An electrical engineer, a political campaign manager, a college admissions counselor, and a former repossession agent walk onstage. What is this, The Village People? No. Some sort of joke? Well, sort of.

Actually, it's Pop Scholars, Grand Rapids' newest comedy troupe, consisting of Dave Lyzenga, Andy Allen, Matt Sterenberg, and Mike Ryskamp. The troupe organized in 2009 after Allen and Sterenberg graduated from Calvin College, and, thus, also from the Calvin Improv Team. Voracious for more improv, the two teamed with Lyzenga and Ryskamp, also Calvin College graduates, former members of Calvin Improv, and current members of River City Improv. Together the four of them formed the only West Michigan comedy team focused on the Chicago genre of long-form improvisational comedy.

"We're not putting a Starbucks across from a Starbucks," Ryskamp said. "We saw a lack of long-form improv in the area and that's what we like to do."

Long-form improv is a variation of theatre comedy that's popular in big cities like Chicago and New York. Since it's improvisational, it's unscripted and typically starts with suggestions from the audience. The suggestions are then turned into multiple scenes forming one extended story that can last a half-hour or longer. Sometimes the scenes are flashbacks or flashforwards, chronologically arranged events, or seemingly random, but the idea is to tell a coherent story that is both engaging and comical.

Now approaching the one-year anniversary of its founding, Pop Scholars hasn't found that "high risk" to be anything but a motivator. Maybe it's because between them they share 25 years of stage-comedy experience. And yet, despite the extensive experience, this quartet of twentysomethings is still the only consistently performing under-30 comedians in town.

"If we needed a tagline," says Lyzenga, "I think we'd go with: 'Young, sexy, Chicago-style improv.'"

That is something they're trying to reflect in their name, Pop Scholars.

"I think it just means that we're relevant," Sterenberg said, with Ryskamp adding that they also “like to get a little brainy.”

"I think we have a blend of fields that make us scholarly," Lyzenga added. "Mike's into politics, Matt's a history buff, Andy does the religion thing, and I know about pop culture. Half the time we don't even know what the other guy is talking about."

But one thing they all do well is to satirize the West Michigan milieu they've made their home. In addition to long-form improv, Pop Scholars ventures into short form (think: “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”), partially scripted sketch comedy, and occasionally a few musical numbers that triumph when they poke fun at the idiosyncrasies of Christian culture.

"We know how to lampoon it," Ryskamp said.

For the time being, Pop Scholars has adopted the Dog Story Theatre as its home base, performing there on a monthly basis. But the guys are also available for hire.

“We do corporate, team-building workshops," says Sterenberg. "But we'll do wedding receptions, ice cream socials, baby showers, whatever."