American High School Improv Night
Angelina Maravilla
Staff Writer
On Friday, October 10, the class of 2015 held a fundraiser during which Bay Area members from Made Up Theatre performed improv―a comedy format in which performers create a scene on the spot.
American High school’s PTSA program wanted to raise money for seniors’ Grad Nite coming up in June. As one of the four fundraisers that was held to raise money for Grad Nite, PTSA members thought it would be a fun and creative idea for a fundraiser.
Many people attended the show, including junior Winkie Au who really enjoyed it.
“Seniors are planning to go to Disneyland for Grad Nite, and this fundraiser was towards their trip. So I decided to go support the seniors,” Au said. “I ended up having a lot of fun at Improv Night; I couldn’t stop laughing.”
In the beginning of the show, the three actors immediately warmed up to the audience. The three comedians named Sean Taylor, Ben Stephens, and Bobby August started off the first hour with audience ideas for their acts. It was only in the second half of the show when they asked for members in the audience to participate on stage with them. Senior Akash Jhamat was one of those who participated, along with some friends.
“It was a fun experience, and it was very new to me,” Jhamat said, “I would definitely participate again if there was another improv night.”
American High School held Improv Night for only one night and created a huge crowd that was full of energy. According to junior Annabelle Nguyen, it was an exciting, lively, and impressive night full of energy and humor.
“The actors had many fun, exciting and hilarious activities planned for the night,” Nguyen said.
Bobby August, from Fremont’s Made Up Theatre, explained how his team plans out the activities for the night.
“We plan out the activities we are going to do but all of our acting is made up on the spot, nothing is rehearsed,” August said. “We perform activities from the ideas and suggestions of the audience; improv requires a lot of audience participation.”
The actors closed the night with an activity in which they created a made up Shakespeare play on the spot and named it, “The Light Post.” Many members in the audience raised their hands to participate and, even American High School’s new principal, Mr. Musto participated in Improv Night. He was asked to make sounds through a microphone of what the actors would portray.
“I had tons of fun participating in Improv Night, and it was much more fun than I thought it would be,” Musto said.
According to a PTSA member, PTSA plans on having another Improv Night next year because of its success.
Eagle Era 