The Piece That Kept Me in Forensics [Archive] - National Forensic League Community

Ryan

09-19-2005, 11:44 PM

Was there a piece for any of you that made you, probably when you were a novice, go "Wow, I want to do this until I'm that good?" If so, what piece (and performer) was it?

For me it was Peter McIntosh from Miami Southridge (6th at CFL Nats in DP) performing The Judy Miller Show.

Cinderella

09-20-2005, 09:16 AM

Wow, oh my goodness, what a GREAT question...

It was my first tournament, Blue Key, I was a sophmore on a new team, we were all novices, and I had never seen anything performed forensicly until my first round (DI) at that tournament...I watched duo finals, and I saw Tim Norton and Gina Petrucellii perform The History of Television (Abridged) ---I was a novice, i didn't know any better haha...and their excuse is we were sophmores we didnt know any better... -- and I saw them do this amazing flashy techy bit and I thought HOLY **** I could NEVER do that...but God****it do I want to try.

And then the warm and fuzzy part of the story is they turned out to be two of my BEST forensics friends and are part of my favorite memory EVER (Morons, Crestian '05) and oh my goodness, I love them to death...so not only did they introduce me to the "being good and doing well" aspect of forensics, but I was SO SHOCKED when they wanted to be friends with me at first, just because I was so in awe of them, and now I don't know how the **** i would have ever lived the last few years without them.

IamTHATnerd

09-20-2005, 09:54 AM

Mine would have to be a little different. Rather than "OMG I wanna be that good!", it was more of "Im gonna beat them one day, I swear it."

The two people I lived to beat were Matt Cavanaugh (03 Harvard DI champ) whom i competed against every weekend, and Etienna Qualls (possibly the best unkown on the planet). These two won EVERYTHING, and being a year older than me, I strived to beat them. Eventually I think I ended up beating them maybe once or twice, but it didnt matter. The drive that it gave me propelled me farther than i couldve ever imagined. That was my moment.

xxLusciousZechxx

09-20-2005, 11:27 AM

I've come close to quitting speech and debate so many times.

The most recent time was today.

So, I have tons of events/pieces that kept me in.

In fact, I have a list (in no particular order).

1. Westlake High School TFA 2003 HI Semifinals, Section 2:
Christopher Kochevar - "Fully Committed"
Justin Slagle - "Episode 26"
Thomas Dieter - "Killer Halloween"

2. NFL Nationals 2005 Duo Finals -
Paige Clark and Anthony Wofford - "Barbara's Wedding"
Kamen Edwards and Alice Wiesner - "Peter Pan"

3. TFA State 2005 Duet Finals -
Adam Roberts and Steven Brown - "The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys"

4. TFA State 2005 DI Finals -
D'Angelo Lacy - "Paul Robeson"

5. TFA State 2005 HI Finals -
Brendan Spieth - "Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge"
James Eagan - "Twilight Zone"
Kamen Edwards (Because He Should've Been There) - "The Miracle Worker"

6. Westlake High School 2004 TFA HI Finals -
Andy Heald - "Goosebumps: Night Of The Living Dummy"

7. Foster High School 2004 TFA HI Finals -
Kamen Edwards - "Bambi"
Cody Kirkpatrick - "Wigfield"

theatrix04

09-20-2005, 01:43 PM

Hmmm....
I can think of two specifics....
one when I was a sophomore in high school ....
I saw a girl at my school, Felicity LaFortune --
duet cutting from Guys and Dolls
(she is actually now in the ensemble for Light at Piazza).

Another......
1975 Dan Castellaneta (voice of Homer Simpson)
Did an amazing HI (can't remember the script)
and an HDA from No Time For Sergeants...
not a great script, but amazing performance!!!

State --- CAT IN THE HAT
amazing performance, animation, number of voices, facials
one foot...... it was terrific!!

and then there have been those students we have coached or seen over the years,.

AfRiCaNHI

09-20-2005, 04:48 PM

Kevin Bushek, Nick Fox, Mike Frawley, Elliot Kashner, Natalie Sintek and many more made me get into forensics more and more until I had this giant forensical climax. Dude. Sickness.

Nocturne

09-20-2005, 08:03 PM

Lauren Litel. She went to nats in duo 04' She did Homeland Security.

The piece that she performed, that convinced me to join forensics, "Accents Iccorporated"

I was in 8th grade and all the highschool kids came over to perform and recruit new kids.

Oh my word.

It was phenominal.

Even now, as a junior, she was still one of the best interpers I've seen.

Basically, after every tournement I say to myself "I don't know why I keep doing this"

Then I think about the kids on the National Stage and keep on going.

National Stage=Ultimate Forensics Goal/Achievement.

jman255

09-20-2005, 08:13 PM

National finals

Telephone Man
I Hate My Sister Maggie
Spoonface Steinberg
Same year^ the black guy
Peter Pan

Josiahzacks

09-20-2005, 08:17 PM

Wow.

Umm....

Well, I dont think it ever occured to me to quit, but if I had to pick some people who inspired me, I guess the list would have to include Jon Magaziner, Sami Kriegstein, Trey Hunt (wow, all milton kids haha).

I also sincerely hope I've been an inspiration to someone.

I used to have kids come up to me in HS and tell me they saw one of my rounds and it made them want to do (insert event here). Sometimes also, when I come back to judge, I get to walk into the room and create that impression among the students who know me that they're being judged by someone who knows his ****.

It's the most incredible feeling in the world.

Cinderella

09-20-2005, 08:45 PM

I also sincerely hope I've been an inspiration to someone.

Wow. Me too.

Broskis09

09-20-2005, 08:53 PM

Andy Heald, Kamen Edwards, Cody Kirpatrick, Diego Larrea, and You.

TheModernEgg

09-21-2005, 07:10 PM

theatrix04

09-21-2005, 08:30 PM

Do you mean, Sully who was on Def Jam Poetry? I know there could be more than 1 Dan Sullivan.

nubian_lover

09-22-2005, 06:55 AM

Well, my first expirience with inspiration was Daniel Sullivan's poetry two years ago. I think Daniel is really "known" in only Arizona, which is sad. But last year, I went to the ASU showcase and it changed my outlook on speech. I saw Joe Guffey, my favorite performer ever, do his silent DI, Charlie Chaplain's "The Kid". The only time he spoke was in the intro, amazing. Also, Sean Quadlin has inspired me not only to do well, but to actually care about High School Speech and Debate. I only hope I can be, not only as good, but as inspiring as these three individuals.

~Egg

Totally agree. Sean QUadlin was one of the first poetries I had seen last year, and you can just tell when he's performing how much he loves it. Jackie McAndrews and Rachel Chapman's duo, "The Babysitter's Club" was the first piece I had ever seen and all I could think was "if I could just be half the performer that they are, I'll be great." Who else? SHane Allen, of course. NOt only because he's such a great friend but because he's one of the few people that can make me laugh hysterically at one piece and make me bawl like a baby the next.

Abbey7

09-22-2005, 11:52 AM

My freshman year I had qualified for state in oratory and went to watch Humorous Finals. I was completely blown away... I think it was Alice Weisner's performance of Primary English Class that convinced me that forensics is worth it, mainly because I laughed so hard I cried.

Now I find myself being so critical when I watch performances, I guess it comes with experience, but freshman year- I would just sit back and be in awe of some amazing performances.

I can't wait to see what this year has in store.... :wink:

Broskis09

09-22-2005, 01:45 PM

yeah alice weisner was amazing that round because she has the best pops ever...but i thought kamen should have taken 3rd...but i really love apollo's performance at the UT tournament that year...and lion king also at UT...loved that round...man and pitching to the stars...ok im done

TheModernEgg

09-22-2005, 05:37 PM

Yes, Sully from Def Jam Poetry. Maybe, describe what he looked like and spoke like. If it is him, he is my favorite. But, nubian, I totally agree with you about Sean. He's the reason I am still in speech, not just how good he was, but how much he cared about the piece. His Expos actually brought me to tears. It was about Daniel Sullivan. And shane too, his drama about the orphan two years ago... wow.

~Egg

theatrix04

09-22-2005, 09:03 PM

Its Alive

09-22-2005, 09:36 PM

Justin Marshall's "ID" (2002-03) did it for me. He's my hero, pretty much.

guest

09-22-2005, 11:57 PM

Jack and Jelly 1999 National Duo Champs best piece ever I dare some one to say there was a better performace. Maybe a better piece or even team can be argued but that was the best fianl round performace just watch the tape.

Nats 2004 runner up Ben Unanaowo "The Major Instinct" Best OO didnt have any gimmicks or stuff it was just a great oratory

NFL 1997 champ Micheal Washington Bums he was the best interper to come out of Texas period. The was also great the next year when he won HI

2003 NFL DX finals Logan Sisco deliverd one of the greatest extemp speeches of all time.

TheModernEgg

09-23-2005, 07:53 AM

Nope. Not the same Dan Sullivan. But he sounds cool too.

This is not Jenn

12-10-2005, 12:03 AM

my self in the mirror....im just that good.

only kidding.

My seventh grade year, I saw a senior preform 'Yellow' over done piece I know but it was good and it made me stick with it.

SniffyGuy

12-26-2005, 10:56 AM

My freshman year (2001-02) there were three upperclassmen duos from my team that really made me begin to think about how good interp can get:

Parker Smith/Eesha Sharma - "Ruthless" - they got sixth at harvard and semifinaled at NFLs that year.

Matt Sadewitz/ Josh Schloesser - "How to Be a Superhero"

Aaron Ginsberg/ Jordan Newman - "Sesame Street: Unpaved"

also, i'll throw Natalie Sintek's HI from 2004 in there for good measure.

horton_elephant

12-26-2005, 02:44 PM

2 years ago (my freshman year) Ashley Litsey from my team did No Ugly Ways, she got 2nd at Emory, and semifinaled at NFLs and CFLs...I watched her and was just in awe, she was really, really good..I stayed in Forensics because I wanted to be as good as she was.

Ariella

01-14-2006, 03:14 PM

well this isn't really the piece that made me want to remain in speech but rather the piece that made me want to be IN it... when I was in 8th grade I saw John Egan perform "Picasso". He hadn't competed with it in two years and it still was the most brilliant thing I have ever seen in my life.

AfRiCaNHI

01-14-2006, 06:54 PM

Kevin Bushek's "Summer Reading is Killing Me" and Nick Fox's "Actor" are the pieces that kept me in forensics. I must have seen them each over 20 times but it never got old. I wanted Fox's timing and Bushy's amazing tech. My goal was to be as strong a powerhouse as either of them and make a Nicholevin Bushox.

Jordan F

01-16-2006, 04:29 PM

Man I wish I was still in high school just so I could do this lol.... When I was a freshman I saw a duet from my team do "A New York Minute"... and it blew me away that people in high school were able to act that well...and then I wanted to achieve that.

tgjdlc

02-07-2006, 02:20 AM

wow...hmm

Freshman year:
The Wiz from Logan, in person was amazing.
Confessions of a Nightingale, one of the upperclassmen in my school, and this was the only reason I stayed in it...I wanted to be better than him.

Sophomore year:
Fiddler on the Roof, if you saw it, you know why I choose this.

Junior year:
Strands, El Cerrito, was freaking amazing, and should have gone to nats along with
Life is so good, Logan, as they probably both would have finaled...well, we know Life is so good won
Topdog/Underdog, Logan *also Pierre Clark*, freakin' incredible duo, and was honored to beat them a few times. :wink:

Senior year:
My biggest competition, Ashley Knuckles, Clovis East, she did Multiple Personality Murder...wow
The Boy who Fell Into a Book, Chris Reinacher *jesus* and Zac Efron from Arroyo Grande, we hit at State that year twice...we beat them in one, they beat us in another...great duo.

After High School:
FIFER'S PEOPLE, Guest, this is where I say that a duo was better than Jack and Jelly, and they are from the same school.
Rest Area, Joel Armamento
Monkey, Iqwak and Yue from Leland
Jerry and Tom, Joel Armamento and Alex Tran

yup, great performances

Cinderella

02-27-2008, 06:39 AM

*bump*

Just browsing old threads; wanted to get some new answers here :)

FuturusVollus07

02-27-2008, 09:06 AM

Even though I was a debater/congress/extemper, I saw a few pieces that just blew me away and made me WISH I were good at IE

Feiffer's People
My Client Curly (nothing too flashy, just a really good piece)
Animal Farm

peacebone

02-27-2008, 02:46 PM

Dillon Heape's Illinois State Champion Prose in 2007, "Do You Want My Opinion?"

What a fantastic performance, I still think about it to this day.

macaholic17

02-27-2008, 05:37 PM

The Boy who Fell Into a Book, Chris Reinacher *jesus* and Zac Efron from Arroyo Grande, we hit at State that year twice...we beat them in one, they beat us in another...great duo.

Wait...High School Musical Zac Efron?

Ryan

02-27-2008, 05:42 PM

Yes, that's the same Zac Efron. They actually couldn't take it to NFL Nationals because Zac had to film an episode of Summerland. So when ever anyone tells you that Forensics is a geeky activity, just bring up Zac.

insightful

02-27-2008, 05:43 PM

Elliot Karl and Nick Reinharts' performance of The Pillowman that got them 2nd at the illinois state final in 2007.... and i'm not sure how far they got at nats...
but it was a brilliant performance, they are 2 very gifted actors.

nirorivers6

02-27-2008, 09:11 PM

Before I was introduced to the national circuit there was a kid at my school who everyone recognized as the most talented thespian in ever. Tim Longo, who did "The Whole Shebang" and "The Last Touchy Feely Drama On The American Stage".

But after being introduced, Nana Amoah Jr. and his National Championship performance "Peace in Our Time," was the single most amazing performance I had seen and really got me going.

The person who really made me realize the potential of what an HI performance could be was Nick Fox with "Bullets Over Broadway."

I have since been impressed by other performances but those people really drove me early on.

aznshents

02-28-2008, 07:54 AM

Zac Efron and the guy who voices Homer Simpson did SPEECH?

....whoa.

tgjdlc

02-28-2008, 12:18 PM

blah

tgjdlc

02-28-2008, 12:18 PM

Heh, I'm amazed that people always discover (literally every few months) that someone famous did speech... and they get struck.

There is a discussion on all this at this link: http://forensicsonline.net/msgboard/viewtopic.php?t=360&start=0

Aequaleis

03-22-2008, 02:41 PM

I have a couple...haha:

Last year I saw Monique V.'s oratory "As the world turns" and was blown away (she got 12th at nats last year). I had never seen an oratory that was just so clean, so natural, so...perfect! And of course my district likes gimmicks in oratory so she got 2nd at the tournament, whereas the girl who got 1st sang in her oratory (her transitions). Her oratory was good (it was how Americans were being un-American), but not personal or as sincere as Monique's. It made me want to do oratory for as long as possible.

Chelseah Baker's "A Sense of Urgency." When I saw her DI at nats last year it motivated me that her subtle, yet powerful performance can be better than gimmicks and the like.

CorbinSpeechCrazy

03-24-2008, 07:16 AM

Wow, at first i thought the question was "Was there a piece that made you good" as in "Which piece made you so good!"

ANYWAY!

I started as a freshman in KY doing only HI with no exposure to the event, and I always say that was the best year of HI because I saw how freaking AWESOME HI could be.

My HI role models became:

Bria Stacy-Trailer Park Radio Broadcast Scandals
Seth Brashear-(don't remember the title though :? )
Melissa Cavner-Stay Tuned

among others, but those were the first

washcfl

06-09-2008, 06:55 PM

For me it wasn't a piece, it was a person. This person (who shall go unnamed) has gathered a bad reputation as being an obnoxious person who choses obnoxious pieces and sucks up to the judges. (Whether he or she deserves that label or not has led to very lively discussions on the trip back from tournaments) I will admit that the thought of beating this person was, for a while, the only thing that kept me in speech. I was like an engine fuled by bile and hatred. But then I started making friends, etc., and the camaraderie has caried me in speech through today. I may not be the best speaker in the world, but gosh darn it I'm going to be there for my speechy-brothers in arms.

Though the thought of beating said person still fills me with a vicious joy. :twisted:

Interpret

07-15-2008, 03:53 PM

Steve Grisez. Sophomore year he came in as a novice and blew us away. He won Eastern Ohio (I tied for 4th) and quartered at Nationals. His voices are amazing, he's on YouTube doing impressions under LT0SM4SH I believe.
Anyway, knowing he was my competition, I worked my butt off junior year and ended up winning Eastern Ohio while he got 5th.
He might not have 'kept me in speech,' but he definately helped me get better.

OO Storyteller

07-15-2008, 05:40 PM

I was kinda forced and just liked Forensics all around, but I guess I'll have to say a Dec piece called, "Justice Delayed but Not Denied." A close friend did that and won CA state in '06. Bringing real emotion into a piece or speech intrigued me.

interper90

07-18-2008, 06:05 PM

My first round as a freshmen was watching Alex Weisman in DI do "Assassins"; needless to say in blew me away!!
Also, as a sophomore i saw "Janes Park", as a Duo performed by Lauren Jaffie and Brad Pettitt. It was the only dramatic piece in were i seriously cried at the end. No piece has ever made me do that except for them. And not even tear up full on cry. AMAZING!!!!

johnnn

07-19-2008, 01:45 AM

hmmm......i dont know if anything really made me want to stay in speech. but there were some that definatey inspired me to do better

Freshman year.

Joe Muller's The Magic School Bus HI.....i thought that was great

and then

Sophomore year

"The Portrait of Dorian Gray" that was awesome when i watched it. twice.

suppimbruno

10-25-2009, 03:59 PM

hmm... sophomore year, which was my novice year. I was at Harvard during interp for like the 3rd time in my life. I was watching HI quarters and had the honor of being able to watch Mike Dahlgren perform "The 25th annual putnam county spelling bee" and he had my falling off my chair laughing the entire time. From that performance I've wanted to be good just like Dahlgren haha. Then this year, my junior year. I made my first semi final round ever. The round was Poetry and I got to see Richard Heyne perform a program on finding meaning by searching for god. It stands as the best and my favorite program I've ever seen.

MFL speech

10-25-2009, 04:36 PM

There were a couple peices that really made me want to do forensics.

The first peice I ever saw that really made me say, "Wow this is really awesome" was Mr. Marmelade.

Also in person: "Pete" -Truong/Truong was the first really legit duo/peice I ever saw

"The Syringa Tree" and "Cornrockets" inspired me all last year. I'm now striving this year to live up to the the amazing DI'ers from my diocese this year.

CManning

10-25-2009, 09:00 PM

These are pieces that made me want to get better:

Freshman year "Heroes" Nick Bateman DI (1st Harvard 08)
Sophmore year "Night of the Living Dummy" Tyler Dailey HI (2nd Glenbrooks 08, 1st GMU 08, quarters at NFLs) and "Pinnochio" DUO I feel awful but I don't know your names if your on FOL and see this you can clear this up (1st at CFLs)

"Heroes" was what really made me want to be good. To this day, it was the best piece of forensics I Have ever seen.

One OO that I encountered so many times last year, and she kept me at the top of my game was "Cleaning up Dirty Talk" Melissa Dunn. She won everywhere she went GMU until Harvard and it was fantastic

beenthundrstruck

10-26-2009, 12:24 PM

I was more than willing to quit forensics as I went to college, but the I hit Because I Wanted to Say and Crayon Map (both finals at NFL last year) in my first prelim at NFLs, and then followed that up with The Wizard of Hip and King Chemo the next round. That really proved to me that I enjoyed competing and being involved in forensics. So if I had to attribute it to anything it'd be the phenomenal duos I saw last year from prelims to finals

redfox045

11-03-2009, 05:43 PM

For me, it was "So I killed a Few People." It was done by a senior at my school and it is to this day one of the greatest pieces I have ever seen. It quartered at Harvard and got 3rd(?) at Texas State. This and a girl doing "The Age of Consent" that same year.

JoeyFireball

11-05-2009, 07:12 PM

Freshman year, Florida States. It was my semifinal round, and I just watched this kid named Johnny (totally, dont remember his last name. Not even sure if its his first name) from University school perform "Look at my striped shirt." I couldnt stop laughing.

However, unlike suppimbruno, I didnt put shirtless pictures of him in my OI book for "Inspiration." ;D

Nebraska OO

11-05-2009, 08:13 PM

I have never even thought about quitting speech but the piece that got me motivated to be better than them some day, came my freshman year. This one girl from Millard North went up and gave her OO about why Americans should not go on vacation, I was blown away. I would find out latter that year that she would go on to get 10th at NFL. And ever since it has been my goal to be better than she was.

suppimbruno

11-05-2009, 08:14 PM