They are loud, unpredictable and hilarious – and they are coming soon to a theater near Ohio State.

The 8th Floor Improv Comedy Group will be performing at the Drexel Gateway Theater today, and every Friday during the month of May at 8 and 10:30 p.m. The two shows each night will feature an entirely different cast and set of games.

“Everyone is very excited about it. It’s a great opportunity, we feel very thankful to have it,” said Drew Tarvin, a senior in computer science. “We hope this is one more step in getting improv bigger in Columbus.”

The improv group is similar to the popular show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” and plays a series of original and adapted games guided by audience suggestions.

The 8th Floor Improv Group got its name and roots from a group of six students who clowned around on the eighth floor of Stradley Hall. Since its conception as an OSU student organization in the fall of 2004, the group has expanded in scope and size, currently boasting 16 members.

The 8th Floor Improv Group is one of the earlier partnerships for the Drexel performance space, said Kelli Busbey, special events coordinator for the Drexel Gateway Theater.

Those unaware of the Drexel Gateway’s performance room are not alone because it is often kept closed and discreet. The multimedia room, or black box, is a fully-equipped multipurpose room located near the top of the escalators.

“Our goal is to get people in here using the space, just to bring OSU students here,” Busbey said.

The black box will have a “cabaret style” atmosphere that is “laid back and comfortable” like a comedy club, she said.

Anxiousness ran through the performers at practice Sunday, but Tarvin said the group is mostly nervous because they are excited. The group has performed in front of crowds of more than 100 people and it attributes its confidence to frequent performances.

“We’ve been doing more and more shows, and bigger shows,” said Nick Tyler, a sophomore in theater.

The group did two shows at The Columbus Zoo last weekend and will perform more shows this quarter than the last two quarters combined.

Tyler said one of the group’s advantages is its size, because it allows the group to split into two groups when booking necessitates.

The group also benefits from a diverse range of comedic styles and personal backgrounds. Members’ majors range anywhere from theater to philosophy and molecular biology.

“We have a guy that finds a way to put chemistry into our performances and it’s funny, he even studies while we practice,” said Yvonne Townsend, a sophomore in psychology and sociology.

Damon Trammell said he was always a little weird growing up. His knack for coming up with random, seemingly illogical performances continually dumbfounds the group. The group developed the habit of collectively calling out, “What the fuck?” during shows to force Trammell to stop and explain an outlandish sequence of events.

Tarvin is one of the founding members and he, like many in the group, takes comedy seriously.

“We really work to bring a business aspect to it,” he said. “Once a week we have business meetings to discuss our constitution and marketing, amongst other things. We’re (as) proactive as possible about finding more shows.”

Tarvin and a few others have made the improv group a part-time job of sorts and spend more than 20 hours per week practicing and working on organizational issues.

“You can’t really practice improv, but you can practice people together, chemistry,” Townsend said.

The 8th Floor Improv group practices three times per week for two hours to prepare for its shows. They spend time looking at which games and people complement each other to form different line-ups for shows.

Group members observe a great deal of improv comedy and borrow and modify games from elsewhere to keep things fresh. Some games, such as “True 8th Floor Stories,” are completely original and at times other improv groups have even asked to borrow them.

As with any student organization, time passes and people move on. But the time spent performing improv comedy can be a lasting experience.

“My aspirations were to move on and get a good job. With improv it has changed,” Tarvin said. “I love improv and standup and want to continue to do both.”

Tickets to see the 8th Floor Improv Comedy Group at the Drexel Gateway will be sold at the theater half an hour before the show for $5.