An Evening With Cornell's Comedy Groups is Better Than Doing Laundry
Kenneth Lee, MBA '06
Issue date: 11/5/04 Section: Perspectives
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Those of us who spent four years in Ithaca as undergraduates know that one of the greatest privileges of attending Cornell is not necessarily the education received from erudite professors, or the company of pleasant classmates, but rather the opportunity to spend an evening watching the Skits-O-Phrenics or the Whistling Shrimp.
Run by undergraduates, the Whistling Shrimp and Skits-O-Phrenics amuse their audiences in different ways: the Shrimp offer improvisational comedy while the Skits entertain with sketch comedy.
The Shrimp's improvisational comedy, much like the TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" is highly dependent on audience input. Some classic scenes in the past have included 'Mind Meld' where two different Shrimp must tell an extemporaneous short story in perfect word for word synchronization, and the 'Chorus of Whining', where each Shrimp complains about an audience elicited topic following the direction of a conductor. Your reporter once had the opportunity of persuading the Shrimp to perform a scene using the word "ChiaPet".
Christina de Roos CU '05, the current director of the Shrimp and a biology major, offers some medical advice, "Much research has shown that laughter has positive effects on mood, and on health. People that laugh more are healthier, and people that are healthier are more efficient workers." Perfect preparation for that first job.
The Shrimp will be performing their next show late November at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.
The Skits, founded by Eric Garcia CU '92, author of the novel turned movie "Matchstick Men", is an offshoot of the Shrimp. While they are less interactive with the audience, the Skits manage to obtain a good amount of laughter through their clever and often original sketches. The sketches, or skits as it were, have varied in the past from the irrelevant, such as a cow tipping a sleeping human, to longer pieces skewering the Wizard of Oz.
"We tackle a broad range of subjects and try to write and perform shows of the caliber of any large city professional sketch comedy troupe. We've consistently been audience favorites at the National College Comedy Festival at Skidmore and have performed through out the Northeast including the UCB Theatre and Gotham Comedy Club in New York," says Sean Spagnoli CU '05, who leads the group. According to their website, they are "better than doing laundry on a Friday night."
The Skits' will be performing their next show, "The Festival of Saint Amazing", on November 12 & 13 at the Risley Theater.
These two fine comedy groups make for perfect excuses to stay out of Sage Hall. Check their websites for the latest dates and show information.
Further information:
The Whistling Shrimp
http://www.thewhistlingshrimp.com/
The Skits O Phrenics
http://www.skitsophrenics.com/
Run by undergraduates, the Whistling Shrimp and Skits-O-Phrenics amuse their audiences in different ways: the Shrimp offer improvisational comedy while the Skits entertain with sketch comedy.
The Shrimp's improvisational comedy, much like the TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" is highly dependent on audience input. Some classic scenes in the past have included 'Mind Meld' where two different Shrimp must tell an extemporaneous short story in perfect word for word synchronization, and the 'Chorus of Whining', where each Shrimp complains about an audience elicited topic following the direction of a conductor. Your reporter once had the opportunity of persuading the Shrimp to perform a scene using the word "ChiaPet".
Christina de Roos CU '05, the current director of the Shrimp and a biology major, offers some medical advice, "Much research has shown that laughter has positive effects on mood, and on health. People that laugh more are healthier, and people that are healthier are more efficient workers." Perfect preparation for that first job.
The Shrimp will be performing their next show late November at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.
The Skits, founded by Eric Garcia CU '92, author of the novel turned movie "Matchstick Men", is an offshoot of the Shrimp. While they are less interactive with the audience, the Skits manage to obtain a good amount of laughter through their clever and often original sketches. The sketches, or skits as it were, have varied in the past from the irrelevant, such as a cow tipping a sleeping human, to longer pieces skewering the Wizard of Oz.
"We tackle a broad range of subjects and try to write and perform shows of the caliber of any large city professional sketch comedy troupe. We've consistently been audience favorites at the National College Comedy Festival at Skidmore and have performed through out the Northeast including the UCB Theatre and Gotham Comedy Club in New York," says Sean Spagnoli CU '05, who leads the group. According to their website, they are "better than doing laundry on a Friday night."
The Skits' will be performing their next show, "The Festival of Saint Amazing", on November 12 & 13 at the Risley Theater.
These two fine comedy groups make for perfect excuses to stay out of Sage Hall. Check their websites for the latest dates and show information.
Further information:
The Whistling Shrimp
http://www.thewhistlingshrimp.com/
The Skits O Phrenics
http://www.skitsophrenics.com/