On the evening of Monday, April 29, many bowlers and PBA stars from all over the country came to San Jose Improv to be a part of a fundraising event for Tony Reyes’ family. Tony was killed tragically towards the end of last year in a highway accident, and since then there has been a huge outpouring of support both from the local San Jose bowlers, where Tony spent much of his time, and from the PBA bowlers, who were some of his best friends.
At the improv night Randy Pedersen, the commentator for the pro bowlers tour, Sandy Stec, Jackie Wycoff, and Scott Henry all came out to do comedy skits. Stec opened and did a great job. She was a bowler growing up, and she was able to connect with all of the bowlers immediately. Wycoff came on to do her “you might be a bowler if…” segment, which was a spinoff of Jeff Foxworthy’s “you might be a redneck if…” act. My favorite of hers was “you might be a bowler if you know the game is played inside…unless you’re a lefty!” Randy Pedersen has been around a lot of these people for many, many years, and it showed. He was able to make all sorts of fun at these bowlers, and it all came of smooth, natural, and good-humored.
Scott Henry was the headliner, and he did a good job. He had a good flow and he sprinkled a few bowling jokes in there. The audience responded really well, and you could tell Henry was comfortable up on the stage.
The only act I felt fell flat was the Slumdog Jeopardy segment, which had people impersonating Muhammad Ali, Ronald Reagan, and one other person I hadn’t heard of before. From what I gathered, he was a reporter who followed Ali. Anyways, the comics didn’t have good chemistry together, and the skit was awkward.
To conclude the night, Pete Weber came on to judge the “crotch chop” contest, where audience members had a chance to do Weber’s trademark crotch chop, and Pete determined who did it the best. About 15 people participated, and eight people walked away with a prize, with four winning a new bowling ball. Some of the contestants were quite funny, poking fun at some of Pete’s most memorable outbursts. It was a nice way to end the show.
While the majority of the night was devoted to comedy, throughout the show Randy reminded everybody of the real reason everyone was gathered there, and that was to honor their memories of Tony Reyes, who had a memorable laugh and huge smile. With friends like these, I think they’ll make sure Tony’s spirit lives on for many, many years to come!
12 Strikes Zone 