As people began to fill in the Wabash Chapel on Friday night and take their seats, Salt-NPepa’s
“Push It” began to play over the speakers. When a song from 1987 is blaring over the sound system in the Chapel it is obvious that something is not right and that it’s going to be a very long and interesting night that may contain indecent exposure.
Friday’s event was headlined by PJ Smith ‘08, Patrick Smith ‘08, Grant Forrester Gussman ‘09, Rob Arnett ‘09, Patrick O’Rourke ‘08, William Hohmeister, Jr. ‘09, and Kyle Cassidy ’08. They all participated in the annual Laugh Off stand up charity event that raises money to aid in the research for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
PJ Smith started the charity event with his “comedic routine.” His jokes may not have been original (many of them could be found online), the guy deserves respect and an A-plus for effort just for getting up on the stage and performing in front of the 60-plus crowd gathered in the Chapel. Throughout his performance, PJ was heckled by Patrick Smith – who was apparently intoxicated, but it definitely added some spice to the lackluster performance.
The second comedy act belonged to Patrick Smith. His wasn’t too disastrous, but it wouldn’t be classified as great either. Smith’s jokes didn’t really follow a route or have any structure, but he surprised the audience with his enthusiastic reading of The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Smith received his biggest laughs with his joke about “Porn Nation.” He mentioned the controversy about the Bachelor article regarding “Porn Nation.” “I’m glad I didn’t go to ‘Porn Nation’ because I found it more exciting to get my own hands on experience.” As Smith exited the stage he snapped, “Society made this way! You would be like me too if you couldn’t find a decent pair of pants!”
After the awkward laughs died down, Grant Gussman took the stage. Gussman had the best structure out of any of the performances. His timing was impeccable and his jokes were mostly original.
“At some point, someone will offer you marijuana. You may not know the person, but you will smoke,” he said. He decided to explain how to turn down someone offering of marijuana, “Well, I appreciate your offer of illegal drugs, but I don’t feel like smoking this morning. Thank you anyway, Professor Morillo.”
The fourth routine consisted of a duo: Rob Arnett and Patrick O’Rourke. Their performance consisted of unorganized jokes that were, oddly enough, written on a piece of paper in front of them, yet they still managed to stumble. Fortunately, for them, it helped their act.
They decided to tackle minorities. The duo talked briefly about homosexuals and wondered, “What is it like to have Jesus hate you?” The biggest laughs came from the duo’s final joke – a story of how they grew up on Mortal Kombat. One day, the two had a plan so Arnett could dump his girlfriend. While the two were having intercourse, O’Rourke yelled into the bedroom, “Finish Her!” He then immediately followed with, “Fatality!”
William Hohmeister, Jr. graced the stage next. Before he started his routine, Hohmeister promised an interpretive dance at the end of his routine. Hohmeister had many strong jokes about his father’s lewd behavior.
The biggest laugh came from Hohmeister’s joke about his father, who had lost his left leg in accident. His dad was taking their small dog, Snickers, for a walk in his wheelchair. A few children came up and asked if they could pet the dog. Hohmeister’s father replies, “Well, sure kids. Go right ahead. You do know that’s the dog that took my leg?!”
After his routine was finished, Hohmeister popped in a CD and began to perform that interpretive dance he promised.
He danced and stripped to Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.” It all began to make sense. As Hohmeister tore his shirt and pants off, tossing them into the audience, the spectators roared with laughter and applause.
The last comic to take the stage was Kyle Cassidy. He seemed to have the best poise of all the participants, and it showed through his routine. Cassidy sailed through his routine with only a few bumps, but his best punch lines consisted of how he would market a Jesus Christ action movie, “I would call it Terminator Jew: Judgment Day. The tagline would read: ‘They crossed the wrong man.’” He also tackled the topic of deaf sex. “Deaf sex sounds terrible! It sounded like a Marvin Gaye concert in a slaughterhouse.”
After all of the comedians finished, the audience was asked to rate the performers by their level of applause and cheers. In the end, Hohmeister, took first place; Cassidy econd; and Gussman closed out the top three.
The three finalists will perform again against the three DePauw finalists in the Chapel for the Laugh Off finals. The event will start Friday night at 7:30pm. Tickets are $2.00 in advance and $3.00 at the door. All proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.