The improv group Roll Out the Barrel knows how to stir up laughs. The group of UNT students placed third in the preliminary round of the national College Improv Tournament in March in Chicago.

That makes it the No. 1 team in the Southwest and third in the South. The team -- seniors Jason Pollard and Cotton Hensley, junior Seth Jones and sophomore Jose Rodriguez -- shows the rise in improv at UNT. Last year's team, Cell Block Tango, also made it to nationals, and students often train at the Dallas Comedy House.

"The experience was amazing," Pollard says. "Improv is naturally a more supportive thing than other 'tournament' performance arts, so everyone there was just really accepting and great. It didn't feel like a tournament. It felt like a big all-day improv show!"