By Kelly Wiley

In a twist from the usual performance rules, tonight the audience members will determine what scenes the actors portray on stage.

The Improv Nashville Touring Group will perform for free in the Worsham Theater in the Student Center at 7 p.m.

Callie Hanks, director of cultural arts for the Student Activites Board, compared Improv Nashville to the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

The group takes suggestions from the audience and turns the ideas into scenes of improvised stories and songs, Hanks said.

“Improv Nashville has the same basic idea of improv comedy. They go around and do a lot of team building, leadership workshops and they do 60-minute shows,” Hanks said.

Emily Volman, managing director of Improv Nashville, said she and a few other actors started the company because they realized Nashville was lacking in the improvisational department.

The improvisation group is comprised of actors who do comedy full-time and others who have day jobs but do improv on the side.

Volman said they rehearse like any sports team in order to get better.

“We don’t know what is going to happen during the show,” Volman said. “We just try and make ourselves better.”

Volman believes that the show will be fitting for college students since they are often stressed out.

“I would hope to think that young people today like to laugh and make fun of things that are happening in the world in a humorous fashion,” Volman said. “There are a lot of funny things happening in life, and it’s better to laugh about them than cry.”

Hanks said there are comedy venues around town, but it is not every day that students get to see a group like Volman and  Improv Nashville.

“Everybody likes to laugh,” Hanks said. “I hope it will kind of provide a break just to come out for an hour and catch a few laughs.”