With the construction of Ball High North in full swing, this 12th annual Evening of Comedy marks the end of an era. This year’s show took place on September 23rd, 24th, and 25th. Historically, Evening of Comedy has always been held in room 2010, the theater room, on the smaller stage. The demolition of Ball South, set for Spring of 2026, makes this the final, but hopefully not least entertaining, EOC held in Ball High South.
This year’s lineup consisted of eight individual skits, each one 10-15 minutes long.
The first short story, staring Jonathan Pendergrass as Brenda, followed three men in the office setting. One man, Randall, played by Prudence Thomasson, works up the guts to tell Brenda “You’re great.” and “You’re beautiful.” Brenda, ever the unexpected wild card, stomps away loudly, yelling “I HAVE WORK.”
The show continues with a backwards retelling of an event becoming more common in the homes of America. The show starts with a family sitting at the dinner table. The mother, played by Isabelle Beasley; a father, played by Bryson Peña. Their daughter, Lucy, played by Makenna White, sits tensely between them. She finally speaks. “Theres no easy way to say this… so I’m just gonna say it. I’m… straight.” Her parents react with shock and outrage, saying some commonly used questions usually hurled at kids coming out as gay, such as: “Are you sure you aren’t confused?” “Was it something we did?” and so on. They go on to finally, reluctantly, accept Lucy’s true self.
The next scene stars Mia Mallory as Jasmine and Addisson Applegate as Barbara. Their personalities clash at almost every turn, but Jasmine is just trying to warn Barbara of their impending doom: they’re in a play, and a fast ending one at that. The ending is clever, incorporating the tech when Jasmine calls out “Hey Annie, ready with the lights?” Cue the blackout.
Another controversial act emerges, as this next one follows two men in a gay bar. Kevin, played by Grayson Kethan, does everything he can to get the attention of Daniel, played by Jax Smith. Twists and turns and wacky hijinks ensue, giving the audience mental whiplash. Turns out, Kevin is just trying to give back Daniels ATM card. But wait, Kevin is trying to hit on Daniel? The questions keep burning in the back of everyone’s mind, and the show finally ends with closure and a solid story.
The last act before intermission, and the one with the most cast by far, is an original show written by none other than Ball High’s own tech theater director, Adam Desmond. The scene follows seven kids in group therapy, grappling with the phone ban. There’s every cliche, from the bratty influencer Stacy, played by Claire Sutherland, to the nonchalant grunge girl (who turns out to be hearing things), played by Emely Luna Gamez. There’s also Angel, played by Sariyah Sanders, Maya, played by Zoie Humphrey, Molly, played by Nyela Hopkins, Benjimin, played by Phillip Grasso, and Cody, played by Bryson Peña. Rounding out the crew, the therapist Tyler, dramatically acted by Adan Carcaño. Water is thrown, tempers flare, but all and all, a clever and funny show.
After a 15-minute intermission, a heavy show takes the stage. The lights open to the 1940’s, with Trotsky, played by Emory Guajardo, sitting at a desk, furiously writing. His wife, Ms. Trotsky, played by Morgan Glynn, hurries in, worried about something she read from an encyclopedia from the future. It says he dies today, from an axe, wielded by a Spanish communist, posing as a gardener. After a short while, Trotsky dies, and then the whole story starts again. Or does it? Each story is slightly different, until before long, it starts building on the previous variations. Due to Trotsky’s existential brain damage, we’re getting to see the last few memories float through his head as he struggles to sort out what’s real, and what’s fake.
Eventually, we meet Ramon, the Spanish communist responsible for the whole affair. Ramon is played by Audrey Conner, and Trotsky tries questioning Ramon. He asks repeatedly “Why did you really do this Ramon?” Ramon then spins and dips Ms. Trotsky, responding with an astounding “Actually, it was love, senor.” Trotsky later ends his show- and life- with a heartfelt last monologue.
Next, a show making fun of the city of brotherly love. Al, played by Adan Carcaño, doesn’t have a care in the world. Margaret, played by Payton Moore, alternatively, can’t get anything right. Everything she asks for, even if it’s just aspirin from the biggest drug store, or pastrami at a deli, they don’t have. Al explains to her she’s simply in a Philadelphia. Physically, she’s in New York, but metaphysically, she’s in a Philadelphia; a place where the opposite always takes place. Al takes on the characteristics of Margaret’s Philadelphia, having a major crash out, realizing every bad thing that happened to him that day.
Finally, a show dealing with a tender subject. We see ‘The Jumper’, played by Charlotte Cook, trying to jump off a roof. A ‘Good Samaritan’, played by Vincent Barber, tries to stop her. The ‘Teacher’ pauses the scene repeatedly, explaining the flaws of the plot and giving new ideas. The scene then escalates when the teacher can’t pause the characters and instead gets paused by them. They fight, ending in the teacher accidentally getting shot and dying.
All in all, this year’s show featured lots of laughs and even more fun. Be sure to check out the theater department’s next major production: the all-district musical, Grease, on November 20th, 21st, and 22nd.
