Skyline hosted its first Improv Cage Match of the year, featuring two Skyline improv groups, a professional guest performer, and the Skyline Slylines. The show on November 22, unlike previous cage matches, was not live streamed on the Skyline Drama YouTube channel. Throughout the show, Slylines’ Captain Sandra Tang transitioned between groups and stalled for time as necessary. “My emcee work was super rough I fear… but it was my first time, so that was inevitable. Next show I will do better,” she explained.
For the first half of the show, Tang introduced the Slylines’ western genre show, Gulchtown. Following the audience prompt of “too many pigs,” Kenny Matthews and Garrett Nelson played pig-breeding outlaws rivaling Mayor Sevilla Devries and Sheriff Aiden Perez in their plight to save the town. Ave Judd and Tang participated in the main plot as mischievous pigs Pork Chop and Pancake, ultimately bringing the two groups together in hopes of stopping the pigs. On the sidelines, romance between Saloon Girl Judd and Pony Express Boy Tang fell apart as they chose separate paths, while an unlikely love emerged between outlaw and law-abiding in the midst of the main plot. Reflecting on the show, Matthews said, “Gulchtown went amazing in my opinion, and I had a great time, especially acting with Garrett.” Tang also emphasized how fun it was working with the team, saying, “I think my teammates are honestly amazing, so I loved a lot of [Gulchtown]. I always love seeing them perform.”
Preparing for a show like this is in the hands of the improvisers. Slylines’ coach Joe Rogan explained, “The Slylines have a real standard long form that they will often do, but if they would like to explore something new, we have frequently done other types of shows.” The group decided they wanted to explore a western genre show. Prior to the show, Matthews admitted, “I was initially hesitant; I thought it would be difficult, but it’s not that hard. People really enjoy it. We all have good accents. […] It’s a really fun genre to do.”
Following Gulchtown, local improviser Lisa Anderson and her group Old Folks’ Home had fifteen minutes to bring their own talent to the stage. Getting an audience suggestion to go to the beach, the adult improvisors staged a whirlwind adventure challenging time and reality. Throughout the set, they referenced the previous performance by the Slylines and, playing on their name, old television gags—including a flying, talking dune buggy, likely in reference to The Krofft Supershow (1976-78).
In addition to the performance, Anderson led a free workshop on November 23 for any interested students. “Lisa focused a lot on character work in her workshop because she finds that to be one of the most important parts of making a good scene in improv,” Tang said. The workshop also touched on team building. She added, “Being on the same page is always important in improv. Even if you’re arguing, you have to know that you’re both arguing with the same end goal in mind.” Tang valued the workshop, citing that she thinks it helps her grow as a performer and that she feels grateful that Rogan has connections like these in the Salt Lake improv community.
After a brief intermission, the cage match competition began. Organizing the participants was a challenge, as both of the competing groups ended up getting involved the day of. This uncertainty is what led the scheduled October cage match to be cancelled, causing the Slylines to instead perform their show The Bat with the Improvables in Bountiful. In spite of the planned competitor dropping out at the last minute once more, Gulchtown stayed on Skyline’s Black Box stage thanks to the last minute entries. Each group was given 15 minutes to compete. The first group, Bro Jogan, consisted of several members of Skyline Speech and Debate and played a set of improv games, including Mumble Murder Mystery and Freeze. Recruited by Tang earlier that day, the team pulled her into the fun, taking an audience suggestion that she be the murderer of member Jeffery Zou as Jason Erekson tried to convey to the other three improvisers how Zou “died” through mumbling and physical gestures. (Spoiler alert: he was killed in a bathtub with a stuffed animal unicorn). The Serene But Crazed Birds, a group pulled together during the intermission, followed. Taking the suggestion “rug on fire”, the trio constructed a family drama in which child Gregory (Austin Byrd) ate a lot of lavender candles as his parents (Serenity Kunz and Mina Springmeyer) fought over how they cared for their child and the cost of their now scorched rug. In the jam after their performances, Kunz and Springmeyer kept up their characters, now filing for divorce, as they mingled with the other performers. Both teams elicited lots of laughter from the audience. “I really liked the teams we had; they were both new and super good,” Matthews said.
Ultimately, the Serene But Crazed Birds were voted for by the audience, meaning they are invited to return for Skyline’s Improv Cage Match Championship at the end of the school year. Regardless of who won, Tang explained, “It’s awesome that there are people who love what they do so much that they’re willing to overcome that massive wall of courage you need to do things like perform on stage in front of an audience of your peers or even people you don’t know, and I feel like seeing these student teams is like seeing the first step of that happening right in front of me.”
