On Sunday, July 6, two doctoral candidates and one newly minted Ph.D. from U-M’s School of Information (SI) will appear at hear.say brewing + theater, a westside Ann Arbor venue that's become a haven for improv.  

When Hana Chung, Hibby Thach, and Dr. Sylvia Darling take the stage, they won't be creating the improv—a trained troupe will be on hand, and the School of Information folks will appear as subject experts. That’s because college professors and grad students provide prompts for the improv players in a new kind of show they've dubbed Extra Credit.

On the first Sunday of each month, experts give 10-minute lectures, which are often humorous takes on serious subjects. These become the springboards for improvised sketches, and Q&As follow. While the improvs are funny, the Q&As deal with the substance of the research.

Gabriela Marcu, an SI professor, discovered an improv show at the Philadelphia Science Festival that began with talks by researchers. “I had always dreamed of making my own version,” she says.

When hear.say opened last year, Marcu approached owner Tony DeRosa, who is also a director and improv performer, about the idea. He said yes, and in October 2024, Extra Credit became part of the improv rotation at hear.say.  

Patrons can order from the bar and have a beer and a bite while watching the show. Tiny portable tables dot the audience area, ideal for two drinks. Food is served in lap-size boxes.

But some come to hear.say just for the show.

“A lot of our sessions have involved research related to artificial intelligence, misinformation, data centers, and modern applications,” DeRosa says.

Michael Hovitch, who works with Extra Credit’s social media, recalls a recent show: Aadarsh Padiyath, an SI doctoral student,  “discussed a researcher who used computer vision to assess dating profile pictures that had been scraped from Tinder to see if AI could determine if someone was gay or not. The speaker joked that it was time to talk straight ally friends into getting facial transplants." A humorous improv scene followed, showing the complications of such a face transplant.

“The performers listen closely to the lectures … looking for key moments of inspiration," Hovitch adds. "[The improvs] are not a direct retelling of the lecture, but a creative response, finding the humorous side of often complex, not always humorous subjects.”

“As improvisers, we try to draw connections from the material,” DeRosa says. “What does it remind us of? What analogies can we make to other contexts? What funny vignettes emerge from specific details shared by presenters?”

Presenters have been Marcu’s SI colleagues, but a recent hear.say event unaffiliated with Extra Credit, shows the format can work for any topic: Podcaster, author, and U-M law professor Leah Litman entertained the audience with tales about her experiences clerking at the Supreme Court, and the troupe created improvs around that.

DeRosa hopes other community members—musicians, athletes, government people, and others—will bring ideas to him.

“Ann Arbor is a great town to do these kinds of shows. People are interested in the subjects,” he says, adding that audience members ask interesting questions during Q&As.

“The post-show Q&A invites everyone into the conversation," Hovitch says. "There’s something really grounding about coming together to process complex ideas through both intellect and humor."

DeRosa says he hopes “people leave with new frameworks on how to see the world, but also have some big laughs. It also seems positive for the professors to have their work reimagined and perceive it in light of other folks' work. ... The act of bringing community together to share, reflect, laugh, and connect seems to be inherently valuable."

Although the players can’t rehearse specifics—“the performers don’t prepare ahead of time or consult with the speakers in advance,” Hovitch says—they can and do practice, honing skills that include pulling out themes and structuring dialogue.

DeRosa, who worked in tech at Google while getting an MBA at U-M, discovered that improv, something he enjoyed as a hobby, could be useful for team building. Local organizations, including Michigan Medicine, U-M Biostats, and Rocket Companies, have sent employees to hear.say to work on communication skills through an afternoon of improv. The venue also offers seven-week improv classes and one-day workshops.

Marcu has taken all the classes hear.say offers and plans to take them again. What she gets out of it is more personal: “It helps me think on my feet more and stay present.”

“When you have a Ph.D., you’re the expert,” Marcu says, but improv puts her in a place where she can’t rely on expertise or preparation. She’s encouraged her SI colleagues, who are people on the cutting edge of research, to try new ways of presenting—and risk failing, too.

“Professors are good at talking. Improv helps us listen,” she says. “It’s a skill that allows you to respond in the moment, and that makes you a better teacher.”

Many of Marcu's colleagues weren’t familiar with improv when she launched Extra Credit, she says, “but they were game and supportive as both speakers and audience members. They showed up to talk about their research and then see how the improvisers would make comedy out of it. It’s been an opportunity to come together and celebrate each other’s work.

"Through the chaos of the last year, and what higher ed and our country are going through," she says, "it's great to have a group of people laughing together.”

Davi Napoleon, a theater historian and freelance writer, holds a BA and MA from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from New York University in theater history, theory, and criticism. Her book is Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theatre. 

Audiences will next earn Extra Credit on Sunday, July 6 at 6:30 pm at hear.say brewing + theater, 2350 West Liberty Road, Ann Arbor. You can buy tickets, get more info, and see future Extra Credit events here.