Checking in with ComedySportz

ComedySportz+team+members+warm-up+before+a+practice.+The+team+prepares+extensively%2C+though+unconventionally+for+its+games.+%28Akshita+Dondeti%2F+Talon%29

ComedySportz team members warm-up before a practice. The team prepares extensively, though unconventionally for its games. (Akshita Dondeti/ Talon)

ComedySportz is preparing for its Halloween-themed home game in the Pavilion Oct. 16.

Senior and co-captain Liora Bregman shared the team’s pre-game preparations.

“Before our games, we do lots of screaming and jumping and running around to get us high energy and out of our heads! Big audiences are exciting. The support rocks,” Bregman said.

To help the team prepare, ComedySportz LA coach Sarah Parga comes to the school once a month to work with the team and teach them to mesh with each other as well as the audience. With Parga, the team covers topics from spacework, to storytelling, to character building. The team also takes trips down to ComedySportz LA to watch their shows.

New team members prepare for half of a semester before they are able to perform.

“We are working hard to integrate and bond with the newbies on the team,” junior and team member Gwenyth Rosenkrantz said.

Success in improvisation is based on the relationships between team members.

“You need to be aware of who you are improvising with, and how they are most likely to react to each offer you give them. Learning body language and expression within each other comes in handy,” junior and co-captain Grace Oriss said.

Bregman emphasized the need for team members to trust one another.

“You need to be able to trust that your teammates will make you look good up on a stage, while you are completely vulnerable and without a script,” Bregman said. “After each practice, we have team dinners, and after each game, parties. Staying in tune with one another is key.”