LordoftheMorning
Smash Champion
Link to original post: [drupal=1774]My Passion: Forensics[/drupal]
Okay, so I'm sure some of you guys might have noticed me raving about a National Tournament of some sort. If not, then you should pay more attention.
I am a member of the NFL, the National Forensics League (I used to play football, though). The NFL is an organization that hosts speech and debate contests. Debate is the primary. From hardcore stuff like Policy Debate, in which people in teams of 2 will often carry entire tubs or evidence ( Seriously... tubs, man), to stuff like Congress which is pretty much what it sounds like, there's something for all levels of commitment. There's also Lincoln-Douglass, which is a debate or morality, and Public Forum, which is similar to policy but less in-depth and the topic changes every month.
Many High Schools are affiliated with the NFL, and as such have "Forensics Clubs" and host tournaments. This isn't CSI bull****, Forensics literally means "pertaining to, connected with, or used in courts of law or public discussion and debate". One high school in a district will host a tournament every two weeks or so. Snacks or sold, people compete, and they give out trophies and medals for anyone placing 6th or higher. There are usually 25-50 people in each event for each tournament, so getting into finals, semi-finals, or quarter-finals is a fairly big accomplishment.
So I joined my school's Forensics Club because... well... I like to argue. I entered in policy debate. Together, with my partner, Boris, we set out learning how to debate. I must say, we learned a LOT. Especially Boris. He's a Chinese guy with incredible work ethic, but his speaking skills needed work. I, on the other hand, was plenty good at talking people's ears off while keeping their attention, but I was, and still am, incredibly disorganized and I have a tendency for laziness when it comes to researching. Our strengths and weaknesses complimented quite well. We debated as a team over alternate energy production, which was the topic for this year. This especially interested me, because I think Global Warming isn't man-made (if anyone flames me for this, I swear to god...).
There were other events in the League than just debate, however. There is a whole other classification of events called "IEs" or "Individual Events". These are speaking-oriented. There are quite a few different IE events, but the one that caught my eye was Humorous Interpretation (HI). In this event, one finds a published script, memorizes and blocks it, and gives a comedic performance without costumes, props, or other actors. Character changes are all done by you, marked by changes in posture, voice pitch, accent, or other means. This was right down my alley. I love acting. So I signed up for this event as well as policy debate.
Whilst our coach was teaching us the ropes of each event, the first tournament came around. I was so psyched, I gotta say! I went there expecting it to be a blast. I was dead-wrong.... My expectations were BLOWN out of the water tenfold! I thought debate would be fun. It was a freaking RUSH of energy, spirit, intellectual finesse, and adrenaline. It was truly incredible. Words can't do justice to a satisfying round of policy debate.
Humorous Interp. was, at first, a mixed bag. The rounds are hosted in an empty classroom, with 6 competitors per room (so a tournament will take up most the rooms in a school), and a judge rates each competitor by comparing him or her with everyone else in the room. 1st in the room is the best, and 6th in the room is the worst. Based on how you place in the 2-3 preliminaries, you might be one of the 6-7 people to make it to finals, which is judge by 3 different judges in the same room. I was told that I didn't need to have the script I had chosen memorized. This pretty much screwed my over for that tournament, because having to bring my script up with me when I went up in front of the room to perform really weighs down your eye contact, facial expressions, and other actions. But it was STILL amazing. In my very first round, I met this cute girl. She energetic, smart, good at the event (she actually won first place in that tournament), and she smiled at me a lot. I found out later her name was Claire... God, I don't know what it is about that name. Every girl I've had a true crush on throughout my life has had the name Claire. Including her, that makes three so far. The title of her performance was "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories", and it was hilarious.
I talked to her all throughout the year, and I got her phone number at the last tournament. It's kind of sad though, because she will be going to college soon, and I'll be a senior next year. I don't recall ever meeting such a wonderful person before, though. Wow.
The next few tournaments went by, and I still had no success. I really, really wanted to break into finals and win myself some awards. I might have been a bit cocky, thinking I could win with no prior experience (even in the novice division it's not easy). Forensics isn't without it's down-points. For example, some people read at 500 words per minute in policy debate just so they can get their info out. It's like speaking doesn't even matter, sometimes. It always irked me whenever my opponents started that ****. There was also the issue of judges. Because the judges were volunteers, most of them were just parents, and many of them were first-time judges. This got really tiring. A lot of them could be unprofessional, vulnerable to bias, and some of them couldn't even speak English very well. In fact I remember a Humorous Interpretation judge that was giving me this odd look the whole time I was performing. I had to tell the title of my performance three times, because apparently I was talking too fast. It got pretty tiring. Another problem was that the script I had chosen didn't offer many opportunities to demonstrate my abilities.
The script, by the way, was the called "The Official Men's Guide to Successful First Dates and the Fruitful and Happy Lives That Will Naturally Follow". It's basically a parody of a dating guide, with male-biased advice. I read most of it in a British accent (which wile fake, convinces most people), because I love British humor and the script reminded me of something Monty Python might do.
So naturally, when the results of the preliminary rounds were posted, and I wasn't listed in the finals qualifiers, I would use these things as excuses. It carried on like that for 3 tournaments or so. I had joined Smashboards a few months before this time. Then... I realized the worth behind the phrase "NO JOHNS!". I realized that truly worthy competitor will compensate for small luck factors with copious amounts of skill and ability. With this in mind, I set about making preparations for my next tournament. I added some extra lines and actions to my HI performance, making it possible to have some changes in voice and character, and adding color to the whole thing....
I got first in HI at the next tournament. It was also the tournament that our school hosted. I have the trophy standing on my dresser right now. It was a pretty exciting time. I realized how important it is to make the script work for you, instead of the other way around.
With this ground broken, my HI just kept on improving. I came up with so many ideas. And then, nearing the second half of the year, the novice division was moved into the varsity division, so essentially everyone was varsity and I was competing with the big boys. I didn't get to finals after the first tournament this was established, but I watched the finalists' acts. I learned a lot just by watching them, and suddenly, I knew how to make my own performance even better.
Policy sort of stagnated. It was still fun, and I did get an occasional 2nd or 3rd or semifinalist medal, But HI became much more winnable and important in my eyes. I became acquainted with some of the best HIers in the district. These people were amazing actors, and also interesting people. One that stuck out particularly, was a senior who I liked to call Rattigan (because that was his last name and it was awesome). His act was about solving a murder mystery on Sesame Street. The first time I saw him perform, I couldn't fathom how I'd ever top that, but I kept working on my act all the same. I was becoming respected by the other competitors. They would talk about seeing my act and after a round, they'd sometimes say things like "Wow, dude that was amazing!" It felt good.
One thing that's awesome about the NFL in general is the community it has established. If you're in doubt over where this generation is headed, go watch a Forensics Tournament, and you'll feel a lot better. Seriously. The people involved with this activity are smart, funny, active, caring, sophisticated, and for some reason, there are quite a few hot girls.
So then came the State Tournament. By this time, I had made as many modifications as was legal (you can only add 150 words to your script), and the highlights of my performance, the only stuff that was really funny, was the stuff I had put in there. Everything else was just set up to those punchlines. I got won third place at the state tournament, and got a huge friggin' trophy for it (which is also on my dresser).
I had a bad day at the County tournament, because I didn't even get into finals, but then came the District Tournament. This was the tournament that can qualify me for the National Tournament. I was pretty nervous. I did well in the preliminaries, and I made it finals. I was told that I would have to place at least 2nd to qualify for nationals. It was some intense stuff. All the super-amazingly-funny HIers were in the finals round with me. I knew them, they knew me. There was a lot of mutual respect. When it was my turn to perform, I was getting really nervous. People had come in to watch the round and the classroom was so full that people were standing up in the back and on the side. Luckily for me, I seem to perform extremely well when I'm nervous, and I was nervous as hell.
It got quite a lot of laughs, but one of the judges was giving me this kind of "ewww" sort of look. Some of my classmates and my family had also come to watch. Some of them told me they were amazed, and that they would never have imagined that I could do things like that. I still didn't expect to get to nationals, though. The others were too good.
But then, when they were announcing the finalists and those who qualified for nationals, my name popped up! I can't tell how happy I was at this moment. There's not really much point in trying. I asked my coach for some details, and it turns out I did win 2nd place in the finals round. Two of the three judges had given me first place, but one had given me 5th. I assumed that was the "ewww" judge. She was a woman, and a lot of the jokes in my performance could be seen as sexist, so that could explain that. Most people aren't quite so butthurt though. Idk.
It's a bit weird. I've heard some of my class mates commenting on how much I have changed this year. I really think it's because of Forensics. It's funny how a simple activity or hobby can change your personality, but it has. I'm a lot more comfortable in social situations, I've matured a ton, I've gained confidence, notoriety, and as a side bonus, I can literally fudge presentations for school and just talk as I go and still get an A. I'm almost considering pursuing acting as a career interest (not sure though, because the odds of being successful are absurdly remote).
So, yeah. I qualified for nationals in Humorous Interpretaion, and I'm leaving on an airplane in two days to go to the 5-day long tournament in Alabama (I have no idea why they decided to host it there, but w/e). A lot of people I have come to know from other schools also qualified in other events, so I'll see them there as well. I'm the only person from my high school to qualify in any event, so I guess that makes me pretty special. This blog is both a piece of my soul that I'd like to share with you all, and an announcement of my temporary absence from smashboards. I'll be back in a week. Wish me luck!
Oh, and if I can get a recording of my act, I'll post it on youtube for you guys. Here's and example of what a good HI looks like. This guy was a finalist in the 2008 National Tournament:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjR97oeBor4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2F5j...eature=related
Btw, if you read all of this, I love you. =D
Okay, so I'm sure some of you guys might have noticed me raving about a National Tournament of some sort. If not, then you should pay more attention.
I am a member of the NFL, the National Forensics League (I used to play football, though). The NFL is an organization that hosts speech and debate contests. Debate is the primary. From hardcore stuff like Policy Debate, in which people in teams of 2 will often carry entire tubs or evidence ( Seriously... tubs, man), to stuff like Congress which is pretty much what it sounds like, there's something for all levels of commitment. There's also Lincoln-Douglass, which is a debate or morality, and Public Forum, which is similar to policy but less in-depth and the topic changes every month.
Many High Schools are affiliated with the NFL, and as such have "Forensics Clubs" and host tournaments. This isn't CSI bull****, Forensics literally means "pertaining to, connected with, or used in courts of law or public discussion and debate". One high school in a district will host a tournament every two weeks or so. Snacks or sold, people compete, and they give out trophies and medals for anyone placing 6th or higher. There are usually 25-50 people in each event for each tournament, so getting into finals, semi-finals, or quarter-finals is a fairly big accomplishment.
So I joined my school's Forensics Club because... well... I like to argue. I entered in policy debate. Together, with my partner, Boris, we set out learning how to debate. I must say, we learned a LOT. Especially Boris. He's a Chinese guy with incredible work ethic, but his speaking skills needed work. I, on the other hand, was plenty good at talking people's ears off while keeping their attention, but I was, and still am, incredibly disorganized and I have a tendency for laziness when it comes to researching. Our strengths and weaknesses complimented quite well. We debated as a team over alternate energy production, which was the topic for this year. This especially interested me, because I think Global Warming isn't man-made (if anyone flames me for this, I swear to god...).
There were other events in the League than just debate, however. There is a whole other classification of events called "IEs" or "Individual Events". These are speaking-oriented. There are quite a few different IE events, but the one that caught my eye was Humorous Interpretation (HI). In this event, one finds a published script, memorizes and blocks it, and gives a comedic performance without costumes, props, or other actors. Character changes are all done by you, marked by changes in posture, voice pitch, accent, or other means. This was right down my alley. I love acting. So I signed up for this event as well as policy debate.
Whilst our coach was teaching us the ropes of each event, the first tournament came around. I was so psyched, I gotta say! I went there expecting it to be a blast. I was dead-wrong.... My expectations were BLOWN out of the water tenfold! I thought debate would be fun. It was a freaking RUSH of energy, spirit, intellectual finesse, and adrenaline. It was truly incredible. Words can't do justice to a satisfying round of policy debate.
Humorous Interp. was, at first, a mixed bag. The rounds are hosted in an empty classroom, with 6 competitors per room (so a tournament will take up most the rooms in a school), and a judge rates each competitor by comparing him or her with everyone else in the room. 1st in the room is the best, and 6th in the room is the worst. Based on how you place in the 2-3 preliminaries, you might be one of the 6-7 people to make it to finals, which is judge by 3 different judges in the same room. I was told that I didn't need to have the script I had chosen memorized. This pretty much screwed my over for that tournament, because having to bring my script up with me when I went up in front of the room to perform really weighs down your eye contact, facial expressions, and other actions. But it was STILL amazing. In my very first round, I met this cute girl. She energetic, smart, good at the event (she actually won first place in that tournament), and she smiled at me a lot. I found out later her name was Claire... God, I don't know what it is about that name. Every girl I've had a true crush on throughout my life has had the name Claire. Including her, that makes three so far. The title of her performance was "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories", and it was hilarious.
I talked to her all throughout the year, and I got her phone number at the last tournament. It's kind of sad though, because she will be going to college soon, and I'll be a senior next year. I don't recall ever meeting such a wonderful person before, though. Wow.
The next few tournaments went by, and I still had no success. I really, really wanted to break into finals and win myself some awards. I might have been a bit cocky, thinking I could win with no prior experience (even in the novice division it's not easy). Forensics isn't without it's down-points. For example, some people read at 500 words per minute in policy debate just so they can get their info out. It's like speaking doesn't even matter, sometimes. It always irked me whenever my opponents started that ****. There was also the issue of judges. Because the judges were volunteers, most of them were just parents, and many of them were first-time judges. This got really tiring. A lot of them could be unprofessional, vulnerable to bias, and some of them couldn't even speak English very well. In fact I remember a Humorous Interpretation judge that was giving me this odd look the whole time I was performing. I had to tell the title of my performance three times, because apparently I was talking too fast. It got pretty tiring. Another problem was that the script I had chosen didn't offer many opportunities to demonstrate my abilities.
The script, by the way, was the called "The Official Men's Guide to Successful First Dates and the Fruitful and Happy Lives That Will Naturally Follow". It's basically a parody of a dating guide, with male-biased advice. I read most of it in a British accent (which wile fake, convinces most people), because I love British humor and the script reminded me of something Monty Python might do.
So naturally, when the results of the preliminary rounds were posted, and I wasn't listed in the finals qualifiers, I would use these things as excuses. It carried on like that for 3 tournaments or so. I had joined Smashboards a few months before this time. Then... I realized the worth behind the phrase "NO JOHNS!". I realized that truly worthy competitor will compensate for small luck factors with copious amounts of skill and ability. With this in mind, I set about making preparations for my next tournament. I added some extra lines and actions to my HI performance, making it possible to have some changes in voice and character, and adding color to the whole thing....
I got first in HI at the next tournament. It was also the tournament that our school hosted. I have the trophy standing on my dresser right now. It was a pretty exciting time. I realized how important it is to make the script work for you, instead of the other way around.
With this ground broken, my HI just kept on improving. I came up with so many ideas. And then, nearing the second half of the year, the novice division was moved into the varsity division, so essentially everyone was varsity and I was competing with the big boys. I didn't get to finals after the first tournament this was established, but I watched the finalists' acts. I learned a lot just by watching them, and suddenly, I knew how to make my own performance even better.
Policy sort of stagnated. It was still fun, and I did get an occasional 2nd or 3rd or semifinalist medal, But HI became much more winnable and important in my eyes. I became acquainted with some of the best HIers in the district. These people were amazing actors, and also interesting people. One that stuck out particularly, was a senior who I liked to call Rattigan (because that was his last name and it was awesome). His act was about solving a murder mystery on Sesame Street. The first time I saw him perform, I couldn't fathom how I'd ever top that, but I kept working on my act all the same. I was becoming respected by the other competitors. They would talk about seeing my act and after a round, they'd sometimes say things like "Wow, dude that was amazing!" It felt good.
One thing that's awesome about the NFL in general is the community it has established. If you're in doubt over where this generation is headed, go watch a Forensics Tournament, and you'll feel a lot better. Seriously. The people involved with this activity are smart, funny, active, caring, sophisticated, and for some reason, there are quite a few hot girls.
So then came the State Tournament. By this time, I had made as many modifications as was legal (you can only add 150 words to your script), and the highlights of my performance, the only stuff that was really funny, was the stuff I had put in there. Everything else was just set up to those punchlines. I got won third place at the state tournament, and got a huge friggin' trophy for it (which is also on my dresser).
I had a bad day at the County tournament, because I didn't even get into finals, but then came the District Tournament. This was the tournament that can qualify me for the National Tournament. I was pretty nervous. I did well in the preliminaries, and I made it finals. I was told that I would have to place at least 2nd to qualify for nationals. It was some intense stuff. All the super-amazingly-funny HIers were in the finals round with me. I knew them, they knew me. There was a lot of mutual respect. When it was my turn to perform, I was getting really nervous. People had come in to watch the round and the classroom was so full that people were standing up in the back and on the side. Luckily for me, I seem to perform extremely well when I'm nervous, and I was nervous as hell.
It got quite a lot of laughs, but one of the judges was giving me this kind of "ewww" sort of look. Some of my classmates and my family had also come to watch. Some of them told me they were amazed, and that they would never have imagined that I could do things like that. I still didn't expect to get to nationals, though. The others were too good.
But then, when they were announcing the finalists and those who qualified for nationals, my name popped up! I can't tell how happy I was at this moment. There's not really much point in trying. I asked my coach for some details, and it turns out I did win 2nd place in the finals round. Two of the three judges had given me first place, but one had given me 5th. I assumed that was the "ewww" judge. She was a woman, and a lot of the jokes in my performance could be seen as sexist, so that could explain that. Most people aren't quite so butthurt though. Idk.
It's a bit weird. I've heard some of my class mates commenting on how much I have changed this year. I really think it's because of Forensics. It's funny how a simple activity or hobby can change your personality, but it has. I'm a lot more comfortable in social situations, I've matured a ton, I've gained confidence, notoriety, and as a side bonus, I can literally fudge presentations for school and just talk as I go and still get an A. I'm almost considering pursuing acting as a career interest (not sure though, because the odds of being successful are absurdly remote).
So, yeah. I qualified for nationals in Humorous Interpretaion, and I'm leaving on an airplane in two days to go to the 5-day long tournament in Alabama (I have no idea why they decided to host it there, but w/e). A lot of people I have come to know from other schools also qualified in other events, so I'll see them there as well. I'm the only person from my high school to qualify in any event, so I guess that makes me pretty special. This blog is both a piece of my soul that I'd like to share with you all, and an announcement of my temporary absence from smashboards. I'll be back in a week. Wish me luck!
Oh, and if I can get a recording of my act, I'll post it on youtube for you guys. Here's and example of what a good HI looks like. This guy was a finalist in the 2008 National Tournament:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjR97oeBor4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2F5j...eature=related
Btw, if you read all of this, I love you. =D
Here's hopin'!
