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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 2000)
ComedySportz scores big by bringing its nationally recognized improvisational style to downtown Eugene. By Yael Menahem Oregon Daily Emerald The “pro wrestling of comedy” is how Kent “Touch This” McCarty defines his lo cal improvisational troupe, Comedy Sportz. Ten months ago, McCarty and his part ner in crime, Rob “Schoolhouse” Rock, in troduced Eugene to ComedySportz, a na tional comedy movement. The weekly performances at Rosewa ter’s Deli in downtown Eugene continue to build an audience, while attracting lo cal community members who join Come dySportz teams with names like the Hult Center Fielders and the Beltline Sus penders. ComedySportz is a national comedy or ganization with groups in 26 U.S. cities, one of which is the Portland group that McCarty helped found. He answered an open call in the paper to join and because he was already involved in theater sports — another form of improvisational comedy — he decided to take ComedySportz work shops to learn the rules of this new game. McCarty met Rock six years ago in Port land, when the latter comedian joined that city’s troupe. The two are trying to make this weekly event a permanent part of Eu gene’s entertainment scene. For the uninitiated, ComedySportz in volves audience participation, talented co medians and a scoring format. In a typical show, the referee — McCar ty’s role — asks audience members for suggestions, perhaps a line from a movie or a title of an unpublished book. Those comments lead to different games where the performers, through their improvisa tional skills, attempt to make the audience laugh. The referee can call a “groaner foul” or “delay of game” if the skit isn’t funny. All photos by Erin O’Connell for the Emerald (above) Referee Kent McCarty watches over a skit involving Melissa Heilman and Rob Davidson, (below) Mc Carty leads Davidson, Craig McCarty and Miranda Prince in a medley of songs, (left) Prince during a skit. The performances are different every time and the fan. 28 show was no excep tion. Unlike similar improvisational shows, ComedySportz has some house rules. A main one, which must be followed by the players and the audience, is to keep the language clean. Fail and you get a “brown bag foul” called on you, which entails a brown bag put on your head. Although McCarty said that Eugene au diences normally “don’t go for the low brow humor,” there were some attendees with just that in mind. vvnue warming up me patrons, McCarty began explaining the rules of the game and asked for some one to yell out a number. A man sitting in the front yelled “69” and was im mediately brown-bagged. Comedy Sportz is a family show and appeals to all ages, McCarty points out, and he admits that it’s easier for the au dience and the perform ers to reach for bad lan guage. It’s more of a challenge and requires sophisticated creativity, however, to keep the lan guage clean. As the game progressed, the audience and the play ers warmed up and the ^performance took on a life of its own. An audience favorite called “Five Things” re quired a team to step out of the warm deli into the freezing Eugene evening while the audience con jured up difficult sports activities using odd in struments. Once the play ers stepped back into the playing area, the fun be gan. One team member was required to guess the activities while the other two described the activity. Participants used their hands, legs and body, but had little help from ver bal cues. Although the comedians don’t remain completely silent — they use words like “dabba do” — it’s a challenging and funny game. The high point came when time ran out and the team member on the receiving end of the guessing game attempted to name the sports. Somehow, she guessed three of 4 % Unlike similar improvisational shows, ComedySportz has some house rules. A main one, whichmust be followed by the players and theaudi ence, isto keep the language clean. Fail rownbagputonyourhead. the five correctly. One was skiing on orange juice with flip per skis. A more challenging one — which she didn’t guess — was performing tai chi, with Richard Nixon as her instructor, in a marshmallow-padded cup. Sound complicated? It is, but that’s what makes ComedySportz fun. ComedySportz appears in Eugene every Friday night at Rosewater’s Deli, located downtown at 44 W. Broadway beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8 at the door or $6 with a can of food for Food for Lane County. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 302-9782. If you’re interested in taking some work shops to learn this type of improv, e-mail Comedy Sportz at eugene@comedys portz.com.
