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Laffin Finds Friends, Humor, Success in Speech and Drama

Talon Laffin has had an "interesting" speech and drama career over the last three years says head coach Jodi Griffin with a knowing smile. The Glasgow High School junior had performed in Humorous Duo his freshman and beginning of his sophomore years, Informative Speech the end of his sophomore year and now, in his junior year, Humorous Oral Interpretation. Each year Laffin's performances have inched him closer and closer to the top of the podium, at least until the Glasgow Meet this past November when his performance snagged him the number one place for HOI. He would repeat in Circle and claim first place there as well.

Laffin says he had not intended to do speech and drama in high school, but was nudged into it by his older sister when he entered high school. She had performed in speech and drama herself, but had graduated before he started his freshman year. Nonetheless, Laffin says when she found out he was skipping speech and drama she called him up to express her concern. As younger brothers often do, he caved and signed up.

"My freshman year I was iffy," recalled Laffin, "But my sister called me up and said, 'no, you have to try it.' That first meet I was so shy I didn't talk to anybody, but at the end of the next meet, I had made lots of friends. I try to make two friends a meet."

Laffin had also solidified his place on the team. In Humorous Duo, Laffin and Ethan Mitchell took on the often fierce competition of the event with a certain lackadaisical attitude. He said they would have likely performed better if they had stuck to the script.

"We almost made it to state," said Laffin, "but we improvised too much." Under the rules of Humorous Duo, the actors have to stick to a given routine throughout the competition. Laffin said the judges, which change each round had not noticed, but the other competitors did. "If we hadn't improvised we would have gone to state."

During his sophomore year he switched over from duo to Informative Speech, which meant he had to write his own speech informing the audience on a certain topic. Laffin chose "the Frugal Lifestyle," a homage to his favorite topic of not spending money.

"It begins with, 'Have you ever wanted more money? If so, the frugal lifestyle's the way to go,'" recalled Laffin, who had some success with the speech that year coming close to the first place spot, ultimately securing second. According to his coach, they had suggested the topic because it is a true representation of Laffin's own habits.

"He is so knowledgable on the topic," said Griffin. "He's the kind of kid who takes a water bottle instead of buying drinks on trips."

This year Laffin said he was hoping to get back into Humorous Duo, but could not find a partner. The answer, he said, was to do Humorous Solo but after considering some pieces about being a detective he switched to humorous oral interpretation.

"I wanted to dress in a suit and go for a detective piece," said Laffin. "But I couldn't find a good one on it."

Instead, he settled on "The Redneck Night Before Christmas" a relatable parody of the Christmas classic "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The derived piece involves the finer things in redneck life. For example, Santa drives an old lifted Ford pickup; the stockings are filled with venison and beer; and Santa wears red and green camouflage.

When I asked to feature a competitor Griffin immediately pointed to Laffin. For one she cited his success with the piece and two his career had taken twists and turns but he is still competing. On the Redneck Christmas Griffin said in a text message, "Talon Laffin is one that brings tears to my eyes. That kid has worked hard every year and rarely made finals. He's now on a two meet winning streak and has his sights set on state!! I can't wait to see what happens."

 

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