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Writer's pictureBroadway Beat

I’m Boycotting the TONY Awards Because Improv Gives Me Anxiety

by Sarah Lasko. @saraheleora.

Look, I know Broadway’s back, and we should celebrate the art form in any way possible, but for the love of God, someone has to take a stand. I’ve had enough friends force me to attend their improv shows to know that this is only gonna end in teeth-gritting discomfort for all of us.


I didn’t sign up for a live, three-hour ceremony that’ll give even more cringe than Angela Bassett felt at the BAFTAs.


The idea of Broadway’s best and brightest having to request a word from the audience - the mere thought of it makes me break out in hives. I still have PTSD from the opening number of the 2009 TONY Awards, and I swear to God, if anyone forces Aaron Tveit to do anything weird again, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.


The TONY Awards are supposed to be our opportunity to watch Audra McDonald win her 19th TONY, not for a Zip Zap Zop-off that leaves viewers across the country reeling from secondhand embarrassment. That’s why, as deeply as it pains me, I have to boycott the TONY Awards this year. I just can’t afford to double my Prozac dosage in preparation,


In conclusion, it’s a lesson for us all, that we shouldn't settle for the inevitable anxiety that will come if we tune in on Sunday, June 11th at 8pm.


Though I guess there is one bright side: James Corden isn’t hosting. Although, he might actually be kind of good at improv? No, I can't go down this road.

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