Spicy Clamato no longer is just an awful mixture of tabasco, clam and tomato.

It’s also an improv troupe from the University of Illinois featuring the comedic stylings of seniors Joe Hercih, Laura Nosko and Casey Larenc; junior John Loos; and sophomores Jeremy Kanne and Ben Rathert. The improv troupe has been around for about 11 years.

“We were named after bad food products,” said Rathert, a recent addition to the Spicy cast.

-“This is the 14th generation,” said graduate student and ex-Spicy member Paul Booth. “I was a member of the ninth generation. Spicy Clamato was part of an amateur theater group called Penny Dreadful Players; after a few years, Spicy broke off from them,” Booth said. “Spicy is now the longest running improv troupe on the U of I campus.”

Saturday’s show at The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, kicked off slow with simple improv exercises that were reminiscent of old high school acting classes. The laughs were few.

Then, on a large amount of faith, they jumped into a long improv scene about a monkey child, which despite being what seemed like 20 minutes, was full of laughs and interesting characters.

They ended the show with a “Whose Line is it Anyway”-style word-guessing debate. The bit ended with an eruption of laughter and cheers.

The whole show only lasted about an hour, but it was very well-received by audience members.

Communication graduate student Kristy Fifelski said she loved the show. “It was great … a very funny show. They were so quick and they were right on target.”

Fifelski said her favorite scene was the final scene, the guessing debate. It was a mixture of charades and quick quips as two people tried to figure out a word as other members pantomimed clues.

For only $3, it was a cheap date alternative to ever-increasing movie ticket prices, and had the added perk of spontaneity.

“The improv is extra fresh and served daily,” Rathert said.