Your average Friday night in Isla Vista may very well involve sex, dark lights, drunken humor and late hours, but you’ve probably never experienced anything on the level of Improvathon. With 24 hours of straight comedy, Embarcadero Hall was in for quite the ride. Maybe FOX should think about replacing Mr. Bauer with bit of student improvisation… or not. Let’s face it: If Jack Bauer was real, he’d already be president, and he’d already have bitch-slapped Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama across the face just for shits and giggles.

“24” obsessions aside, last Friday saw the start of a massive undertaking for Improvability. The event kicked off with the group’s usual hour or so of improvised comedy at 8 p.m., but when the “naughty” show fired up, the audience was treated to ridiculous sexual innuendos, general mocking of Tim’s “face pubes” and, in a unique version of “Truth-Run-Run” — a game where players have to reveal personal truths to the crowd — quite a few sexual revelations were disclosed by a certain Scottish Improvability member, much to the shock/horror/bemusement/disgust/sympathy of the audience. Santa Barbara can never look at you the same again, nameless Scottish person who is the only Scottish person in the troop. You dirty Scot.

Speaking of unusual, a group rendition of the “Macarena” probably isn’t something you expect to experience at a comedy show, but it happened. In a test of the crowd’s willingness to participate, during the made-up game called “Bubble Jig,” Tim commanded the audience to dance in unison, and dance they did. This was followed by USC’s Second Nature troop coming all the way from USC-land to our humble stage in order to give our regulars a break. Bringing great variety to Embarcadero Hall with the use of free-flowing and highly effective “long form” improvisation, they most definitely paid their comedic dues.

As night turned into morning, it was obvious the performers were getting tired, and the audience had dissolved into a handful of loyal fans sticking it out to reap the reward of watching the full show: a lifetime pass to Improvability shows. There were definite lulls in the comedic energy, and the planned Skype link-up with the UK unfortunately never materialized, but there were more than a couple of highlights. Visiting troops Smile and Nod and Billy Dee Williams — LIVE! — mixed up the comedy some more, and each member of UCSB’s resident troop hosted for an hour, which included a stand-up segment, a very messy “pancake hour” and a murder mystery. Oh, and a gorilla chased a banana around I.V. for a while and brought back two drunken volunteers from Freebirds… to give a rousing speech on equality, naturally.

Though Chilla Vista stole quite a few potential audience members, those ambitious improvisers made it all the way to 23 hours, setting up for half an hour of a back-to-basics regular show and spending the rest of the time on a moving goodbye to its departing seniors, both of whom will be moving on from UCSB after this quarter is through. This emotional end for some of the troop was typified by Tim offering the departing members a chance to shave off his beard. For those of you who don’t realize the gravitas of this gesture, Tim has kept his “beard,” which you really had to see for yourself, for the longest time, despite much mockery and protest from the troop. Said departing members proceeded to whip out the electric razor and cleanse Tim’s chin for the good of mankind. The show couldn’t have ended on a more perfect note. Congratulations, Improvability and friends, on staying alive.