TCU’s improv comedy troupe introduced a new fundraising technique called “SAC Sells Out” at their first show of the semester Thursday Sept. 5.

Senseless Acts of Comedy, or SAC, encouraged the audience to donate money to decide what would happen in the show.

Audience members could scan a QR code on the screen throughout the show to send in money. They could then request new rules for the actors depending on the size of their donation.

For example, for $15 an actor had to hold a prop for the entire show; $20 could “fuse” two improvisors together.

Students could pool their money to buy the higher-priced rules, said Sarah Kate Barton, a junior acting major and SAC member.

“We want to encourage creativity and provide a fun way to raise money that everyone can be involved in,” Barton said.

More than $300 was donated. About 150 people packed the Brown Lupton University Union auditorium for the Thursday night show.  The largest donation was $100 pooled together by senior journalism major Hanna Landa and her friends.

“We will use the money we raised for new equipment and to increase production quality,” said Sam Illum, a junior acting major and SAC member.

The group has been borrowing equipment from the film-tv-digital media department, but that equipment is also used by students to complete assignments. The limited availability of the shared equipment makes  production difficult, Illum said.

Barton said the troupe is  trying to attract more non-theater majors to their performances this semester.

“We plan to advertise more across campus and add more shows with different themes,” Barton said.

A frequent SAC attendee, Emilia Gambucci said: “I have never seen a performance quite like this one. I love how the audience was involved in the creative process.”

While there were the same structural elements from the previous shows, the engagement and choices were what made the performance exceptional, said Gambucci, a junior theatre major.