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On their own stage

February 04, 2006|By By Lauren Hilgers

High school drama students star in sketches of their own design in annual showcase.No one is telling Burbank High School students what is funny, they're making it up themselves.

In an annual showcase of Burbank drama students' comedic abilities, students are starring in sketches of their own design -- sketches that ask pressing questions like how to pick up a girl and what makes a television drama truly good.

"Well, what's funny?" asked 17-year-old Tony Espinoza. "We want to attract our high school peers to the show, so we have to think about what they think is funny."

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Tony is hoping they will find his skit, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hitler form their own boy band, hilarious.

"We choreographed most of the dancing," he said, illustrating a move by holding his heart and pointing off in the distance. "But for some of it we just go into the improvisation."

Schwarzenegger is a character Tony has perfected over three years of doing the show.

To get into the performance, students are required to audition their skits in front of Brooks Gardener's advanced drama class. Those that get the most votes are allowed in the show.

"They start working on them after Christmas break," explained Ann Gardner, who helps her husband put on the show. "Then they basically have to pitch their sketch."

To write them, students typically work in groups, she explained. They often test their jokes on each other before putting them into the script.

Tony said he typically shows off his material to a number of people before finalizing it.

"Maybe it's funny, but maybe it needs some little changes," he said. "Other people can help you tweak it."

Once done, students can audition as many sketches as they like and it's up to their peers to approve them.

"We'll occasionally have to say ... this isn't appropriate for a high school production," Gardner said. "But for the most part it's the students that select them."

The sketches that make it through the selection process are then cast and directed by the students who wrote them.

Scott Timmons, who is 17, will be performing what he believes to be the first stand-up comedy sketch in the history of the performance.

"Ever since I was a little kid, I've loved comedy," he said. "It's in my blood."

For Tony and Scott, both seniors, the performance will be tempered with some sadness -- this will be the last Kids on Stage in which they'll perform. The show, which is a fundraiser for the drama club's trip to a competition in Berkeley, Calif., is the first of a rash of performances leading to the end of the year.

"This is the fast part," Tony said.

If you're going to go out, Scott said, it might as well be laughing.

"I think laughter is the key to happiness," he said.

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