With a much anticipated spring break only a week away, I know I , like many of my peers, am ready to relax and let the stresses and worries of the winter semester be forgotten. What better way to find a moment of levity at the end of the week than attending Comco’s improv-comedy performance tomorrow, February 16th at 8:00 PM in Angell Hall’s Auditorium A. Tickets are $2 at the door. Plan to arrive 30-40 minutes early to avoid the rush and long lines and get yourself a prime seat.
Tag: Comedy
REVIEW: TEDx UofM 2017
Before I begin, here’s a link to the full conference in case you want to see it in its entirety.
TEDx UofM 2017 was as busy as ever, adding to the disruption part of this year’s theme: Dreamer’s and Disruptors. The army of volunteers running the independent conference have by now created a finely-tuned machine with the perfect mix of emotional roller-coaster, thought-provoking ideas, and blissful entertainment.
A student jazz band played in the minutes before the conference started. Their grooving, polished performance was a reminder that so many students at this university are talented and sound like professionals even before they’ve graduated.
Then the first speaker took the stage. Koen Vanmechelen came all the way from Belgium to talk about chickens. Specifically, about how breeding various species of chickens can be used to teach us important lessons about human nature.
Next was Sophia Brueckner, a brilliant woman who was a preeminent software engineer at Google until she suffered an injury that prevented her from using computers for two years. She argued that we as a society have developed a dichotomy of looking at technology as either a complete disaster, or as completely awesome. Instead, she asserted, we need to approach technology with critical optimism.
Ironically, Sophia Brueckner pointed out that making an app to solve all our problems is a fallacious idea, but the 2017 TEDx prize went to a student that developed an app called FoodFind. Meant for low income families to find free food, you have to wonder how many families can actually afford and use the smartphones that the app runs on.
Caitlin Holman proposed three things we need to learn: autonomy, competency, and belonging. Videogames, she suggested, provide all of this. With that in mind, she founded GradeCraft with the purpose of making learning more “gameful.”
Erika Newman–a pediatric surgeon–talked about both clinical and personal experiences with cancer. She was introduced to the lack of information on neuroblastoma when one of her patients asked her about the disease and she realized how she didn’t have any answers. The only surprise here was that she was having trouble getting funding from the NIH to treat the cancer using DNA repair mechanisms.
Rollie Tussing and the Midwest Territory Band played during the break. Although they were a stereotypical band you’d hear in Ann Arbor (at least one instance of well-manicured beard, a cello, and music reminiscent of vintage records), they were entertaining. Their sound was both stripped down and full, and antique without feeling archaic.
Next was Abdul El-Sayed, the current Executive Director of the Detroit Health
Department. In case that didn’t already tell you what a monumental task that entails, he cited several facts about the city of 600,000+ people such as a life expectancy of 70, an asthma rate of three times that of the rest of the country, and vision and other problems that far surpass the rest of Michigan. His argument was to think about pathophysiology in the social realm so that we can help people prevent health problems from developing. Abdul was also one of the best speakers of the night and I highly recommend watching his talk at least.
Next was Jeffrey Veidlinger, a historian who went to Eastern Europe to interview survivors of the Holocaust as a way of preserving their culture via understanding Yiddish. He challenged the audience to “Ask your loved ones about their life. Ask them about their dreams. Ask them about what they cherish.”
The most heart-wrenching talk of the night came from Scott Matzka, who was a talented athlete and is now a husband and father battling ALS. This is another talk to watch, and to check out his organization MyTurn.
Documentary filmmaker Sophia Kruz was the last speaker of the evening. Showing clips from her latest documentary Little Stones, she showed how sharing individual stories is important, as well as using culture to address problems in society. 
REVIEW: Battle Espresso Royale-Comco
I knew I was in the right place for yesterday’s Comco performance because of the gently rumbling din of voices in the distance. The line to get into the auditorium snaked around the corner and into the lobby, despite us having arrived over a half an hour early. By the time my friend and I made it inside, there wasn’t a seat to be found. We ended up leaning against a wall for the entire performance while even more students packed into the aisles. Even less-than-ideal “seats” couldn’t take away from how fun the performance was. I can’t remember a favorite skit or moment from the night, because I was laughing the entire time! At one point in the show I even shed a tear or two, it was genuinely that funny.
In the long run, the large crowd added to the excitement in the room. Audience members were reacting to the jokes and shouting out suggestions with gusto. For their part, the cast of Comco gave a wonderful performance, keeping the mood light and fun the entire hour and a half, bouncing off each other quick-wittedly, and recovering easily from the few jokes that fell flat. For those who missed the performance, there is another one coming up December 9th, ready to give you that last jolt of energy right before finals! To keep up with the latest updates from Comco, checkout their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Comedy.Company/ .
PREVIEW: Battle Espresso Royal- Comco
We could all take a cue from the age-old-adage “laughter is the best medicine.” After a long, long week
of stresses and woes, loosen up and laugh for a bit with one of the University’s oldest and most well developed comedy groups, Comco, as they present Battle Espresso Royal. For those who have never attended an improv comedy show before, it’s a spontaneous, one-of-a-kind performance that features talented actors and comedians bouncing off one another with a quick wit and good comedic timing.
The show will be in Angell Hall Auditorium A starting at 8 PM Tomorrow, November 11th. Tickets are only $2 at the door, so for the price of a Starbuck’s (or Espresso Royale!) latte bring a friend or two and take some time to laugh together.
REVIEW: Ah, Wilderness!
Boy do I never get tired of seeing our amazing School of Music, Theatre, and Dance students perform. In the first play of the 2016-2017 year, they sure did not disappoint. This one was one of Eugene O’Neill’s more lighthearted plays, which meant not every character was terminally sad and there were a good number of jokes, but it also came with moments of sincerity and serious undertones.
The play revolved around a young boy named Richard who had just been rejected by his love, Muriel. This results in Richard galavanting off with one of his older brother’s friends and an older woman at a bar, where he becomes drunk and gets kicked out by the barkeep. He later finds out he had been deceived by Muriel’s father, and Muriel did indeed still love him. They meet to apologize and Richard explains what he had done. Everyone ends up surprisingly happy, which seems like a rare thing to come by in an O’Neill play.
Throughout the play, Richard’s father, Nat Miller, plays a strong role as a classic American father. He wants his son to become the best he can be, but is hesitant to punish him as he personally does not like having to punish his children. Some of the most touching moments in the play were when Nat would try to discipline his son or have a serious conversation about life, but ended up getting embarrassed and leaving Richard confused. There was obvious chemistry between the two actors that truly resembled a genuine father-son relationship and made watching the two grow through story even more touching.
I would say the most impressive part of this performance was the cast’s ability to perform the subtle humor of the play. Not all of the jokes were outright funny, but had more nuance to them, and the cast portrayed this nuance perfectly. The cast even executed the more boisterous humor, like uncle Sid coming home drunk, incredibly well in all of its absurdity.
Finally, the set design was extraordinary. The women’s garb was exactly out of the 1900s, with the collared dresses and big waisted skirts. The men as well were iconic, with goggled sunglasses and boater hats. The bar scene was quintessential, and the home decor at the Miller residence set the mood for a suburban American family at the turn of the century. These little details made the story easier to follow, putting the radical thoughts of Richard Miller in perspective with the rest of the world at that time.
All in all, this was a very touching coming-of-age story, filled with many classic family brawls and a beautiful romantic scene under the moonlight. The actors did a spectacular job of portraying a close family going through daily life, and bringing the audience into this little slice of life O’Neill wrote a century ago.
PREVIEW: Ah, Wilderness!
When: Friday Oct. 14 at 8:00 pm, Saturday October 15 at 8:00 pm, Sunday October 16 at 2:00 pm
Where: Arthur Miller Theatre
How Much: $12 student tickets, $28 general admission
Come see the Department of Theatre and Drama perform a wildly funny performance of Ah, Wilderness!, written by Eugene O’Neill. The play is a coming-of-age story filled family values and romance. It’s bound to be a good show!
by Kim Sinclair
