Graham Radetsky

Saturday night’s Sketch-22 comedy show drew a large crowd. A mixture of mistaken identity, drawn out fruit perversion, visits from past presidents and yodel rehearsal lit up Herter 231 with enough laughter to make passersby stop and stare.

Every member of Sketch-22 performed as well as the next. Saturday’s show saw the debut of three new members since the start of the spring semester. Mantas Dumcius, Natasha Nemurgut and Pete Storey blended right in with the rest of the returning cast of Sketch-22.

The group’s producer, Sam Punia, said, “I think the range of talent in Sketch-22 is tremendous. We have so many talented writers and performers. Everyone brings their own writing and performance style. I think the best part about sketch is that everyone is excited to perform and make people laugh.”

This comment could easily be validated by the more-than-amateur acting and writing by Sketch-22 members. Also, the resounding laughter booming from viewers enriches the talent upon which Punia insisted.

The sketches showcased at the performance ranged from clever comedic play-on-words to the obvious jokes that were drawn out far too long.

The night opened with “Paper Bag” written by Greg Boz. A comedic take on the teacher-student relationships flooding the current news proved a great start to a memorable show. Performers Hunter, Natalie, Danielle, Jay, Sam and Adam discussed the most important topic of high school – sex – in lieu of answering the teacher’s question.

The clever sketch lasted fewer than ten minutes but opened for an hour of seemingly promising comedy. Love in the classroom, a student with a paper bag over his head, a guilty teacher, an oblivious husband and origami intertwined to form a web of jokes and laughter. The skit centralized around such similar stories in the news, which added to the topic’s clever appeal.

One common type of sketch in Saturday’s performance was the video sketch. They ranged in length from eight seconds to eight minutes. Each video showcased a scenario that could not be displayed on the stage.

“Melon” by Erik Smith was the first of many video sketches. It provided a lengthy act of perversion with the common household fruit – melon. Appearing to be a spin off of the ever-popular “American Pie” movies, the sketch started in a great direction. Altogether, it was quite comical, especially to the crowd of men in the audience.

After about five minutes, however, it seemed to drag on and lost a great deal of its original appeal. Starting with loud shrieks of laughter, “Melon” could only beg for a laugh from its audience when the video stopped. Yet, after this sketch, melon may become an even more common fruit among college males.

The abundance of previously recorded videos of sketches disconnected the audience from witnessing the innate, instinctive reactions of the actors as they read lines in a certain surrounding. Although the videos enabled the sketches to be set in various places – dorm rooms, outside – and show precise battle scenes and music, the imaginative quality that backs sketch comedy is no longer allowed much leeway. Mess-ups throughout sketch scenes can only add to their comedic appeal.

A case of mistaken identity: what if everyone thought you were of the opposite sex? Could you not get your words across, your voice heard? “Boy Oh Boy” written by Carly Mandell became the hit of the night. Short and sweet, the sketch gave a voice to the man who was a lady instead. Mandell’s overly dramatic acting in rage proved to be the perfect way to portray such a troubled character. The 12 seconds of screaming ended with the lady, or man, being carried off stage to roars of laughter.

The titles revealed a lot about an upcoming sketch. Sometimes an entire sketch could be given away in a cleverly entitled play-on-words. “Sometimes Ships Sink” by Carly Mandell was most obviously about a sinking ship. And also, acronym “SSS” clearly defined a scene referring to a ship.

“Legally Blind” written by Hunter Wallingford followed precedent of clever titles. The play-on-words didn’t stop there, however, as audience members who had ever watched the movie series “Legally Blond”, featuring the character Elle Woods as a dumb-blond-turned-prestigious-lawyer, understood. “Legally Blind” featured an alcoholic Elle Woods with her brunette and blind daughter – obviously a genetic recipe for disaster.

Additional highlights of the night included “240 Seconds” by Mantas Dumcius, “Culture Shock” by Greg Boz and Pete Storey, “Scene from a Chinese Food Restaurant” written by Carly Mandell and “Frat Boys” written by Pete Storey. Each sketch helped to end the night’s performance with laughter and left the audience talking ? a reaction that should keep the laughter flying about campus for days.

The message of the night’s comedy can be found in the performances title: “Presidents from the Future.” The impossible or unimaginable are imagined and made possible through the creative minds of Sketch-22’s writers and members.

Sketch-22 has won a variety of contests in the area.

“I hope that we can take trips together to attend workshops and see other performances,” said the group’s director, Danielle Soto.

Upcoming performances for Sketch-22 include Student Valley Productions’ “12th Annual Comedy Jam” on April 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. in Bartlett room 65. Comedy troupes from all over the country will be showcasing their talents alongside UMass’s own Sketch-22, Mission IMPROVable and Improv With Attitude.

Sketch-22 will also be performing on the last day of classes this spring semester.

The videos seen on Saturday night’s performance and a number of other recorded sketches can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/svpsketch22.

Sketch-22 is a student run organization that is part of the umbrella corporation Student Valley Productions (SVP) of the Pioneer Valley. SVP is a UMass funded organization that provides for the comedy groups on UMass – Sketch-22, Mission: IMPROVable and Improv With Attitude. The two latter groups showcase their improv skills in performances every Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Jennifer Leclair can be reached at [email protected].