By Emi Gruender
[INSTALLMENT 17]
Just to the side of Oakridge Mall in South San Jose, an improv venue is tucked between a pizza parlor and thrift shop. If you can’t quite locate it, just follow the sounds of raucous laughter past a mural of mid-performance snapshots and a faux hedge-wall, into the secret arena of comedy long-enjoyed by the city’s residents. This is ComedySportz, the longest-running show in the Bay Area, where two teams of improv professionals compete for points and the audience’s laughter alike. Being an improv show, every night is different from the last, with new teams, referees, and prompts from the small audience. Join The Shield journalists Mia Hanuska, Laura Lipscei, Gio Arteaga, Logan Mendelson, Logan Whiteson, Wes Adams, and guest journalist Max Hesterman from the Berkeley High Jacket as we duck into this hole-in-the-wall comedy stadium to enjoy what ComedySportz has to offer tonight.
— — —
Welcome back travelers, to The Daily Explorer. In this series, I travel (often with Journalism guests) to interesting (and educational?) places within the Bay Area. With these accounts, I hope to inspire the readers of The Shield to explore their hometown and demonstrate that there’s always something new to explore.
Keep an eye out for some of your favorite writers from The Shield, as some may accompany me on these adventures in the future. If you have any favorite places, restaurants, parks, etc, please email me at 558971@my.cuhsd.org to issue a recommendation. Your name and input about the place in question will be credited.
Without further ado, buckle up and enjoy the blog-style ride of The Daily Explorer!
SATURDAY, March 7
6:54 pm, Rendezvous at Oakridge Mall (Allegedly)
ComedySportz always performs on weekends: on Fridays at 8 pm, and Saturdays at 7 pm. Accordingly, we planned to meet at the Oakridge Target around 6:45. However, in typical Daily Explorer fashion, my carpool of Gio, Laura, Wes, and Max was a little bit late, and instead met the others at the very door of ComedySportz, to Mia’s disdain. Walking in, we were greeted by a clean hedge wall peppered with short bios of every improv performer in their roster. Among them, notably, was Erin Neckers, coincidentally my middle school theatre teacher. We followed the clearly experienced crowd through the double doors into the small theatre, where The Shield was starring on their television screens!
In many of the audience members’ hands there were strange blue-and-red flyswatters embossed with ComedySportz’s logo. After getting settled, I visited the concessions stand for a cup of popcorn and some insider information about what on earth the flyswatters were for, and how I could acquire some. But ComedySportz already had me beat, as our ushers provided all eight of us with a pair of red and blue flyswatters, for “voting,” later in the show.
And finally, as the lights descended upon the audience, our referee—a peppy woman in black-and-white umpire garb named Lizzy—appeared through the door onstage.
7:05 pm, A Birds-Eye View of the ComedySportz Gambit
It was immediately apparent to us that many—if not most— of the audience were regular ComedySportz-goers. Whenever Lizzy finished a sentence with “ …you all—” the audience chanted “Tonight’s Loyal Fanz!” a call-and-response a la Rocky Horror Picture Show. The two teams tonight were the “Snarks” and the “Snorty-Niners,” on each team two players, complete with a “wild card” that played for both teams. The ensuing two hours were a whirlwind of fast-paced improv games, all prompted by the audience—or, excuse me— “Tonight’s Loyal Fanz! (*insert trumpet fanfare here*)” Lizzy even gave The Shield a shoutout as she passed by us, gathering suggestions.
My favorite game—the name of which I cannot seem to remember—was when Lizzy collected a random assortment of quotes from literature, movies, or random things overheard in public. After writing each down on a piece of paper, she scattered them about the stage, and the two unknowing players seamlessly worked each quote into their absurd scene. I was very impressed with the players’ storytelling skills, and their ability to just keep going no matter what wrenches the quotes threw in their plans. Improv, I realized, is something we all do, every day, though we may not be performing for anybody in particular.
After this game, Lizzy asked those sitting in the audience to raise whichever flyswatter corresponded to the team whose performance they enjoyed the most. The eight of us sitting in the back, all armed with a pair of flyswatters, felt like a jury as our votes decided which team would hoover up what points. What was most charming about this performance, however, was their short compendium of rules.
There were groaner penalties in place, designed to ban awful dad-joke puns, that required offending players to apologize to the audience personally. There was a list of “retired words” on the screen, since these words had been suggested so often that “all the funny has been squeezed out of them by now.” Among these words, notably, were Donald Trump, spaghetti, Chuck Norris, Elon Musk, and antidisestablishmentarianism. There was a penalty box sitting on the ledge of a faux-window, meant to act as a shameful hat when any person (player or audience member) made an inappropriate or offensive joke. Its only use for this session was when an unexpected prompt resulted in the running joke of “climbing Mt. Your Mother.”
Unlike a theatre or ballet performance, it felt like we were performing right there onstage with the players. During one game, I got to sit on the corner of the stage and provide the players with unexpected words to prompt their scene. And after a quick two hours of Catch-Ups, Ref’s Choices, Half-Times, and Last-Chances, the winner was announced (The Snorty-Niners!) and we filed out the door: but not before giving each performer a hearty high-five.
9:02 pm, In-N-Out (of an Improv Show)
In true Daily Explorer fashion, all eight of us headed to In-N-Out burger to eat and debrief our experience. While some decided that improv performances weren’t for them, others had glowing reviews and talked about planning to return, like the anonymous audience member that shouted out that ComedySportz was her safe-space.
“I loved it so much I spit out my sprite at one of the jokes,” remarked Laura.
“ComedySportz was a great time! Improv can become really lackluster pretty easily, so it’s so cool to see the silliness embraced while a level of professionalism and serious talent is maintained. The environment was laidback and friendly which kept things super positive and relaxing. Definitely will be going back for another show sometime,” noted Logan M.
A big thank you to the team at ComedySportz for the tickets! We had a grand old time, and can’t wait to see another show.
PHOTO ALBUM:
THE VERDICT:
- Come give ComedySportz a watch! Each weekend is different, meaning each weekend promises something different than the last.
- The judging flyswatters (Whapners) are yours to keep after purchase! Make sure to bring them to every ComedySportz game you attend.
- Psst… there are pizza and salads next door… If you mention ComedySportz, you can get 15% off your order….
- ComedySportz offers a wide range of ways to get involved in the improv scene. They offer night-time performances (Improv After Dark), Spanish Improv Jams, occasional tournaments, and classes for both adults and highschoolers alike. They even offer a high school league!
- Like their website says, ComedySportz is one of the best-kept secrets in the Bay Area. At just $20 for adults and $17 for students, seniors, and more, a night of improv is just a drive away.
- Use the code “Westmont” at checkout to get $2 off any ComedySportz ticket!
Join me in the next issue for yet another adventure, hopefully one with as many belly laughs as tonight.
Signing off until next issue,
The Daily Explorer