DJ Club performing at Buckeyethon 2019. Credit: Courtesy of Joe Gerard
Instead of breaking legs onstage this semester, members of arts-focused student organizations have had to make serious changes in order for the show to go on.
Student organizations have been forced to find other ways to keep operations running since in-person meetings were banned indefinitely Nov. 12 by Ohio State. Some clubs have been able to regain a sense of normalcy in their virtual operations, while others continue to face barriers that cannot be solved through Zoom meetings alone.
Joe Gerard, a third-year in biomedical science and the president of DJ Club, said the club’s primary functions — DJing at events such as BuckeyeThon and teaching new members — have been difficult to continue without in-person connections. Aside from having an active group chat where members can ask others for advice, Gerard said there isn’t much the club can do.
“We tried to do virtual stuff,” Gerard said. “The issue with that is so much of what we do is, one, there’s a social component to it that you just can’t get over Zoom, and then DJing is real-time stuff. And a one-second delay is a lot when you’re talking about mixing music together and lining up beats.”
In addition to real-time delays over Zoom presenting a challenge, Gerard said the DJ Club normally allows newcomers to use communal equipment to hone their skills, which they can no longer offer. Without members being able to practice, Gerard said it’s easy to fall behind and lose interest.
“It’s not like riding a bike,” Gerard said. “It’s really easy, if you don’t do it for a while, to fall behind.”
Although some clubs have been dealt the same unlucky hand as DJ Club, others have been able to work around logistical issues.
Mackenzie Waxler, a fourth-year in communication technology and president of the service-based theater organization Off the Lake Productions, said they still have plans to put on their play “She Kills Monsters” and their Night of One-Acts virtually in February and March.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to get the rights to shows that are able to be performed virtually,” Waxler said. “So we’ve been rehearsing virtually for those as well as holding game nights and stuff over Zoom.”
Waxler said one of the biggest challenges they faced was figuring out how to put together a musical, which normally accompanies Off the Lake’s play and one-acts during the spring semester.
“We’ve been having a really tough time because we planned to do a musical, but it’s just something that’s a little too difficult to do over Zoom,” Waxler said. “So we kind of prepared to do all of that, but it’s not been really working out for us, so that’s something that’s been put on the back burner for this year.”
Waxler said this semester marks OTL’s 25th season, which would normally be celebrated with bigger plans than are feasible online. However, Waxler said the season will be accompanied by increased interactions with the organization’s alumni network to celebrate the organization.
“Even though it’s a really weird year, I think it’s a good time to do that when we’re a little less busy at rehearsals four days a week,” Waxler said. “So definitely the plan for this semester is to reconnect with our alumni network.”
Some student organizations have gone beyond moving standard procedure online and have used the new format to do something entirely new. Carlie Shearer, a third-year in linguistics and theatre, and the president of Fishbowl Improvisational Comedy Group, said the organization started a podcast called “Bits in the Tank,” which can be found on Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube and Fishbowl’s website.
“We found that we didn’t really like doing the traditional long-form over Zoom; a long-form is basically a 20-minute improvised play, which is what we usually do in person. But, in place of that, we started a podcast,” Shearer said.
Shearer said that if COVID-19 did not exist, Fishbowl would be preparing to perform with other schools and professionals – including Rot, their alumni group – during their annual Tides Comedy Festival. Instead, Shearer said, the group is aiming to recruit new “guppies” through tentatively scheduled February auditions and produce one podcast episode a month.
“It’s easy to be like, ‘Well, we can’t do anything in person so let’s just sort of hang out and talk to each other and not create anything,’” Shearer said. “I’m really proud of Fishbowl for rising to the occasion, it’s super weird and obviously not what anyone thought would happen.”
