Students returning to campus can expect to be dazzled with an array of student performances at Palo Alto High School’s Talent Show during lunch on Wednesday and Friday on the Quad. 

According to Natalie Karel, the Associated Student Body’s social commissioner, there will be four performances spread over the two days. On Wednesday, senior Corwin Grably-Shrager plans to perform on the piano, senior Yardena Schwab will sing, and sophomores Bennett Hardy and Sam Kaplinsky will perform a comedy jousting act. On Friday, there will be a band performance by sophomores Phela Durosinmi and Reed Schulman, junior Owen Rice, and seniors Lexi Gwyn, Bry Sid and Alex Washburn.

Hardy and Kaplinsky’s act will involve dueling with brooms while riding on two skateboards each, one taped to each foot, Kaplinsky said.

“It is a death-defying act of sheer courage and bravery, and we are doing it to prove to the school that we are the most fearless and skilled students to ever attend Paly,” Kaplinsky stated in a message. “Past, present, and future.”

Durosinmi, guitarist for Friday’s band performance, said he is looking forward to performing at the show and playing a variety of music.

“Some are jazz, some are blues, some are in between, and some are completely different,” Durosinmi said. “We played last year during the Quadcerts and it was a lot of fun.”

According to Associated Student Body President Avantika Singh, the talent show is a chance for students to connect in person after COVID-19 restrictions barred students from physically returning to school for much of the year.

“We didn’t have that many in-person events, and we really wanted to do something in-person,” Singh said.

Singh added that the show is one of ASB’s few proposed events that received approval from the school this year.

“A problem ASB has been facing is just the way we brand things,” Singh said. “So we couldn’t say, ‘Oh, we want to do Quadcert [a concert on the Quad],’ because that’s a lot of people in one place, so we’re rolling out a talent show, which is a similar thing.”