HTCI

During a ComedySportz improv workshop, potential team members play a rhyming game. After playing the games, veteran members evaluated their performances and decided which students would be a part of this year’s team.

Following the announcement of this year’s ComedySportz members, the ComedySportz team has begun to prepare for their upcoming season. The team will begin to practice after school on Fridays.

This year’s team includes a larger number of new members than has been typical for ComedySportz, in prior years, giving members the opportunity to shape the new team’s dynamic.

Piper Dafforn, ComedySportz member and junior, said, “We have a lot of turnover this year. We have seven new members because we lost seven seniors last year, so I’m really excited to almost have a whole new atmosphere but still be as good and excited as we were last year.”

While the influx of new members provides opportunities for the team, it also raises questions for the team to answer and obstacles to overcome.

ComedySportz sponsor Jim Peterson said, “(The most challenging part of starting with a new team) is just getting the basics down. It’s hard for even the professionals to stay focused the main truisms for comedy, always saying yes, not denying and being very specific with creating a location and objective. Those kinds of things are the most challenging. I think even the veteran plays are going to need some refreshing.”

Challenges aside, Dafforn said she is looking forward to a successful year with the new team.

“I want the new people to have a lot of fun,” Dafforn said. “I hope we have as good of an audience as we did last year, because we had a really good turnout last year, and I hope we live up to the expectations that were set last year.”