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This year’s joy night theme was Wicked, which was decided on by Joy Night’s 4 directors, Andrew Bargen, Lindsey Herting, Annaliese Saathoff, and Chris Turley. When asked about how the Joy Night theme is picked each year, Bargen mentioned that “ It’s a conversation of the directors, and it usually is that epiphany moment where somebody says something and it’s like yes!” 

When asked about other possible themes for Joy Night this year, Turley mentioned that “If the Minecraft movie had come out 3 months earlier, that might have gotten the nod.” 

The rehearsal process for Joy Night is 2 weeks long, with 2 hour practices every school night leading up to the 2 performances. Senior Maddie Scholl voiced that their favorite part of the rehearsal process is “Hearing all the skits everyone has written for the first time because it gives us an idea of the show we can create. It is also the most entertaining because the scripts are still new to us at that time, so we get to enjoy them for the first time, like the audience does.” 

Many of Joy Night’s skits this year were loved by all, but some skits were more loved than others in the eyes of the directors. When asked about their favorite skits this year, most of the Joy Night directors mentioned that some of their favorite skits were the ‘skit about nothing happening’ which was an homage to The Twilight Zone, The KLHS skit, and the TikTok ban skit.

When asked about his favorite part about the rehearsal process, Turley mentioned that he enjoys “Interacting with students in a different way that I normally get to see, I love to see the MCs creativity and the talent of our Acts.” Bargen also mentioned that “When a kid has an idea in their head 8 days prior that they think is funny, and then they write it, we practice and polish it up, and then they go on stage, deliver a line, and a crowd laughs. And that’s a really cool moment for me.”

It’s no secret that Joy Night’s structure has changed over the almost 100 years it has been around, but Bargen would like to mention that “It’s the best deal in showbiz, when I started 17 years ago, ticket prices were five dollars, but this year, ticket prices are also five dollars.” 

All in all, Joy night was an absolute success this year, and everyone at LHS is excited to see what the directors and MCs do next year for the 100th Joy Night.