By: DANICA SILAN
Staff Writer
Comedy Sportz proved its ability to humor an audience yet again when it beat Mission Viejo High School (MVHS) in another hilarious Comedy Sportz match on April 17. After both teams finish a game, the audience cheers for its favorite team and points are awarded to the team that receives the loudest cheers.
The show opened with a few of the players on the Junior Varsity (JV) team including Ali Huxman (Fr.), Kerri Lutrell (So.), Dalton Nguyen (Fr.), James Gui (Jr.) and Ellena Eshraghi (Fr.). Eshraghi commented on her first year on the team and said, “Being able to interact with players from other schools is one of the best things about Comedy Sportz because you get to see how improv teams work together in comparison to your own. Each school has a unique style and dynamic with its teammates and observing their strengths and weaknesses helps with putting your own strengths and weaknesses in perspective.”

Following the JV match, which showcased the newer members of the team, the older and more experienced players came on stage to play their match against Mission Viejo. During the first half, team captain Antor Paul (Jr.) led his teammates, all returning players including Josie Bachman (So.), Dylan Cecot (So.) and Yamini Nambimadom (Jr.), to victory in the first half of the show.
When asked about his experience as team captain, Paul said, “Captains are picked from varsity players before every match, and the job is to warm up your team for the games you want to play and get to be friendly with the other team. We had a really fun match and Mission Viejo was hilarious.” During the first half, players participated in the games Expert Challenge, Interrogation, Blind Line and World’s Worst. In Expert Challenge, players pretend to know everything about a topic and challenge the other team when any discrepancy arises in their description of the topic. In response to the spontaneity of the games and the element of surprise that the players faced, Paul said, “None of us knew about cars for Expert Challenge–in fact–we thought they were conceived in the 1920s by Vanderbilt and Ford. Also, I did not watch Avengers, so it was hard for me to guess one of the answers. Yamini thought of a good relationship to act out, and that made the game really strong, aside from Dylan slapping me across the face.” After the first half of the show, a second team of new players came onto the stage.

The second team for UHS, led by Austin Barber (Jr.) consisted of Brandon Kaufman (So.), Corinne Alsop (So.) and Riley Duncan (Jr.). One of the most memorable parts from the show was when a little girl named Catherine unexpectedly joined in Mission Viejo’s game. Alsop said, “The adorable little girl from the audience spoke up, and became an integral part of their scene. She proceeded to get a standing ovation after the game, and she came up onstage in her tiny heelys and took a bow. This all happened because of the relaxed and friendly atmosphere at the matches, which is one of my favorite parts of Comedy Sportz.” The audience definitely got all the players pumped up and gave them energy to feed off of.
Another noteworthy element to Comedy Sportz matches is Mr. Voice, the commentator and scorekeeper of the matches. Noah Obstfeld (Jr.) and Elias Tita (Jr.) were both simultaneously Mr. Voice for this show and made the performance even funnier with their hilarious commentary. Obstfeld said, “Eli and I decided to put a twist on Mr. Voice. We came up with the idea to be a two-headed man and called ourselves ‘the voices’. I was high-pitched and Eli was low. It worked out a lot better than we expected the crowd loved it. In the end, it is still a show, so whatever we can do to make it more enjoyable, we will do.”
The audience on Friday fully enjoyed the performance of the players. When asked about her favorite part of the show, Amy Parampil (Fr.) said, “Besides all the players being really funny, they are also able to effortlessly bring us closer to the action! I will definitely come to more upcoming Comedy Sportz.”
To see more of the fun things Comedy Sportz matches, come to the Faculty Match on May 15 and the final match of the year on June 12.