Thursday, March 31, 2011 » �ve been known for hating Indiana Wesleyan University�s �Friday Night Live.� That�s not entirely true. I used to love FNL. My freshman year, there was this skit with some joke about Ralph Nadar becoming president in year 2032 that made me laugh until I cried. But I hated the past three FNLs. Hated. That�s why people know me as the FNL critic.
But not anymore.
I enjoyed � no wait � I loved this semester�s FNL. It�s as if people have been listening to my advice! The evening started off poorly, however, but it wasn�t the cast�s fault.
When the doors opened, I found a seat in the balcony, put my coat and reporter�s notebook down, then went off to find a bathroom. When I came back, someone had sat in my spot. He didn�t move my coat. He sat on it. He sat. On my coat. I told him it was fine. (�We�ll move down!�) I didn�t want to sit by him anyway. But at that very second I got a text from my editor, Jason, who had an extra seat in the VIP section. Ha!
I won�t tell you how Jason and our sports editor got seats in the VIP section � because even they don�t know. However it happened, I felt vindicated. Then the show began.
Courtney Clem (sr) and Scott Filline (sr) had great chemistry on stage. Though the intro reminded me of every other intro � one of the hosts gets himself or herself into some sort of predicament, one person plays the ditz � it was still funny. The opening song and dance bored me, but only because the black light effect was hard to enjoy when I could see the dancers� outlines. Maybe my balcony seat would have been better in this case.
The FNL intro � typically reminiscent of the �Saturday Night Live� intro � was different from most years. Instead of the cast enjoying a night out in Marion, the cast members introduced themselves by swimming in the pool. I found this more entertaining to watch. Wow, Chet Ozman (jr), I hope that wasn�t your now-soggy laptop!
thing I appreciated about this FNL is how it didn�t exhaust the IWU-stereotype jokes. Instead of having one skit about ring-by-spring, one about the super-Christian and one about the excited freshman guy who reminds me very much of Sojourn writer Jeremy Sharp (fr) � the FNL writers put all of these into one skit and got it out of the way early into the show. Plus, they made fun of Chorale � who doesn�t love to make fun of Chorale? The skit ended a little flatly, but it was still enjoyable.
My favorite was the Barbie and Ken skit, also early on in the show. Brady Stutzman (sr) played the part of stiff-armed Ken so impressively. The theme of the skit � that Barbie has too many jobs � was not exhausted. The audience wasn�t bored even when it seemed to drag on for a while. The punchline of the skit was delivered flawlessly by Ken, who when announcing to Barbie his plans to join the G.I. Joes, exclaims the ultimate benefit: �I�ll be able to bend EVERYTHING!�
Another favorite was the Sandology sketch staring host Filline. Filline played a professor of sand who got three home-school doctorates and has an arch-nemesis named Mr. Trevelan. (Thunder and lightening!) You can tell a sketch is funny when the actors start laughing. The ending was a bit anti-climactic, but at least the actors realized it.
I also enjoyed the video sketches: the SGA signs with guest star Cory Sprunger (sr), Bud Bence as a student and you-must-be-a-hipster-to-work-at-McConn.
Some of the sketches were lame (the wrestler parents sketch, the snuggie dancing video), but at least they didn�t drone on and on.
Joshua Lemasters (almnus �07) was as impressive as one would expect. The �spiritual punch� was thoughtful and to the point. I found the final dance just as boring as the opening dance, but it didn�t make me leave with a poor taste in my mouth.
Overall, I�d say this was the best season of FNL � that I�ve seen, anyway. There were some weaker skits, but I wasn�t checking my cell phone every five minutes either. Great job, cast and crew!