By DANICA SILAN
Staff Writer

The University High School (UHS) Comedy Sportz team faced the UHS faculty in a hilarious and exciting match on May 15, 2015. The Referee, Rick Steadman, expertly involved the audience (dubbed the “Loyal Fanz”) during each round by asking them for suggestions for different games and keeping the crowd engaged.
The match started off with the junior varsity team, which split up and played each other in the opener. Some of the players included Tejas Dhindsa (Fr.), Kerri Lutrell (So.), James Gui (Jr.), and Liqun Zhu (Sr.). The most memorable moment was the battle between the blue team’s “Human Prop” and red team’s “Slow-Mo Olympics.” Cassidy Haeri (Fr.), a member of the blue team, had to transform herself into props including an aardvark, a door, a washing machine, tape and soap. In the red team’s game, Lutrell and Zhu battled each other in a bed-making contest, as suggested by the audience.
During the first half of the varsity match, Ms. Eliza Sussman (English Dept.), Mr. Geoff Gilpin (Math Dept.), Ms. Emily Sheridan (Social Science Dept.) and Mr. Mark Michalak (Language Dept.) took the stage on the teacher team. They played veteran Comedy Sportz members Noah Obstfeld (Jr.), Dylan Cecot (So.), Yamini Nambimadom (Jr.) and Riley Duncan (Jr.) in exciting games like “Expert Challenge,” “The Dating Game” and “Compression.” Both the student and the faculty teams participated in the game “Expert Challenge.” The teams rallied back and forth, claiming they knew more about the topic of Biology; despite the fact that none of the players were in AP Biology or taught a science class, all of them were actively engaged in the game. One member from either team tried to challenge a member of the other team when they sensed a flaw in their statement; the last player standing, Duncan, won the students five points. Later, the staff team played “Compression.” Based on suggestions from the audience, the team was required to incorporate a knife into the story. After three minutes, the teachers had to remember the improvisations they made and perform them in half the time, going from one minute and thirty seconds to forty-five seconds and so on, ending with a ten second rendition.
The second half of the match was filled with the games of “Town Hall Meeting,” “Four Square,” and “Dance Party.” Principal Mr. John Pehrson, Ms. Heidi Wroblicky (Social Science Dept.), Mr. Michael Martasian (Social Science Dept.) and Mr. Peter Alix (English Dept.) played Corrine Alsop (So.), Eli Tita (Jr.), Antor Paul (Jr.) and Austin Barber (Jr.). One memorable moment from this half of the match was when Paul got a “Groaner Foul” for one of his jokes. Players get these fouls when they make puns or hackneyed jokes. During a round of “Four Square,” Paul and Alsop had to play two students who had stitched themselves together as Siamese friends for a science fair project, immobilizing two of their limbs each. Paul’s joke, “A project like that in real life would have cost an arm and a leg,” was the only Groaner Foul of the night. Paul later said, “Of course people groaned, so I was super apprehensive but in the end the audience was nice enough to let me off the hook. I told them that if they were in my position, they’d have done it too.”
The whole match was narrated by Mr. Voice, voiced by Ryan Nicholson (Sr.). On his performance, Nicholson said, “Mr. Voicing for the Comedy Sportz matches is so much fun! I never had time to try out for CSZ with all of my other things going on, but I always go to see the matches. When Austin [Barber] asked me to Voice for a show, I gladly accepted, and now I’ve voiced for the past 3 shows.”
This Comedy Sportz match was the team’s farewell to Mr. Pehrson. Barber came on stage after the match and thanked Mr. Pehrson for all of his support. Mr. Pehrson said, “The best part of my job is when I get to be involved in activities like this. It was a special moment to not only [play in a match] for the last time, but to also be recognized for being a big arts supporter. It is very touching.”
If you missed the faculty match, come out on June 12 to support the Comedy Sportz team for its farewell match.