dozen or so smaller gigs across campus. We also love to travel, and go to comedy festivals and competitions yearly. We're the best (and cheapest) show you'll find at Cornell, so come to our show, you dingus!
Where We Came From
The Whistling Shrimp were created in 1981 by Stuart Flack '82 as a theatre company to put on new plays. In 1984, under the lead of Lee Rosenthal and Bob Clendenin, the Shrimp morphed into a comedy group that did improv, sketch and short plays. The group dropped plays in the early 90's and eventually became the glorious improv group it is now. How fascinating!
WTF is that name?
The rumor goes that a persnickety old theatre director quoted Mr. Kruschev saying that he would be our advisor when "a shrimp learns to whistle." The truth, however, is that the founder's girlfriend was a Soviet studies major and there was a popular Leo Kotke song of the same name at the time, and somehow these 2 facts mish-moshed into what seemed like a good name for a theatre troupe. A lot less dramatic, hence we keep the other rumor around for kicks.
Additional Info
If you'd like to learn more, email [email protected] (which you can do on the Contact Us page), we've got answers.
Make sure you check out our individual Shrimp!
Make sure you check out our individual Shrimp!