The City of Cupertino held the “CuperTeens Got Laughs” event on Nov. 23 at the Cupertino Community Hall from 3 to 6 p.m. The event featured various volunteers from the Fremont Union High School District presenting their personal hobbies and club activities, ranging from displays of Shaolin Kung Fu to stand-up comedy.
Although this event was organized by volunteers, it was sponsored by the City of Cupertino as part of the 2025 Cupertino Mayor Program — admissions were free and moderate snacks were provided. This was the third-to-last event in the Mayor’s Initiatives, a program focused on building community and celebrating Cupertino’s diversity. Consisting of more than fifteen events starting from Jan. 13 to Dec. 8, the initiative will be closing as Mayor Liang Chao’s mayoral term comes to an end in Dec. 2025.
Lynbrook High School junior Sarayu Bhabaraju is a member of the LHS Magic Club, which showcased skills with flags and cards at the event. She comes from a long line of magicians, as her grandfather passed the skill down to her father and her father passed it down to her and her brother. She describes how performing magic brings her great joy, and how she plans to use her skills to continue the legacy of magic.
“I think my favorite moment is when I do my first trick and see the first big ‘Aha!’ moment from everybody,” Bhabaraju said. “I just love seeing it in their faces — it makes me very happy to see that the art is being appreciated, and it’s a great way to give back to the community as well. I’m teaching a bunch of kids magic and I want to continue the cycle and pass down my skills to more people.”
The event’s lighthearted atmosphere, however, did not stop people from showcasing their more professional and technical skills. Junior Emily Guan from the Homestead High School Ballet Club enjoyed performing the “Mistake Waltz” — a comedic ballet movement including dancers performing precise and purposeful mistakes.
“I really love the opportunity to dance, yet incorporate humor into ballet, which is normally seen as a very elegant dance, the kind that seems almost above people,” Guan said. “Recently I’ve been getting a lot of dances with a real story behind them and I really love telling them through the dance’s movements.”
The lead organizer of the event, freshman Bingchen Hu, took the initiative to contact the mayor and begin plans for this event. As a comedian himself, he believed that creating a space to share talents without judgment was a great way for children in Cupertino to destress, with the theme of the event being “No pressure, just laughs.” Although planning the event wasn’t easy, he felt great joy when the event finally came to fruition.
“My favorite part of planning this entire event was the amazing performances I got to see and the people from different schools I got to become acquainted with,” Hu said. “I’d like to shout out Mayor Chao for making this event possible, and also for this very large turnout that I didn’t expect.”
