Comedy Sportz is home to improv games turned into a competition with opposing teams. It is a subset of Drama Club, but many of its members are students who are not part of the club.
At the beginning of the school year, they usually put on one show, just to show new people what it is like. Later, they have auditions where the members are judged on their improv skills and teamwork.
“One thing we look for is if they can form a scene with people that they may not be as comfortable with, and if they are willing to look like an idiot on stage,” senior co-president Amelia Berardo said.
This year has not had as many Comedy Sportz shows yet, because there are a lot more new members who comprise nearly half the team.
“Normally, we have several shows each semester, but we only had one last semester so we’re planning to have a couple more this semester,” Berardo said.
On March 2, the club will host a special competition pitching an all-teacher team against an all-student team. So far, Spanish teacher Bret Yielding and principal Paul Robinson have agreed to participate.
Crowd participation is crucial in a Comedy Sportz show — two opposing teams perform a scene with characters and a plot, and the audience decides which performance they like the most.
Senior co-president Katherine Sabel said that the turnout for the first show on Sept. 28 was “pretty good.” Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves a lot.
The club has not been doing a lot of marketing this year, as most of the participation comes from word of mouth. They plan to do some more outreach next year, as there was not an increase in attendance from last year.
“A lot of times we’ve found it difficult to get people to come to the first show, but the people who come realize they find it really exciting and decide to join,” Berardo said.
For instance, junior Isaiah Viviero is a MAP student who is not really in to drama, but joined Comedy Sportz after attending a performance last year.
“We have a really wide variety of students who enjoy doing this because it’s really fun and a really good skill to have,” Berardo said.
