My favorite Michael Pizza moment comes from the tail end of the show that made us Cagematch champs. This story does end, and it has a happy ending.
The first major goal for Michael Pizza was to win the 2009 iO Cagematch. We rehearsed for months to achieve a tight 20 minute show. The Cagematch was a bracketed tournament of two improv teams performing whatever form they desired. Then the audience voted for one group to move on. MP made it all the way to the finals! I can still remember how nervous we all were that night, but we channeled that energy into my favorite show we've ever done.
Toward the end of our 20 minutes on stage, there was a scene with Eric as an old man. I don't remember exactly how we arrived at a reference to Neverending Story, but all four of us quickly cut to Eric's old man character riding the dragon-dog Falkor (played by me, Brett and Josh) through the sky! We explored the whole stage like that as the crowd erupted in laughter and then applause! Two noteworthy details: this called back Josh riding Brett as a horse toward the top of the show, and Falkor turned out to be deathly allergic to carrots just like said horse. This scene was done with pure joy and complete acceptance as all four of us created something together. We won the iO Cagematch that night, and it was one of the best nights of my life.
I believe we talked about Falcor in the opening when we were fishing. Or maybe just the Neverending Story. Either way, it was from the opening.
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