Go west, young man. And so, upon hearing those words, or something remarkably similar, Charley Scarborough hit the trail and headed for the wilds of Fort Worth’s Sundance Square in order to brave the slings and arrows of outrageous improv comedy with the troupe known as Four Day Weekend.

Charley Scarborough, 21,  is an active member of the YFT community. In addition to his work on the youth board, he’s also the co-founder of the book club and a frequent participant in the bi-monthly open-mic poetry nights. Charley loves words, and he thinks fast; besides being known as a fine, thoughtful poet, he excels at outrageous, rapid-fire zingers.

For the past two years, he has diligently worked a nine-to-five office job even though his passion lies elsewhere. Ever since he was a child, Charley has been able to make people laugh, so while having a steady job offers him a certain amount of comfort, he’d really like to try his hand at comedy and perhaps even have his own late night talk show some day, much like David Letterman or Conan O’Brien.

Earlier this year, Judith Dumont, YFT’s Director of Youth Services, found out about a series of improv workshops being conducted by members of longtime Fort Worth outfit, Four Day Weekend. Judith forwarded the info to Charley, who, naturally, was eager for the opportunity but simply could not afford the cost; however, once word got out about Charley’s predicament, a scholarship materialized thanks to donations from supportive, albeit anonymous, YFT volunteers.

His group’s first—free—performance was held on the night of Saturday, October 10, which turned out to be a great opportunity for Charley’s open-mic pals, such as Essie, Laura, Matt, Michael, Zack, and a few others, to take a road trip to Fort Worth to show their support; Volunteer Chad Ottosen graciously agreed to set up a caravan from the center. Charley’s stand-out bits included playing a progressively irate NYC police officer as well as Roman gladiator, and also a hunter in the Australian outback. Afterward, Charley and the rest of the YFT gang adjourned to a nearby Starbucks for an impromptu open-mic. The next week, Charley shared his newly acquired skills at big-group, encouraging Thursday night regulars to try their hand at such fun exercises as Zig-Zag-Zog and Dr. Know-It-All.

Round two of the workshops begins this week. Looking back on his experience so far, Charley says he’s learned, “that if you try to be funny, it just seems ridiculous. Let the situation be funny.” He further adds, “They say that good humor comes from a dark place. The life I was given wasn’t always as nice as the other lives I saw, but I never gave up, because in the end, I have to live it, so I might as well enjoy myself (even through the struggles). I firmly believe that you need to have dark days to appreciate the light that filters through. :)”

…as they say in the improv biz, “And ‘Scene’.”