ComedySportz showcases aggressive humor
By James Hill III
Relatively cheap, close to campus and entertaining, ComedySportz — an improv company that performs four times a week in downtown San Jose — offers a unique night out with friends for a pleasant escape from the drudge of winter quarter.
ComedySportz is exactly as its name implies: "competitive improvisational comedy." Comedian Dick Chudnow created ComedySportz in Milwaukee, WI in 1984, and it has since spread across the country and world.
The San Jose company performs Fridays at 9 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 and 9 p.m. with their standard, all-ages show, along with an 18+ "Midnight Show" at 11 p.m. on Fridays.
The "Actletes," as they're lovingly called, take the competition seriously. They begin the program after a short introduction by the referee (a rotating member of the company) by leading the audience in the national anthem.
There are "trades" and "free agent signings" and even multiple fouls that the referee can call, with their own unique punishments: the "Delay of Game" foul, called when a comedian continues a scene already determined to be unfunny; the "Brown Bag" foul, called whenever someone tells a crude or profane joke at the family-friendly show (the offender is punished by wearing a brown bag on their head for the duration of the scene); and the "Groaner" foul, called for telling a bad pun (the offender is punished by apologizing directly to the audience).
It all adds up to a very entertaining 90-minute show. The audience participates by giving the actletes topics for their games and voting with their "Whapners," blue and red fly swatters "named after a Supreme Court judge."
Meanwhile, two screens keep score and cycle through ComedySportz trivia, which mentioned that current Saturday Night Live cast member Jason Sudeikis is a ComedySportz alum.
There is also a narrator/sound effects lady who keeps things moving at a swift (and hilarious) pace.
There are a wide variety of improv games played at any given show. The show I attended included "What are you doing," in which the player has to mime an action and then, when asked "what are you doing?" respond with something completely different, which the other player must then mime.
The last game before the competition's final round was "Five Things," where, using nothing but gibberish, one oblivious team member must guess the actions being mimed out. The twist is that it's a standard action being done with or to something obviously not part of the normal activity.
Two of the funniest examples from the game were chopping down a tree – but instead of an axe it was a chainsaw and instead of a tree it was teenage pop star Justin Bieber – and slaying a vampire – but instead of a stake the slayer was using a Shake Weight.
Overall, I highly recommend ComedySportz for anyone looking for something different (and funny) to do on a Friday or Saturday night.
If you're looking for something like that here at Santa Clara, I recommend THTR 7, an improv class here at Santa Clara taught by Kimberly Hill last spring quarter.
Hopefully the course will be offered again this spring. you learn how to act in many of the games played during ComedySportz while earning units and having a lot of fun.
Contact James at jhill@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.