This past week, the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island was one of a few venues supporting the Canadian Improv Games, an event widely renowned for its manifestation of the creative mind and ode to hilarity. The Saints Improv team competed in the regional finals, and although missing qualification to the national competition, performed admirably.

The event features school teams from across the lower mainland to come together in a tournament to decide which two of nine teams will attend the National Championships. The competition follows four different events asking for various requirements which are then used to score the teams. These events include a style (personal), theme (selected by the referees), life (realistic and relatable) and a story event. At the end of four rounds, the team with the most points, you guessed it, wins!

The team, which consists of Grade 11 Noah King and Darian Boosheri and Grads Chad Carbol, Justin Low, Ray Liu, Cameron MacPhail, Jack Ryan, Jimmy Kwan, Brian Riback and Eshan Cheema performed in the semi-finals on February 9^th and pulled out of that night with a score that put them in the top 5 going into the finals on Saturday. The Finals proceeded accordingly, with the prodigal amateurs putting on a great show and battling hard for those sacred spots to nationals.

Most notable for the Saints Improv team on that night was their Wild West Cactus story which was, at the very least, something awe-inspiring, with the laughs and the plot flowing just as seamlessly as any practiced production could have. The team performed well in their other events as well, but the competition was fierce and unfortunately, at the end of the night, they fell just short of nationals.

But as the optimists they are, the Saints Improv team saw the good of what the experience had to offer with Acting Rigg Scholar Brain Riback being quoted saying: “Improv is a truly unique theatrical experience. I am so grateful that I’ve had the chance to experience competitive improv because it helped me as an actor and a performer in ways that a conventional acting class could never provide. I’m really proud of how the team has grown together over the past years and months and I had a blast performing with them. We all bring something special to our scenes. Our coach, Ms. Konopaki, was so fantastic in pushing us to perform our best and supporting us through the whole season. It’s been a great few years on the team. As we say in the competition: Aaaaaaannnnnddd scene!”

Congratulations to each team that performed and especially to our boys! You made the St. George’s community proud!