Super Bowl halftime show to feature local improv troupe to warm up crowd - The Beaverton

Super Bowl halftime show to feature local improv troupe to warm up crowd

East Rutherford, NJ — In an effort to “bring up the energy” inside the MetLife stadium following the end of the second quarter, organizers have invited local improv troupe, The Chuckle Sandwiches, to play a few games and “do some skits” in front of the 80,000+ audience members attending the game.

“Opening for and Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Super Bowl is definitely a career highlight for us,” said troupe leader Matt Rabkin, whose improv and occasional sketch comedy group will be seen on television Sunday night by more than a hundred million viewers across the world.

“We’ve performed at a lot of bars and high schools in the Bergen County area, and we once played to a pretty nice size crowd at [fellow troupe member] Brian’s cousin’s Bat Mitzvah, but this is probably the biggest gig we’ve booked so far,” Rabkin added.

Rabkin explained that for a crowd this large, you want to play a lot of fast, joke-filled games that will get fans “riled up” and excited for the rest of the show.

“We’ll start by getting the audience to shout out a few suggestions, and then just take it from there,” Rabkin said. “For a show like the Super Bowl, we’re going to pull out all the stops: Word-At-A-Time Story, Speak-In-One-Voice, Props, He Said She Said, Mime Debate, and at least one gibberish scene. Maybe two.”

Rabkin then hinted that if the audience is lucky, they might even get to see a slow-motion swordfight.

At press time, the six-member troupe was warming up in the Broncos’ locker room with a quick game of Zip Zap Zop.