January Perry-Winkles improv show a hit

%28From+left%3A%29+56th+Street+Comedy+Team+captain+Candace%2C+referee+Krissy+Lenz%2C+and+junior+Julia+Gilmer+all+at+center+stage+for+a+Captain+Challenge+during+the+improv+show+held+at+Perry+on+Friday+Jan.+23.+

Paige Coakley

(From left:) 56th Street Comedy Team captain Candace, referee Krissy Lenz, and junior Julia Gilmer all at center stage for a ‘Captain Challenge’ during the improv show held at Perry on Friday Jan. 23.

What do Disney Characters, Fish, Narcissistic Mammals, Wal-Mart, and a referee all have in common?

They were all aspects of Perry’s Improv show on Friday Jan. 23. Members of the Perry-Winkles, junior Hannah Brown, senior Aamir Patel, sophomore Jakob Wilcoxson, and junior Julia Gilmer were the four players in tonight’s match up against Horizon High School’s 56th Street Comedy Team.

As per the rules of all Improv shows, all suggestions for scenes, lines, or specific movements came from the audience and was monitored by referee Krissy Lenz, owner and director of Phoenix’s National Comedy Theater department. Suggestions could have been anything from piranhas to cotton balls (both of which were used in the show).

“It’s probably one of the most inclusive, most positive experiences I’ve ever had.” Wilcoxson says.

During the course of the show, Wilcoxson displayed a wide range of characters; from a narcissistic lion who only loved his gorgeous mane, to a sassy, under classified, lifeguard.

Players from both teams competed in a series of games, trying to win points as they progressed. The final score, after a riveting game of 185 (a game devised for puns and punchlines), 56th Street Comedy scored 22 points, while the Perry-Winkles won overall with 26 points.

The games themselves had actors in a twist with names like “Pavlovian Response”, where each of the four players on the Perry-Winkles had a set physical and vocal trigger that must be performed throughout a scene; and “Naive Replay ” where Player 1 of 56th Street Comedy Team created a scene alone, then brought in player 2 who had to figure out where he fit in to the already created scene. Over all the scene was performed 4 times by Player 1, each time adding another team member- creating a comical confusion on stage.

Overall both the 56th Street Comedy Team and the Perry-Winkles enticed belly laughs and snickers from the audience.

The next show will be sometime in April, and the Perry-Winkles hope to see more people there.

“Go to every show you can, because each on is a different experience.” Patel says.