“Giant Worm 4 Prez” Brings Post-Election Levity
On Saturday, November 16, Giant Worm returned to grace the halls of Winch for their second improv show of the year. After being rescheduled from the original date of November 9 and set at an earlier time of 6:30PM, the show was received with high anticipation.
Although the show was billed as “Giant Worm 4 Prez” with an election theme, the jokes mostly kept clear of political themes. The election theme was briefly referenced in the opening skit of the night, which set the scene with a middle school class presidential election, but that was the extent of the show’s political commentary. The decision to avoid addressing the current tense political reality was largely welcome, and Giant Worm delivered an engaging show even without dealing with topical issues.
Another game involved the device of asking “what are they thinking?” where the performers would break the fourth wall at various points in the scene to lay out their inner thoughts. The scene revolved around Katie Evans ‘27 as a Costco shopper finding her ex-husband, Max Opitz ‘25, and affair partner, Ian Zotter-Barlow ‘27, behind the rice bags in a grand scheme to scare people out of the store being used as a front. Much drama and crisis of the heart ensued, ending in a touching moment between Opitz and Zotter-Barlow’s characters as they overcame their rivalry and found they really just needed each other.
Other bits of the night included a saga of illicit bacon at Denny’s on Mars with Sam Yeleti ‘27 and Willow Rooney ‘26, and a fever-dream scenario of rival pickle farmers ending in Bridger Alaga’s ritualistic entrance into an oversized pickle. The original device of the scene was that at various times the characters would have to make a “new choice,” changing whatever they last said or did. As the performers built up momentum (and slightly devolved into chaos), the choice aspect fell off, not seeming all that necessary to the development of the scene.
The game setup paid off, however, in the main long-form scene of the show, which hinged around the idea of skipping time before and after the Event—in this case, an elementary school book fair. Although school can be a common setting for Giant Worm skits, the setting allowed for tense intergenerational struggles between children, parents, and teachers, ultimately ending in tragedy.
Giant Worm brought it all to a close with an old favorite short-form game, the classic “Sex With Me.” Audience members offered up suggestions of nouns, including the ubiquitous HUM paper, which the members of Giant Worm riffed on as similes for sex with them, as the name suggests. Here, Ian Zotter-Barlow delivered one of the standout lines of the night, claiming that sex with him is like an assassination: it happened to four U.S. presidents. With that, Giant Worm inadvertently tied in the show’s political theme in a more lighthearted way and brought the evening to a close on a high note.
For those who missed Saturday’s show, or who are already ready for the next one, Giant Worm will make their next triumphant reappearance at Spring/Fall.