National Individual Events: Tournament of Champions

During my stand-up phase (I mourned the season's end of John Oliver's New York Stand-up Show), I was looking up lots of videos of comedians--including the comedienne Kristen Schaal. When asked the requisite 'When did you know you were funny?' question, she pointed to her high school years. As an adolescent, she participated in Humorous Interpretation--most likely through her school's forensics team.

Now, for those who aren't familiar with high school and college forensics, we're not talking about CSI-fingerprinting-whose-DNA-is-on-the-carpet forensics. We're talking about debate and argumentation, and individual events such as humorous interpretation, dramatic interpretation, and duo interpretation. At the high school level, students compete locally at school-hosted and university-hosted tournaments. By winning, teams or individuals can garner enough 'bids' (high rankings in various national competitions) to qualify for the National Tournament of Champions (TOC). The TOC is where the best of the best compete for the title of national champion in a particular category. For more descriptions of the individual events, click here.

This youtube user has posted several of the finalist rounds here. Below are some of my favorites:

TOC 2005
Jeff Moscaritolo
Humorous Interpretation - Rinse the Blood Off of My Toga

• Summary: Julius Caesar has just been killed, and Brutus hires Flavius to discover the murderer.
• My favorite parts: Brutus' craziness is the highlight of this video. Moscaritolo's attention to (ridiculous) details was hilarious.

Part 1


Part 2




TOC 2009
Ismael Williams and Drake Pough
The Wizard of Hip

• Summary: A young man describes his upbringing and discovering what it means to be 'hip.' 
• My favorite parts: The musical intro and out-tro. I loved how even if two characters shared a scene, they chose to face the audience; by doing so, they were able to engage both the audience and the other character. For example, when the narrator is shaking the father (while facing us), the father shakes in response? These students communicated physical nearness without actual contact. That was really something. 

Part 1


Part 2