UNT Improv Troupe Named as Finalists in Houston Tournament
By Riley Tamblyn
February 12, 2020
HOUSTON (AP) — A troupe called Quople from the University of North Texas’s Improv and Comedy Club was the smallest to place as finalists in a nationally recognized college improv tournament held Jan. 25 in Houston.
Quople, made up of Juliana Cohen, Nikolas Zukowsky, Madeline Kutack, and Riley Tamblyn, competed against 101 improvisers Saturday. The group advanced to the finals as the “Wild Card Winner” of the preliminaries.
With just two hours to rest before their final performance, the team met outside the theater to discuss their first-round performance, which was based on the audience suggestion “Pink Panther,” Tamblyn recalled.
The troupe has adapted a traditional long-form format known as “La Ronde,” adding “soap opera-y elements,” Cohen said. “We take a suggestion from the audience asking for an episode title,” Zukowsky added.
In preparation for the competition, the group reviewed judging criteria. Cohen noted that “supporting each other’s choices” on stage was a rubric category that “wasn’t a problem” for Quople and is what makes them a strong team.
Improv has taught Cohen to “trust people a lot,” she said. Describing herself as “a perfectionist,” Cohen explained, “I always feel like I know how everything goes and how I want it to go.”
Cohen added, “It's a collaborative effort… everyone is going to be working just as hard as you are to throw in all these different ideas… by the end of it, the final result is better than what you could have ever imagined.”
For Quople, Cohen summarized, “Success is communicating a story and having the audience receive it and still understand everything that’s going on while also being able to emotionally connect with the characters.”
Despite not winning first or runner-up, the group will continue to train together. Cohen said improv has helped her approach life with a “yes, and” mindset—a guiding principle of the art form. “You really can’t control what’s coming at you. The only way to feel like you have control is by ‘yes-anding’ any situation,” she said.
She explained, “Honestly, we do this for ourselves,” noting that practices build support and fortitude as they prepare for their next performance. “I love it and I just genuinely want to be here and improve my improv,” she added.
UNT’s Improv and Comedy Club hosts general meetings on Monday nights from 8 to 10 p.m. and shows on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m.
KNTU 88.1 FM: UNT’s high-powered station propels students from campus to career
By Riley Tamblyn
October 20, 2021
DENTON (AP) — KNTU 88.1 FM is a 100,000-watt radio station that has served the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for 52 years and counting, broadcasting live from the University of North Texas campus.
The station gives students the opportunity to work with powerful industry-grade equipment while adhering to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules.
Programs Coordinator Michaela Garrison explains, “KNTU is unique because it’s a college radio station”—emphasizing this distinction with a curl of her fingers—“but it’s not really a college radio station. It functions more like professional radio stations do.”
Program, News, and Operations Manager Mark Lambert highlights the opportunity KNTU provides for students: “You’re working at a 100,000-watt FM radio station, the most power any FM station can have in the country.”
Over the years, KNTU has grown significantly. The station became a 100,000-watt station in 1987, as chronicled in the University of North Texas “University Libraries 125 Year Archival Retrospective” by Assistant Processing Archivist Emily Aparicio.
The station continues to evolve, implementing on-air playback systems and music scheduling software. Lambert calls the upgrade “one of the biggest innovations that’s happened in the last 10-15 years” at KNTU.
“We’re in the fifth-largest market in the country, Dallas-Fort Worth,” Lambert notes. “There are people who step right from KNTU into jobs if they’ve paid attention,” he continues, underscoring the unique opportunities available to students at UNT.
“People say radio’s dying—it’s going away,” Lambert says, before contesting that “It’s not going away. It’s still one of the most prevalent ways for people to discover music.”
Garrison offers similar insights: “You look at things like podcasts, which are huge right now. Those are a massive thing. Well, what is a podcast but a talk radio show?” she challenges.
The station leadership advocates for both the tangible relevance of equipment upgrades and the cultural relevance of radio broadcast. KNTU continues to evolve, providing UNT students with the opportunity to gain industry experience and volunteer at this steadfast station.
