Homewood High School held its second year of Improv Comedy Shows on March 7 and March 9.
The first show featured students from the introductory improv class, and the second show featured students from Improv 2 competing against students from the school’s theater program.
The second show features students from improv class two competing against students from the theater performance classes two and three.
Forty-eight students participated in the first show, and 20 students participated in the second show.
The performances were in Homewood’s Bailey Theatre. It is important for improv performances
to be held in intimate places, says Homewood’s improv teacher, Amy Marchino.
The classes have been preparing since January.
To prepare, students learned the games they played. They do a lot of warm-up and icebreaker games so the class can have a sense of community.
The improv two class already knew how to play the games and competed with them in past years. This year they have been “sharpening their skills,” Marchino said.
The show started with every student on the stage greeting the audience. Each class then played casual games.
“These are games where the whole group can play, it’s some of the warm-up games,” Marchino said.
Every student performed in these games and competed.
After a break, each of the competitive teams were introduced. Each class had eight competitive players who played more challenging games.
After introducing the competitive teams, a 10-game wheel was spun to determine which three games would be played.
Some of the games on the wheel were Freeze, Hitchhiker and the Alphabet Game.
For example, during the hitchhiker game, students play different characters in different situations and scenarios.
During the Alphabet Game, students start a scene and work their way through the alphabet. Each time a student speaks, the first word of their sentence has to start with the next letter of the alphabet.
Marchino shared an example of what it would be like to play the alphabet game with the scenario of a football game. “Really hot out here, so sweaty, think about what it would be like to play football in winter,” she said.
Jill Federber, a senior in improv comedy, says her class loves to play the game Freeze. “It’s a fun game that gets everyone involved and the scenes change all the time,” Federber said.
Last year was the first time Homewood hosted an improv show.
Last year, the audience voted through QR codes. “That did not turn out very equitable or fair,” Marchino said. “We tried making it fun and interactive, but it ended up being imbalanced.”
Instead of QR voting this year, judges attended the show from Faraway Theatre, an improv comedy theater in town.
Another change this year is there was no final match. Last year there were two shows and the winners from each competed in the final.
This year, each show solely competed against each other. Improv 2 and the theater kids competed and improv one student competed. There were two winners, one for each night.
Marchino hopes to continue the show in the coming years.
“I hope so because I love my job,” she said.
She hopes the show will give students who would have never been on stage the opportunity to stand on a stage under lights.
The class is a great way for students to form relationships with new people.
“I love getting to know people I otherwise would have likely never talked to,” Federer said. “It is very fun to be in a different crowd than my normal friend group and get out of my comfort zone.”
