Every September, NYU students with a passion for acting, writing or class-clowning dive headfirst into the comedy audition circuit. There were 12 comedy troupes open for auditions this year, including The FalseSettos, known for its musical sketch comedy, Bechdel Test, an all-female and nonbinary comedy group and After School Improv, which focuses on spontaneous comedy. “Where they started and how they got to where they are now, and for most of them it was improv groups or sketch groups.”The prestigious and successful reputation of NYU comedy troupes makes showing up to auditions even more daunting. Max Frankel, a Wagner sophomore and member of Home Improvment, a troupe focused on improv-style comedy, helps cast new members. Frankel attested to this intergroup camaraderie, and said the NYU comedy troupe community is a “family” that came together for an independent show to support and promote each other at the beginning of the semester.