2008 Woodie Awards
Gettin' a laugh in Dryden Hall from the professionals
Frankie Mangini
Issue date: 10/24/06 Section: Detour
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Comedy Sportz is a professional improvisational show now based in 18 cities, which has been performing for 22 years. Friday's show had four members who amused more than 50 students in Dryden Hall. Although the performance did hit some dry spots, for the most part it was entertaining. The crowd was laughing at almost every game, when showcased the talent of the cast, especially that of Ben Stephens.
The performance was filled with interactive games that kept the audience involved. Some games were similar to that of the hit television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, such as moving characters and sound effects.
Junior Billy San Juan stole the show for just a moment, when he volunteered to do the sound effects for the cast. Set in a hiking trip, cast-member Brandon Arnold put San Juan's skills to the test. After somehow ending up with a beating heart in his hand, he decided to use his convenient jet pack to take the heart to the chief, Stephens. San Juan tried the best he could to make a realistic jet pack noise while keeping the heart beat going, but could not. Instead he just had the heart stop beating until Arnold was at his destination, and provided the sound effects of the beating heart right when it was delivered to the chief.
However, many games were unique such as forward/reverse, where a scene was performed, and one had control telling them to go forward or reverse. Jeff Kramer, controller of this performance, had a good time making Arnold jump in and out of Stephens' arms several times within seconds while trying to continue with their performance.
The highlight of the night came toward the end, when the group played a game called "A Day in the Life." In this game, they re-enacted an exciting day of Dunja Stankovic '07. After taking two minutes to learn the correct pronunciation of the name, Dunja described a day in the summer when she went sky diving with her friend. After learning the name of the friend, the cast decided not to even try. The group then took every word that came out of Dunja's mouth and put it to life by acting it out, only with a little exaggeration that had the audience rolling with laughter; it was a scene that was unforgettable to all in attendance.