Off-Center hosts first performance of Fall 2008
Andrew Scagnelli
Issue date: 9/19/08 Section: Campus News
Last weekend, the Off-Center sketch-comedy group put on their first show of the semester in the Bissinger Room of the Howe Center. Off-Center's style is unique to college campuses in that their work pushes the boundaries of both comedy and good taste while mixing in a hefty dose of "nerd humor." This unique approach makes for an unpredictable and wildly varied show.
The show opened with an interesting bit of audience interaction called "Story, Story, Die," where the troupe took a story kernel from the audience, a tale of Anne Frank (not the one with the diary) and her radioactive brick, and worked together while rapidly switching off to provide a unique yarn. The twist on this is that the audience had a vote; by shouting "die" at any time, the current storyteller would have to "commit suicide" in a unique way, while the story was given to another to continue in a new direction.
Some of the examples of the more eccentric humor focused on video games. One skit centered around the creation of dirty "Spore" creatures, another transposed the classic video games "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda" into the real world, where the characters had to deal with the consequences of their actions on innocent civilians, while a third merged the "Metal Gear Solid" games with the "Sailor Moon" cartoon series.
A few skits went out of their way to poke fun at current events. An early skit compared the price of apples to the price of oil, and shone the spotlight directly on those who would rather complain than change their consumption. A hot dog tried to defend itself, only to be told that every element of it would cause cancer and death in those who ate it, poking fun at the endless changes of what will and will not cause cancer in today's hypochondriac society.
The skit that would ultimately challenge the limits of good taste was the final sketch of the night, a piece about a murdering hitchhiker and a serial killer of hitchhikers that find themselves at odds. As the two warmed up to each other, they shared a bit more information than the audience wanted. While painting the grotesque aftermath of a grisly murder, the audience was left flinching following a too-descriptive moment.
DVDs of the Saturday performance are available from SITTV for $5.00.
The show opened with an interesting bit of audience interaction called "Story, Story, Die," where the troupe took a story kernel from the audience, a tale of Anne Frank (not the one with the diary) and her radioactive brick, and worked together while rapidly switching off to provide a unique yarn. The twist on this is that the audience had a vote; by shouting "die" at any time, the current storyteller would have to "commit suicide" in a unique way, while the story was given to another to continue in a new direction.
Some of the examples of the more eccentric humor focused on video games. One skit centered around the creation of dirty "Spore" creatures, another transposed the classic video games "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda" into the real world, where the characters had to deal with the consequences of their actions on innocent civilians, while a third merged the "Metal Gear Solid" games with the "Sailor Moon" cartoon series.
A few skits went out of their way to poke fun at current events. An early skit compared the price of apples to the price of oil, and shone the spotlight directly on those who would rather complain than change their consumption. A hot dog tried to defend itself, only to be told that every element of it would cause cancer and death in those who ate it, poking fun at the endless changes of what will and will not cause cancer in today's hypochondriac society.
The skit that would ultimately challenge the limits of good taste was the final sketch of the night, a piece about a murdering hitchhiker and a serial killer of hitchhikers that find themselves at odds. As the two warmed up to each other, they shared a bit more information than the audience wanted. While painting the grotesque aftermath of a grisly murder, the audience was left flinching following a too-descriptive moment.
DVDs of the Saturday performance are available from SITTV for $5.00.