ComedySportz player shares tips, tricks for improv, stage presence and humor

Guest Columnist Laura Palmer

Some of my best friends constantly say that they could never do what the members of the ComedySportz team do. They would freeze onstage and not know what to do or say “on the spot.” Maybe it’s a matter of having inhibitions or being overly self-conscious, but a lot of people would rather do ANYTHING besides be caught onstage, unscripted. So why do we do it?

I guess the easy answer is that the six of us Carmel ComedySportz “Actletes” are just twisted and weird for loving the whole experience.

If you’ve never been to a ComedySportz match at Carmel, it really is a crazy evening. The Studio Theater packs around 250 audience members who are all screaming and energized for a good show. It is the only kind of performance where the audience actively participates in the show by offering suggestions (people, objects, locations) that the performers build our scenes or jokes around. It’s staged like a sports match, and we compete against other Indiana schools for a meaningless trophy. The audience decides who gets the points and eventually, who wins the match.

When I made the team sophomore year, I was taught some guidelines that are said to shape “good improv.” So for all of you aspiring ComedySportz auditionees out there, here they are:

1) Don’t be a stage hog. We all know THAT GUY. THAT GUY must always be the center of attention. In improv, THAT GUY is universally hated because he doesn’t know how to share onstage. THAT GUY looks like an idiot for not working with his team. Don’t be THAT GUY.

2) Pay attention! If you’re in the middle of a scene and someone leaps onstage saying something completely irrelevant that screws up the plot or confuses the audience, it’s not funny.

3) Agree. The big no-no in ComedySportz is disagreeing with a teammate on stage. It makes everyone look bad.

4) Commit. Whatever you do, do it big. If you’re a 35-year-old woman living in your parent’s basement and you hold the Weightlifting Champion title, you better drop your voice a few octaves and flex. Make big choices, because little choices make you look like a wimp.

5) Have fun. This is the easiest part, because at Carmel, we have awesome fans.

So this is my thank you to all of you ComedySportz fans. From the kids in sleeping bags in the ticket line to the masses singing Backstreet Boys outside the theater an hour before show time, you are the best! I speak for Mike, Jason, Bethany, Phil, Jon and myself when I say that Carmel has the best ComedySportz fans in the world. Maybe we’ll even win State this year…