Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 12, 1987

Writing humor is no joke

-
Persuading
The Blue Front Persuaders, Ann Arbor's barons of bebop, will be appearing at Rick's tonight. These in-
solubrious individuals are (left to right): Ben Wailin, Jake Lewondowski, "Skid" Marc Russel, Pat Lewon-
dowski, Buddy Love, and Steve Wethy. They'll be performing three sets of authentic early rock and R&B star-
ting at 10 p.m.
'Anmation' no celebration

By Lauren Schreiber
Life is getting you down. We're
well into the term and you just
want to DIE, you have so much
homework. Give yourself a break.
The Comedy Company's Big Show
opens tonight at the Mendelssohn
Theatre. Go on, have a laugh.
The Comedy Company was
founded six years ago by a group of
student writers who wanted to see
their material performed. Their first
show was at the Michigan Union
Ballroom. Following this initial
success, the group sought the
support of UAC, under whose
auspices the group has since been
performing.
Each term, the Comedy
Company performs a show of
fifteen to twenty sketches in the
Mendelssohn Theatre. The show is
written, produced, directed, and
performed entirely by students. This
term's show consists almost
entirely of new sketches by new
writers. Ann McClendon, a third-
year member of the group and this
year's producer explains, "There's
been a turnover this year since the
founding writers have all graduated.
Just this term we've started to get
back on our feet again- it's sort of
a trial period for us." Last
November, the Company did a
"Best Of' performance due to the
scarcity of new writers. "We'd like
to build up a following. We had our
first sold-out show last March. If
we could do that again...." says
McClendon-
The material for the show
evolves out of a group process'.
Writers would meet once a week to
discuss ideas. They would then go
home and individually work out the
ideas. Steve Doppelt, one of the
new writers for the Company,
explains how he and Dan King
wrote their sketches, "Me and Dan
would get together, play some Nerf
basketball, and brainstorm."
The group is enthusiastic about

4

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Members of the Comedy Company write and perform their material.

(Continued from Page 7)
combat breaks in the film,
scratches, frame advances, and long
yellow streaks running through a
"black and white" entry.
The computer animation genre
seems out of place in the movie
theater. All of the five computer
entries take creative subjects
ranging from insects and musical
instruments to chrome dinosaurs.
But these high-tech entries from

large firms (which include
Lucasfilm) forgot to take one thing
into account--the medium. Motion
picture film has a great deal more
resolution than computer graphics.
No matter how interesting the
subject, the imperfections left by
the video monitor made it
impossible for the viewer to
suspend disbelief. Had these
computer animations been presenked
on television, they would have

made outstanding commercials.
Considering the current movie
market, the Animation Celebration
is worth seeing under the following
conditions:
-You have already seen Hannah
and Her Sisters.
-You use a coupon or see a
bargain matinee/late show.
-There is nothing better listed in
the Cinema Guide that night.

the performance and seeing their
own writing performed on the
stage. Janet Hoffman, one of the
directors, says "It's a wild concept."
Although most of the writers are
new, the actors and directors are
not. While all members must
reaudition each semester, out of the
nine actors, seven are returning
members. Directors Janet Hoffman
and Jon Hein are old-timers as well.
McClendon stress the point that
the show is not stand-up or
improvisational comedy. "It's just
as much the writers' show as it is
the performers' show," she says.
They try to stay away from politics
and campus humor. Campus humor
tends to be too simple or obvious.
"Anyone can write a sketch about
CRISP," McClendon points out.
Also, the show attracts non-
University viewers who are not
aware of such "in-jokes." As far as
politics go, because the show is
written in advance, it is difficult to
keep current. "We don't have as
much sex in the show this
semester," says McClendon. After
viewing videotapes of old shows,
the group realized they had "laid it
on a little too thickly."
Okay, so they don't do politics,
they don't do sex, and they don't do
campus spoofs. So what do they

do? Very much like situational
comedy, the humor is found in
everyday life experiences. "We
found a lot of the humor in two
completely irrelated things,"
explains Doppelt. He takes
conventional, ordinary experiences
and puts a twist on them. "When
you put them together," explains
McClendon, "it's funny."
"Hopefully," adds Doppelt.
You will see such things as
parodies of the Brady Bunch,
tourists on the top of the World
Trade Center, a pantomime sketch,
a mindreaders' convention, and
something about Impressionist
painters in twentieth century
America.
"Oh, there's the one about the
neuroses...." one of the actors starts
to explain. "No," cuts in
McClendon, "that's too compli-
cated."
Upon asking director Jon Hein
what he wanted the audience to
come away with he responded,
"Laughing."
Okay, so it was a stupid
question.
Laugh it up at the Comedy
Company's Big Show, tonight
through Saturday, at the
Mendelssohn Theatre in the
Michigan League. All performances
begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $3 in
advance, available at the Union
Ticket Office and $3.50 at the door.

4

THEREARETWO, SIDES TOa
BECOMING A NURSE IN THE ARMY
And they're both repre-
sented by the insignia you wear
as a member of the Army Nurse'
Corps. The caduceus on the left
means you're part of a health care
system in which educational and
career advancement are the rule,
not the exception. The gold bar
on the right means you command respect as an Army officer. If you're
earning a BSN, write: Army Nurse Opportunities, P.O. Box 7713,
Clifton, NJ 07015. Or call toll free 1-800-USA-ARMY.
ARMY NURSE CORPS.BEALLYOU CAN BE.

WE WORK AS
LATE AS YOU DQ
Whenever you need clear, quality copies, come to
Kinko's. We're open, early, open late, and open
weekends.
When you're working late, it's good to know you're not
working alone.
kinko's
Great copies. Great people.
OPEN 24 HOURS OPEN EARLY OPEN LATE
540 E. Liberty 1220 S. University
Across From Mich. Theater Across From Village Corners
761-4539 747-9070


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