ComedySportz is hosting its first in-person game since the start of the pandemic on Oct. 28, after over a year of being restricted to online shows, due to COVID-19. This marks the first ever performance in front of a live audience for those recruited in January 2021, while for the more seasoned members on the team, it’s a return to the way it was before March 2020. 

The game was previously scheduled for Sept. 10, but was postponed due to scheduling conflicts regarding use of the Pavilion, which was being utilized as a polling station.

“These things happen once in a while,” Principal Mat McClenahan said. “It’s not great, nobody wants it, but I’m looking forward to being able to see the kids perform.”

McClenahan is an avid supporter of the ComedySportz program, having held ComedySportz workshops at his previous school.

“I love ComedySportz,” McClenahan said. “I think that improv in general is a very complicated procedure, and it can be a huge amount of fun.” 

ComedySportz team members Dominic Land and Elizabeth Dusek share his enthusiasm about the return to in-person games. Land is a senior entering his fourth year on the team and has previously competed in front of a live crowd on many occasions, as well as virtually. 

“You can get away with doing [ComedySportz] online,” Land said. “But it feels so much more real and energetic when it’s in person, because you can feed off everyone else around you, and you don’t really get that from a screen.”

On the other hand, Dusek, a sophomore recruited in January 2021, never got the chance to perform either online or in person. Although having more experience in the program than this year’s incoming team members, she is just as new to the idea of in-person competition. 

“I’m just really looking forward to this year and all of the new people that are hopefully going to join,” Dusek said.