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ComedySportz (CSz) is an
improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...
organization started in 1984 in
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
, by a group of local comedians including Dick Chudnow, Karen Kolberg, Bob Orvis, Brian Green, and others.


Match format

The traditional format of a ComedySportz match features two teams of improvisational performers ("Players"), competing in various rounds, using improv games and performing scenes. Audience members judge the results and award points as directed by the Referee. In every match, a ComedySportz referee monitors the action, awarding points, and administering Fouls as necessary. The flavor is somewhat like the
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
show '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', though the ComedySportz organization precedes that show's debut by 4 years. The CSz format is a more competitive and For Everyone (content-wise) version of the Theatresports format, which preceded ComedySportz by 7 years. ComedySportz penalties (put in place for the audience's benefit) include: * Out of Bounds Foul: called when a player uses explicit language or refers to something crass or off-color. If the Out of Bounds Foul is called, the offending player or audience member must spend the remainder of the game outside the theater space. They may or may not be welcomed back in. ''(Originally called the "Brown Bag Foul", the player would have a brown paper bag placed on their head for the rest of the round but replaced by the "Out of Bounds Foul" due to COVID-19 in 2022.)'' * Groaner Foul: whereby any player who speaks a pun bad enough to make the audience groan causing their team to lose one point (or awarding the other team with a point), unless their apology to the audience is heartfelt enough and accepted. :Example: ''Why does the Norwegian navy put barcodes on ships? So they can Scandenavian'' * Any spontaneously generated Foul the referee feels is needed to move the match forward. Although the image of competition is maintained, the teams are often dynamic, with rosters depending on which player (many of whom have other occupations ) are available for a match at any given time, and match outcomes are not pre-determined as audience voting/selected judges decide the winner.


Organization

CSz Worldwide and ComedySportz are licensed by the ''World Comedy League Incorporated.'' There are over 28 cities with licensed ComedySportz organizations, most in the United States. In recent years, ComedySportz has been licensed in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, England (although this team originated in
Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
). Most ComedySportz cities operate their own "arenas," some with theatre type settings, others as nightclubs. Few (including ComedySportz
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
) have their very own bar and restaurant. Sometimes the members of the comedic improv team also work sound and lights. The clean content and audience focused nature of the ComedySportz match allows CSz groups to perform thousands of road shows for corporate, college, church, school, and association clients each year; most CSz groups also lead corporate team-building workshops. In addition, players from some cities coach ComedySportz high school and middle school leagues, in which students perform in shows similar to those seen at the "professional" level.


World Championship

Teams meet annually at the ComedySportz World Championship for a competitive tournament, training, and exchange of artistic, marketing, and organizational ideas. The location of the tournament rotates among the member cities. The first world championship that Milwaukee won was in 1988. The banner hangs in the Milwaukee stadium. The first World Championship in Milwaukee's new arena was August 4–7, 2004, also served as the Grand Opening for Milwaukee's all-new ComedySportz Arena at 420 South 1st Street in Milwaukee. In 2009, the World Championship returned to Milwaukee for the 25th anniversary celebration, and returned again in 2014 to celebrate both its 30th anniversary and rebranding of the logo. Prior to 2004, this mostly annual event was billed as the "ComedySportz National Tournament." In 2020 and 2021 due to the
COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
the championships were held online. Portland defeated Jersey Shore in the 2021 Championship match.


Championship history

:


Notable players and alumni

* Steve Agee ('' The Sarah Silverman Program'') * James Thomas Bailey (''
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'') * Joe Bereta (YouTube personality, '' Barats and Bereta'') * Wayne Brady ('' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', ''
Let's Make A Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is a television game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created and produced by Stefan Hatos and Mo ...
'') * Liz Cackowski (writer, ''
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'', '' Last Man On Earth'') * Frank Caeti (''
MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...
'') * Kay Cannon (producer/writer, ''
30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...
'', '' New Girl'', '' Pitch Perfect'', '' Pitch Perfect 2'', '' Pitch Perfect 3'') * Jeremy Carter (''
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'') *
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(actor, ''
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'', ''
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'', '' The Dana Carvey Show'') * Jeff Davis ('' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', '' Harmontown'') * Jack DeSena (actor, '' All That'', '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'') * Matt Gourley (''
Superego In psychoanalytic theory, the id, ego, and superego are three distinct, interacting agents in the psychic apparatus, outlined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche. The three agents are theoretical constructs that Freud employed t ...
'', '' Drunk History'', '' The Pistol Shrimps Radio'', '' Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend)'' * Dan Harmon (''
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'', ''
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'', '' Harmontown'') * Dustin Hodge (producer/writer, '' Little Britches Rodeo (TV series)'') * Derek Mears (actor, '' Friday the 13th'') * Kevin Miller (voice actor) (''
Sly Cooper ''Sly Cooper'' is a series of stealth action-adventure video games created by Sucker Punch Productions and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series follows the adventures of Sly Cooper, an anthropomorphic raccoon and master thief ...
'') * Eric Christian Olsen (actor, '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', ''
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'', ''
Beerfest ''Beerfest'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and written by the comedy group Broken Lizard (Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan (actor), Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske), who also star in th ...
'') * Jack Packard ('' RedLetterMedia'' contributor on Best Of The Worst) * Eric Price (''
MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...
'') * Lauren Pritchard (''
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'') * Rob Schrab ('' Scud: The Disposable Assassin'', '' The Sarah Silverman Program'') *
Iliza Shlesinger Iliza Vie Shlesinger ( ; born ) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and television host. She was the 2008 winner of NBC's ''Last Comic Standing (season 6), Last Comic Standing'' and went on to host the syndicated dating show ''Excused'' f ...
(stand-up comedian, winner of NBC's ''
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''; numerous
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specials) * Matt Sloan ( director, voice actor,
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
, and
comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
) * Ari Stidham (actor, musician, ''
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)'' * Jason Sudeikis (cast, ''
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'', ''
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'', '' Horrible Bosses'') * Nick Swardson (stand-up comedian, writer & producer, '' Reno 911!: Miami'', '' Grown Ups 2'') * Chris Tallman ('' Thank God You're Here'', '' The Thundermans'') *
Victor Varnado Victor Varnado (born May 15, 1969) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He is an African Americans, African American man with Albinism in humans, albinism. He was born legally blind due to his albinism. He grew up in Huntsv ...
(actor, comic book writer, '' End of Days'') * Jessica Williams (correspondent on ''
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'

actor in '' The Incredible Jessica James'') *
Colton Dunn Colton Dunn (born June 30, 1977) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for his role as Garrett McNeil on the NBC workplace comedy '' Superstore'' (2015–2021), his work on Comedy Central sketch comedy series '' Key & Peele ...
(actor, writer, comic)
Eddie Quintana
(writer, '' Duncanville,'' '' Lopez vs. Lopez,'' ''
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
'')


See also

*
Improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...
* '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' *
The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...
* ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' * Theatresports *
List of improvisational theatre companies Improvisational theatre companies, also known as improv troupes or improv groups, are the primary practitioners of improvisational theater. Modern companies exist around the world and at a range of skill levels. Most groups make little or no mon ...


References


External links


Home page for ComedySportz and CSz WorldwideOfficial ComedySportz Milwaukee website
{{authority control Improvisational troupes Culture of Milwaukee American comedy troupes 1984 establishments in California