N
ARTS
The Michigan Daily Sunday, March 28, 1982 Page 5
Funny, funny Sunday
By Walt Owen
R EADING THE Sunday comics
Ralways offers something to give
you that famliar grin. If today's Daily
fails to satisfy this weekly habit, worry
not.The Sunday Funnies stand alive and
kickiig, thanks to this- weekend's
masterful stage show from the Univer-
sity's own comedy troupe.
Friday night's bubbling madness fit
every requirement for the "Big Show"
promised by campus kiosks. Schorling
Auditorium was warm with giggles,
yuk-yuks, and ha-has as the nine cuckoo
cast members offered personality put-
ons that left few souls escaping the gen-
tle job of comic wit. Let's take a time-
out to play "Findthe goofball" in our
favorite mirror. I tried. It worked.
No punch-line giveaways: Sunday
Funnies avoids this tiresome cheap-
shot category. Careful detail and
preparation make it easy to believe
performers with names like Beeber,
Bell, Davis, Ewart, Kiesel, Mon-
tgomery, Penar, Whitney, and Winters
actually become John McEnroe,
Suzanbe Sommers, and other lesser
knowns who offer a glimpse at quirks
which make all of us just a bit wacko.
The teamwork involved in the dif-
ficult delivery of these seventeen sket-
ches is obvious. The ever-present
danger of comic timing never faltered
Friday night: lines which delivered
consistent chuckles rolled with con-
fident ease. No chance to rush home
and gush over missed cues or numbled,
jumbo. The Sunday Funnies remained
tight through it all.
Behind the show is a dedicated group
responsible for the dashing success of
Sunday Funnies since its inception in
early 1980. Now sponsored by UAC,
Sunday Funnies holds a mass meeting
for auditions early in each term. During
this time the writing staff creates the
guts of the show in anticipation of the
ever-accelerating six weeks of rehear-
sal which preceeds the once-a-term
three-day blitz.
Directors David Sling and Mike
Mueller have each performed in past.
Sunday Funnies. "Creative consultant"
Steve Kurtz was in on the show's
inaugural issue. These veterans know
the craft and it shows. Producer Jayne
Harper may likewise rest assured that
more enthusiasts will come knocking on
her door after SundayFunnies' recent,
local exposure on cable television and
at the Comedy Castle in Southfield.
"A good time. That's what Sunday
Funnies is all about," director Saling
says. Simple and to the point. The
original material avoids the politics,
sex, and drugs approach to laughter.
The respite is refreshing.
The funnies flavor hits home inthe
very first sketch. An ensemble
discussion of B.C., Charlie Brown, and
all the other colorful characters that
keep devoted funnies fanatics going
back each week. Meet a high-wire
acrobat named Belinda Ballenda.
Listen to a zany tribute to punk rock
played on a classical guitar.
The personalities pull punch after
punch; a multitude of emotional
ingredients that would shock even the
persistent boo-bodies who take such
self-serving pride in harassing the
stand up improvs at Laugh Track,
UAC's other _comedy package.
Ironically enough, this edition of Sun-
day Funnies is not a weekly pleasure.
Tonight's 5:30 funnies moves to the U-
,Club and offers dinner with your,
theatre.
Just like a spread of colorful comics,
Sunday Funnies offers a variety of ex-
cursions to lands of laughter. Go check
that mirror and see if the mirth is
spreading.
Reds', starring Warren Beatty as reporter Jack Reed, is nominated for 14
Academy Awards.
Oscar race on
From AP and UPI
Johnny Carson will play ringmaster
to a galaxy of superstars Monday night
when he hosts the 54th Annual Academy
Awards presentations at the Los
Angeles Music Center.
Presenting awards in 22 categories
will be a colorful array of some of the
best known names and faces in
American entertainment.
John Travolta will present an
honorary Oscar to Barbara Stanwyck,
a four-time nominee who never won an
Academy Award, as "an artist of im-
peccable grace and beauty . .. and one
of the great ladies of Hollywood."
Here are the nominees for the top six!
Oscars:
PICTURE-Atlantic City, Chariots of
Fire, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the
Lost Ark, Reds.
ACTOR-Warren Beatty, Reds;
Henry Fonda, -On Golden Pond; Burt
Lancaster, Atlantic City; Dudley
There's still some time
Oscar contest. See the Ma
an entry form.
Moore, Arthur; Paul Newman, Absen-
ce of Malice.
ACTRESS: Kathryn Hepburn, On
Golden Pond: Diane Keaton, Reds
Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh;
Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City; Meryl
Streep, The French Lieutenant's
Woman.
SUPPORTING ACTOR-James
Coco, Only When I Laugh; John
Gielgud, Arthur; Ian Holm, Chariots of
Fire; Jack Nicholson, Reds; Howard E.
Rollins Jr., Ragtime.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS-Melinda
Dillon, Absence of Malice; Jane Fonda,
On Golden Pond; Joan Hackett, Only
When I Laugh; Elizabeth McGovern,
Ragtime; Maureen Stapleton, Reds.
DIRECTOR-Warren Beatty, Reds;
Hugh Hudson, Chariots of Fire; Louis
Malle, Atlantic City; Mark Rydell, On
Golden Pond; Steven Spielberg,
Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Support the
March of
Dies.
BIRTH DEFECTS
FOUNDATION
ANN ARBOR,
INDIVIDUAL THEATRES
5th Ave at liberty Tot14700
WED " SAT " SUN $1.50
SHOWS BEFORE 6:00 PM
ALL NEW
RICHARD
PRYOR
LI=ON THE
SUNSET STRIP
DAILY-6:55, 8:35, 10:15 (R)
SAT, SUN-12:15,1:55, 3:35,
5:15, 6:55, 8:35, 10:15
The Trap Is Set
For a Wickedly
Funny Who'll-Do-It!
MICHAEL CAINE
CHRISTOPHER REEVE
DYAN CANNON
(PG ) .
in IRA LEVIN'S
DEATHTRAP
DAtY- 7:15, 9:25
SAT, SUN-12:45, 2:55, 5:05,
7:15, 9:25
False Promises for the deaf
By Nancy Malich
NE OF Ann Arbor's first plays to
*I.)be interpreted for the hearing im-
paired is playing at Lydia Mendelssohn
Theatre today.
Two sign language interpretors
dressed in period costumes will inter-
pret the Sunday matinee performance
of False Promises/Nos Enganaron, a
Common Ground Theatre Ensemble
production.
John Ray, who is interpreting the
performance along with Laurie Hess,
said American Sign Language is a
"foreign" language. Because language
and culture are tied, Ray said the deaf
community has a different culture than
the hearing community. Deaf people
are isolated from social commentary in
plays and songs that hearing people
take for granted, he added.
False Promises about labor struggles
and solidarity between races in the
1890s, is timely because of current
economic concerns and political tur-
moil in Latin America, Ray said.
False Promises is billed as a musical
farce, and Hess said she will interpret
the song lyrics with more flowing
feeling and expression. l
Ray thinks some of the humor will
escape the deaf audience, though. There
are joking references to the persuasive
power of Teddy Roosevelt's voice, for
instance.
At a production of Romeo and Juliet
that Ray signed last year at Oakland
Community College, he said "some of
the deaf people were crying, they were
so moved by the play they had never
seen performed before."
* Ray, who learned sign language at
Madonna College 12 years ago, says one
of the most important aspects of
signing a play is educating the heaing
community that it can be done.
Stella Misfud, artistic director for the
play, said sign language interpretation
also benefits the hearing community.
"Each and every one of us has a part
of us inside that doesnt know what is
being said, or can't articulate feeling,"
Misfud said.
POETRY READING
with
BARNEY PACE
and
DAVID MIKLETHON
Reading from their work
Monday, March 29,8 p.m.
GUILD HOUSE-802 Monroe
(662-5189)
left
rch 24
to enter the Daily 's
issue for details and
THE
PUZZLE
By Don.Rubin
Get a pair of scissors and a
roll of tape - we'll wait right
here for you.
OK, now cut out the strips
and link them together as
shown. By rotating and sliding
the pieces, you should be able
to create an enormous num-
ber of cube variations, only
one of which will result in a
route with no dead ends or
crashes.
That's your goal.
If you run into trouble, try
taking the puzzle apart and
putting it back together again.
(You may have one otthe
strips upside down).
And if all of this sounds like
a lot more trouble than it's
worth, take our word for it:
holding that completed cIbe
in your hand will be the most
rewarding experience you've
had all week.
We'd like you to trace the
path of the car over the cube,
starting with the lowest
number.
LAST WEEK'S SOLUTION:
Words 4 and 5 were
"bumpkin" and "quantify,"
not purpkin or quantity or
beautify.
The complete solution is:
Cube Route
_
I
I-
I
n n U135 N h1APE Adult $3.50
769-1300 Child $2.!0:
in MAPLE VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTE R BARGAIN $250 Before 6PM MON tbru FRI
MATINEES $2.50 Before 3PM SAT and SUN
'1 EMINGW1 1:30
1:15 MA{IEL HE13
3:15 r 04:15
5:15 '7:15
7:20 9:45
Y:T '01 be ldyuc
Riveting... AWD 1:1Dudley Moore, Liza Minelli
Enthralling... KoN 4:00 John Gielgud 5:30
c 4 CAROTS IO 7:007:40
--9:30 PGO9:45
4
y
V
1. curio
2. yummy
3. quirk
4, bumpkin
5. quantify
6. pundit
7. orbit
8. indigo
9. zigzagging
10. nullify
11. kumquat
1 2 nymph
'13. uvula
14. gizmo
15. taxiing
ti
c
,,
0
m-
N
0)~
0>
I
ai
K--
I
LAST WEEK'S WINNERS:
Bob Beattie
Diane Bischak
Bill Canning
Maggie Cavallaro
Kai Christiansen
Paul Cunningham
Michael Davis
Lawrence Dick
Marvifi Drier
P+ v
STT1-~ID
I
vvi-vww r