LAUGH AND LEARN COMIC TEEN TEAMS MATCH THEIR WITS.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

Sometimes it pays to be the class clown.

Acting skills and quick wits are also helpful for the hundreds of high school students auditioning for improvisational comedy, one of the fastest-growing extracurricular activities in town.

Students on Comedy Sportz teams square off in matches - like those featured on comedian Drew Carey's ``Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' - that rely on audience involvement in dozens of types of games.

``I had so much fun up there,'' El Camino Real High School senior Matt Alarcon said recently, during intermission of the school's first-ever Comedy Sportz competition.

El Camino is one of the latest additions to Southern California's league of 65 teams. Others, such as Agoura High School, have had teams for about a decade. The region has the largest of the nation's 12 leagues.

Educators said the activity builds confidence, encourages listening skills and calms fears of public speaking. It also helps teens learn to be approachable and solve problems.

``Improv isn't just about entertaining,'' said Natasha Arnold, director of the Comedy Sportz high school league. ``What improv can do to help change your life is amazing.''

Players are asked to spontaneously develop skits and jokes based on themes suggested by members of the audience.

Competitors who resort to dirty jokes risk ``brown-bag fouls,'' meaning they must perform with a paper bag over their head. Lame jokes can land players in the apology box, where they must plead for the audience's forgiveness.

Serving as referee, Arnold asked players in the opening round of the El Camino match to perform an ``alternate ending'' in a game of ``DVD.'' The game requires students to develop openings, deleted scenes and directors' cuts of make-believe movies.

Without even a pause, four teenagers scrambled to become actors in a movie about a flying sheep - the audience's off-beat theme.

A crowd of more than 200 doubled over as the scene took a dark turn: The winged sheep and the farmer's wife fell in love and ran off together.

Other games require teens to conduct a fake town meeting, think up slogans for everyday items such as carrots or fill in the blanks of a standard joke.

``I thought it was great,'' said Aharon Zagayer, whose son Danny, 17, is on the El Camino Real team. ``You can't teach something like that. It's amazing.''

Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson and other animated characters, said she was impressed with the competition.

``It gets everybody sort of really comfortable with who they are. It gives them confidence,'' said Cartwright, a celebrity player at the El Camino match.

Teens said ``selling'' their skits is key to cracking up the crowd.

``The first thing that comes to your mind, you just have to say it,'' Alarcon said.

But players must be careful to set the scene for the crowd and to develop relationships during the skit, participants said.

Stephanie Callas, a senior at Agoura High, said players can't be worried about embarrassing themselves.

``You do have to sacrifice yourself for the team and you sacrifice your team for the game,'' she said.

At Agoura High, gratuitous violence and funny voices are always big hits. The school has nearly 35 students on its junior varsity and varsity teams. Students must try out for the teams, and many are turned away.

Team members become cult heroes of sorts. Their images are plastered on pins and trading cards, and preteens ask for their autographs.

``The first time I saw a game, I was just stunned. It was so amazing what the kids could do,'' said Agoura High coach Sherry Coben. ``I just think it's an incredibly magical league.''

Coben, a comedy writer and creator of the 1980s hit TV show ``Kate and Allie,'' took the reins of the program and began putting on shows at the local middle school. Youngsters immediately took to the sport.

``For very little money, they would have heroes. They would have a very clean program,'' Coben said.

Schools new to Comedy Sportz pay $500 a year to join the league and students receive workshops and private lessons for the fees. But established schools must pay $1,000 a year, a fee they can pay off by hosting one or two competitions.

While kids on Comedy Sportz teams usually aren't athletes, they are often student body leaders or actors in school plays. Callas said she has seen students transformed by their years on Comedy Sportz.

``They learn everything,'' she said. ``They learn what they're capable of. They learn not to be fearful ... These kids aren't afraid of anything.''

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

A Battle of the Sexes Comedy Sportz match will be held Friday in Building G at Agoura High School, 28545 W. Driver Ave. Junior varsity match at 6 p.m., varsity match at 7 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) El Camino Real students Danny Zagayer, left, Jordan Barr, Chasen Banks and Melanie Payne improvise a skit, above, while Nancy Cartwright, Bart Simpson's voice, improvises with student Matt Alarcon.

(3) El Camino Real High School students Hunter Cope, left, and Tiffany Crabb perform a skit.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

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IF YOU GO (see text)