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