Perry High School seniors Seth Borgeson, Xavier Hibbert and Cayden Hay pose for a photo. Allison Ullmann/Raccoon Valley Radio

A trio of Perry High School seniors will be attending the Iowa High School Speech Association State Large Group Speech contest tomorrow.

The school’s Group Improvisation team of Seth Borgeson, Cayden Hay and Xavier Hibbert advanced to state with a Division-I rating following the district competition.

Borgeson talks about some of the aspects they focus on when they practice going through different situations.

“You kind of think that you wouldn’t be able to prepare for improv since the prompt you get is always going to be different. But really what we’re doing as we practice improv is just building the skills necessary to think on the spot and come up with funny jokes and good ideas in the moment.”

Hay says humor is a big part of their planning process and their goal is to make the improv judge laugh.

Hibbert adds that it’s also important to build chemistry as a team. He details that the group has been performing together for the past three years, which helps them be able to play off each other with whatever scenario they draw.

“I’m just really excited because I think this year has honestly been one of our best years for improv. We’ve really grown a lot character-wise. So I think it’s going to be great at state.” 

Perry’s Group Improv team will compete during tomorrow’s state large group contest at West Des Moines Valley High School.