Throat Culture presented Sketchcom to a packed audience in Arellano Theater last Saturday night. The showcase was directed by junior Joshan Bajaj and sophomore Michael Feder and featured both the new and returning members of Hopkins’ only sketch comedy troupe. The 12 hilarious scenes entertained a full house of Hopkins students.
Sketchcom featured a variety of hilarious sketches involving both mundane situations gone horribly awry, as well as fantastical scenarios that became increasingly wild and entertaining. A series of four sketches played on the comedic possibilities of Deer, John and Dear in every possible combination. One sketch, “Gio Gets Gentrified,” showed how the perilous process of gentrification can cause changes for even the most hardened of New Yorkers.
As someone who has sustained more than one head injury, my favorite part was an extended sketch about the perils of post-concussion syndrome.
That sketch received raucous laughter from the audience, which it richly deserved, especially for the use of the most famous J. Robert Oppenheimer quote. Notable too was an extended series of vignettes about a tech company interview with the most hapless worker at Microsoft, a man somehow responsible for all of the failures of Bing, Zune and Windows Vista.
Sophomore Michael Feder, a sophomore who co-directed the showcase, discussed all of the hard work that the Throat Culture team had put into creating and producing Sketchcom. This hard work paid off, as the audience in Arellano Theater responded enthusiastically to every sketch, cheering loudly and applauding ferociously.
“It was a lot of work building up to the show, but when you put in that work, by the time you get to the show, you just know once an audience gets in there the show will work,” Feder said.
Feder also discussed why he decided to audition for the group, which he joined this year following their O-Show. He told The News-Letter about how Throat Culture allows him to feel like a part of the arts community here on Homewood Campus and allowed him to connect with other Hopkins students who enjoy writing and live for comedy.
“I decided to audition because I do a lot of writing, and it was a great opportunity to see more original work on stage, and to contribute to arts on campus,” he said. “Also the people in it are awesome.”
Feder also spoke about the teamwork that goes into performing a show together as a group. According to Feder the trust and commitment between all of the members of Throat Culture are a big part of what makes every show great.
“Everyone works towards making a great show, so it’s a great creative environment,” he said. “We all trust each other, so really you can throw in an idea any time. There are no bad ideas.”
For Feder, being a part of Throat Culture is one of the activities that allow him to stretch his abilities as a writer. Feder is involved in a number of groups on campus that offer the opportunity to hone this important skill.
“I’m a Writing Seminars major. Writing’s my favorite thing, so I do that a lot, especially for theater. I write for Witness Theatre, which is the student-written theater company,” he said. “One of my full lengths I got a grant for, so I’m producing that.”
Throat Culture welcomed five new members to the group this year, sophomore Mikayla Freyman, freshman William “Billy” Bernardoni, freshman Claire Beaver, Feder and senior Brandon Block. Throat Culture was also celebrating the birthday of senior member Will Bernish. Their next performance will be a 24-hour show on Dec. 3.
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