The lights turned back as the audience cheered and clapped. "And we're back with the penultimate team of round one," Catherine said.
"Brainiacs!" Carol chirped.
Then, in unison, the duo said, "Good luck!"
The lights turned off and, again, a screen popped up, revealing Clyde and Lisa staring at the camera. Clyde smiled, while Lisa looked like her usual deadpan self.
"A geek with glasses and a genius Prodigy have joined forces! With their surprisingly large intellect, can they use their brains for something that's not scientific in nature? Give a round of applause to Team 5: Brainiacs!"
The audience cheered as it cut to the shadowed stage, with Clyde and Lisa on the stage. Once the lights turned on, Clyde put on a smile and waved hello... While Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Good morning, everyone, thanks for having us here!" then, after waiting for a couple seconds, Clyde's smile turned nervous as he asked his partner, "Come on, Lisa, say something."
And so, Lisa sternly asked, "How did I let myself be convinced to participate in this nonsense?"
"S-Something other than that, please!" Clyde blurted.
"I mean, I literally have a PHD without having even gone through kindergarten, and what am I using this intellect for? Some stand-up comedy," Lisa shook her head. "Seriously, it's pretty disappointing."
"Lisa, stop before they disqualify you already."
"Why should I? I'm just that angry about it."
"I know, but, don't you want to give this a shot, only this time?"
"I guess I could," Lisa took a deep breath, then said, "Good morning, everyone, thanks for having us here."
"Yeah, thanks for having us here."
"So, Clyde, have you memorized your boke lines?"
"What makes you think I'm the boke, whatever that is?"
"You know, the one that makes things wrong so the tsukkomi, in other words me, punishes them in a hilarious way."
"Okay, I get that, but again, why would I be the boke?"
"Because I could never do that, I'm far too smart and mature for it."
Clyde and the audience giggled before the dark-skinned geek pointed out, "You're four years old!"
"Yes, I'm a four year old prodigy," Lisa took out a PHD... Made out of cardboard. "A four year old with a PHD!"
"That's a cardboard copy of one!" Clyde snapped while the audience laughed some more. "That's totally not the real deal!"
"Of course it isn't, I mean, what sort of prodigy-let alone a sentient human being-would go out with their phd visible?!" Lisa threw the cardboard copy away. "That's an awful idea! Nobody would ever do that!"
"Okay, you got your point across, alright? I'll be the boke and you'll be the tsukkomi."
"Perfect!"
"Just one more thing."
"What?"
"What are we going to do for a routine?"
"Well, it has to be something you can mess up so I can hit you for comedy."
"And it has to fit me in personality too."
"Hmmm... I got it!"
"What?"
"You'll be an alien!"
The audience laughed out loud. "How does a being out of this world fit me?!"
"Oh no, I don't mean an extraterrestial."
"Then what do you mean by "alien?"
"A foreigner."
"I don't like where this is going."
"Wanna do that, or do you wanna stall for more time?"
"No, let's see how we can work this out."
"Got it..."
Clyde's skit, take 1...
Clyde came out of a car that parked outside his house. "Well, time to start a new life in this foreign country," he remarked. "I wonder if people are going to receive me we-"
Suddenly, Clyde was hit by a laser and then put down a net, with Lisa-wearing a hazmat suit-coming into the scene soon afterwards. "Area 51, this is agent Lisa reporting-"
"Hold it right there!"
The stage turned back to normal as the audience laughed and Lisa nodded with a pleased look. "What the heck was that all about?!"
"You did good, Clyde."
"What are you talking about?!"
"You were a good boke, I mean, you did everything wrong."
"You were the one who did everything wrong!" the audience laughed some more. "I mean, I thought we were going to do a foreign person skit!"
"Yes, but I decided to switch it to one dealing about literal aliens, and I kinda forgot to tell you."
"When did you decide that?"
"At the last second."
"No wonder you did it wrong then!" some more laughter ensued. "Look, how about we try something else?"
"Like what?"
"Doing the foreign person skit properly."
"So you'll be a foreigner this time?"
"I was a foreigner all along! Look, just do your part correctly, got it?"
"Got it..."
Take 2...
Everything went the same as before, up until Clyde walked to his house. "Okay, time to meet my new roommate!"
And so, Clyde opened the door... And found Lisa, dressed as an alien, sitting on the couch. "Greetings, earthling roommate-"
"Hold on!"
The stage turned back to normal again. "Lisa, you did it wrong again!"
"No I didn't, it was perfectly fine this time."
"No you didn't! You were dressed as a freaking alien!"
"That was a part of the script."
"Don't make me laugh, what foreigner would willingly have an alien roommate?!"
"It's a sitcom, Clyde, you're not supposed to question everything about it."
"Excuse me?!"
"It's Nickelodeon's newest hit series, Alien Suburbs!"
Clyde hit Lisa in the head with a newspaper, while the audience laughed out loud. "Why would the channel even greenlight such a concept?!" Clyde pondered while Lisa quickly healed from the strike. "Even if they did, that doesn't sound like something that would be a hit series."
"That's what you say now, but once it premieres, it'll be so well received for being a fresh breath of pace it will get ordered for three season, maybe even more," Lisa pointed out, before getting stars in her eyes. "And then, in a couple more years, I'll get to direct it's freaking movie!"
"And unfortunately, you already have the ego to go with it."
"How cool is that?!"
"Let's just switch topics; how about you're the boke and I'm the tsukkomi?"
Lisa immediately went back to her deadpan self. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Clyde narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you were such a good boke before, messing everything up-"
"You were the one messing up!"
"Whatever, point is, can you successfully switch roles?"
"Well, how about we do a skit to prove it?"
"Sure, but about what?"
"I'll be the president of the United States, and you're the leader of a race of alien invaders."
"Hmm... Sounds good enough, let's give it a shot."
"Alright!"
Lisa's skit, take one...
Clyde sat on his presidential desk when he heard some explosions outside. "Oh no, the day of judgement has come!" Clyde got up and ran to his nearest window. "It's happening! The alien invasion!"
However, who he saw outside were not technologically advanced extraterrestrial lifeforms, but foreigners from all over the world led by Lisa, who was dressed like a tourist. "You will not deny us our freedom!"
"Hold on!"
The stage turned back to normal as the audience laughed and Clyde and Lisa exchanged displeased looks. "What was that all about?! Why were you a foreigner attacking my country?!"
"To prove that you're not a good tsukkomi, I mean, you basically messed up the joke without even trying-"
"You were the one who messed it up!" Clyde sighed. "How did you even manage to gather so many people under your cause anyway?"
"I promised them cake."
"That easily?" Clyde let out a little laugh before shouting, "It couldn't have been that easy! Most people have different opinions!"
"Most people are also stupid."
"Well, I guess I can't argue with that-But you still did it wrong! Look, let's try this again, but this time, be an actual alien, okay?"
"Fine..."
Take two...
Everything went the same as before, but this time, Lisa appeared as an actual alien piloting an unidentified flying object. "Human, my kind has come to take over your planet, take us to your leader!"
"I am the leader here!" Clyde victoriously proclaimed. "And nothing you can do will ever make us surrender, alien!"
Alien Lisa narrowed her eyes. "In that case..."
Suddenly, Alien Lisa bowed and said, "We surrender!"
"Wait-"
The UFO dumped a bunch of gold on the "Take our riches!"
"Wait, wait, wait-"
Suddenly, Clyde was being proposed marriage by Alien Lisa.
"Make me your wife-"
"Stop this instant!"
The stage turned back to normal and the audience cheered and clapped as Clyde and Lisa said in unison, "You messed up again!"
"Wha-How did I mess up?!" Clyde exclaimed.
"You should've accepted my marriage proposal!" Lisa stated, then acted like she was crying. "Now I'm gonna grow into an old, cranky, lonely alien overlord!"
"You were an overlord?!"
"With a million children left without a father!"
"How many did you say?!"
"And an empire who'll keep expanding 'till it covers the entire galaxy!"
"I don't see why you'd be upset about that-"
"Except the Earth, 'cause you rejected my proposal!"
"That's how you conquer planets?!"
Suddenly, Lisa went back to her deadpan tone as she answered, "Indeed, it's the marriage protocol: I marry the leader of the world, I introduce them to our customs, and then we discuss things over the next couple decades to make sure it all works out."
"Then you're not so much conquering the planet as you are assimilating your culture into ours!"
The audience laughed as Lisa thought about it. "Is there a difference?"
"More than one, in fact!" Clyde snapped. "Look, clearly this isn't working out."
"Yeah, thanks a lot, Clyde."
"What did I do now?!"
Suddenly, Lisa answered while dressed like Clyde, "For messing up every time."
"You're the one messing up!" Clyde growled.
Then the duo turned to the audience and said, "Thanks for watching, everyone" as the lights turned off and the audience clapped...
.
.
.
The lights turned back on to reveal the team standing close to the reporters. "Well, that act was certainly out of this world," Catherine remarked before leaning her microphone to Clyde. "So tell us, Clyde, how much of the comedy concerning Lisa blaming you for messing was planned?"
"Quite honestly, I actually don't know," Clyde answered. "Lisa and I barely talked about our routine since, as you saw earlier, she wasn't exactly happy to be here. So when we actually had to do our routine, we just... Improvised all the way."
"So nothing was actually planned?"
"Not at all."
"Well, let's see if this unorthodox comedy routine has won over the judges," Carol said. "Judges, show us your score!"
"JUDGING!"
Same deal as before, only the scores were:
Polly: Lisa
Haiku: Clyde
Giggles: Lisa
Tabby: Lisa
Maggie: Marriage proposal
"One point for Clyde, three points for Lisa, and one point for... A marriage proposal?" Catherine recapped as Maggie blushed. "Judge Maggie, are you implying what I think you're implying."
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I want to propose marriage."
"To Clyde?"
"To Lisa."
"Wha-ha-hat?! Y-You can't be serious!"
"Sadly I am. Her method to conquer worlds has left me captivated, and I need to learn more about it."
"You don't have to marry her to find that out!"
"Hey, it's still worth a shot."
"Okay, you're creeping me out, so let's move on," Catherine turned to Haiku. "Judge Haiku, you were the only one who voted for Clyde, why's that the case?"
"Simple, I can relate to Clyde's extremely common tendency to mess things up."
"Lisa messed up more than I did!" Clyde whined.
"You both messed up."
"True..."
"Anyway, as per the rules state, Clyde is eliminated from the competition, while Lisa moves on to the next round," Catherine recapped as Clyde and Lisa left. "And with that said and done, I must ask, why are most of the winners members of the Loud family?"
"Well, you have to keep in mind they're very numerous and are the only ones who immediately accepted the invitation," Carol pointed out. "Besides, perhaps this is just a minor detail that will be rendered irrelevant by the end of this competition."
"That... Worries me, to be honest, but anyway, after the commercial break, we'll come back with the last team, who apparently are nameless since you didn't say their name, Carol."
"Well, I just forgot about it, their team name is actually Fashionable Communication."
"Huh, that actually sounds rather cool. Well, after the commercial break, we'll go with the last team, Fashionable Communication. Until then, stay tuned for more of "The Royal Woods Comedy Grand Prix!"
"See ya!"