Every Thursday, MU Improv puts on themed shows in The Shack. On Oct. 9, the troupe performed their annual Sexy Show, a show in partnership with Planned Parenthood, which was all about being funny and sexy.
The improv team already has six themed shows under their belt, but The Sexy Show was their first fundraiser of the year. For every $50 raised, an improv team member had a pie thrown in their face. MU Improv was able to raise over $500, which is more than double what they earned last year.
MU Improv treasurer, junior Zoe Simonds, has been a member of the troupe since her first year at the University of Missouri. She explained that while The Sexy Show has been a continuous show in their lineup since 2014, the Planned Parenthood fundraiser started in 2023 after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“Planned Parenthood needed more financial support than ever,” Simonds said. “… We kind of decided the best course of action, it wasn’t an exact design, was to make (The Sexy Show) for a good cause.”
The Sexy Show featured three teams: “Three Generations of Women,” “Houston? We Have A Ding Dong” and “Fatt Motis.” Each team began their performance with sex-themed trivia. If a team member answered a question wrong, they had to wear satin gloves, cat ears or fuzzy handcuffs. The props provided a way for the performers to settle into the show, and for audience members to become acquainted with the troupe’s raunchy theme.
All three teams performed several skits over the show’s hour-long run time, but when it was Fatt Motis’s turn, they captivated the audience with their witty jokes and over-the-top gags.
Two days after The Sexy Show, the group made their 2025 national debut at the Bellwether Improv Comedy Festival, one of the largest college improv festivals in the nation.
Simonds reflected on how The Sexy Show would not be possible without the university’s continued support of the troupe’s performances, most of which have campy, playful themes.
“I’m so happy that Mizzou is so sex positive with all of this,” Simonds said.
The University of Missouri’s backing comes at a significant time for social justice. The university recently allowed for Mizzou College Republicans to exclude “Gender Identity” and “Gender Expression” from the non-discrimination clause in their club’s constitution, with the club only choosing to acknowledge federally protected classes, like race, sex, religion and age.
Even as Mizzou accepts changes to some of its policies, MU Improv will continue to bring lightheartedness to its audience through shared comedy and community.
