ComedySportz - Format

Format

The traditional format of a ComedySportz (CSz) show features two teams of improvisational performers (Actletes), competing in various improv games and performing scenes with audience members judging the results and awarding points. In every show, a CSz referee monitors the action, awarding points and administering fouls as necessary. The flavor is somewhat like the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, though the ComedySportz organization precedes that show's debut by 4 years. The CSz format is a higher-energy, more varied and more sports-oriented version of the Theatresports format, which preceded ComedySportz by 7 years.

ComedySportz penalties (put in place for the audience's benefit) include:

• the Brown Bag Foul, called when an Actlete uses explicit language or refers to something crass or off-color. The Brown Bag Foul is infamously punished by making the offender wear a brown paper bag over their head for the remainder of the scene, even if the offender is an audience member. (In some ComedySportz venues, this has been replaced with the "Potty Mouth" foul, and the brown paper bag has been replaced with a toilet seat.) This foul is the "bagged" mentioned in the ComedySportz theme song.
• the Groaner Foul, whereby an Actlete who speaks a pun bad enough to make the audience groan loses at least one point for their team, unless their apology to the audience is heartfelt enough.

Example: Two peanuts walked into a bar. One was a salted.

• and anything 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 Actletes (many of whom have other occupations) are available for a match at any given time.