Eight actletes gathered under the theatre’s lights as Comedy Sportz held its first game of the season, on Oct. 21, against Temple City. The two teams shared a friendly handshake as the game of head-to-head competitive improv commenced. Representing Downey’s team were players Jose Velazquez, Orianna Harder, Jorge Michael, and Captain Javier Navarro. Referee Silvie Zamora explained the rules of the game, including that the votes were based on the audience’s applause.

The match began with a What’re You Doing? skit, where the team acts out one action but explains it as another.  Temple City began by doing jumping jacks but insisted they were reading, causing the first laughs of the night. The round ended with having to use only the letters “J” and “L” in the descriptions, giving Temple City a 5 point head-start as Downey “juggled ostriches.”

Downey took the lead during a crowd favorite: New Choice. In this segment, players begin a scene with the suggestion, and at any time the reff may call, “New choice!” and the player then must make a new line from what he or she had just said. The scene was set as Temple City portrayed a hero-villain battle only with Downey to enter and assist with the funniest line of the skit, How does this [gun] work? putting them at 6-5.

Falling behind, Temple City chooses Slideshow as the next match. In their case, one person went aside as a narrator while the other three players depicted their unusual vacation at McDonald’s. Although Temple City produced multiple comic reactions to eating a Big Mac for the first time, Downey had the crowd as they performed a One-Minute Setup Scene. Velazquez, 12, enacted a child begging his family for Mac n’ Cheese with differing emotions ranging from melancholy to anger.

“It’s really fun not to plan things out,” Velazquez, stated.  “Even though games go in totally opposite directions, I don’t get nervous because ultimately being loud and animated is my personality.” Velasquez put Downey ahead 11-5.

The second half of the game introduced players Crosby Lewis, Destiny Rivas, and Captain Randal Milan. The first round launched the beginning of endless laughter as the two teams battled it out in the Expert Game. The purpose was to pretend to be an expert on a certain topic, and fortunately, it was credit cards. From being plastic to being used in shopping centers, the audience cheered at Temple City’s humorous facts, placing them in the lead with a score of 18-17.

Comedy Sports Manager Crosby Lewis, 12, would not let Temple City keep their gain. The next game, Blind Line, allows one team to write random phrases on strips of paper and drop them on the floor. The opponents do not see the strips until they begin their skit. Lewis played an abandoned daughter in favor of her brother. His girlish screams after being read a strip that said he “would never be an astronaut” gave the team exactly what it needed.

“I wanted to laugh so badly,” Lewis stated. “It’s really hard to stay in character while playing scenes that make everybody laugh.” Lewis pushed the team ahead with a new score of 22-18.

Fighting for victory, the last two games became the critical events of the night. Downey started with Yearbook Photo as three players froze in a photo pose. The object of the game was to have every person give a short explanation of who they are and why they might be in the club given, which was Yarning Club. The hilarious and ridiculous explanations on why they were there and what exactly “yarning” was gave Downey the push they needed, causing a close score of 26-27.

Efforts proved worthy that night as Downey and Temple City launched their funniest improv in the final match of Object Freeze. Zamora required the two teams to face the wall as members of the audience placed random objects in a bag. These objects were supposed to be used in a way completely different than its actual purpose. The crowd roared with laughter seeing purses being used as turtles, gloves as turkeys, and I.D. cards as Pokémon balls. The game was close, but Downey ended in victory with a score of 46-42.