One vote goes to Shovelhead!

The room reeked of alcohol, bad hygiene, and poor dental care, not unlike any high-class comedy club in Boston. If you went to one of those Saturday night, or even stayed in to watch what NBC calls the best of sketch comedy, you missed out.

Boston College sketch comedy group Hello ... Shovelhead! performed Friday and Saturday night in Fulton 511 to large crowds and deservingly large applause. This year's show titled "Don't Blame Us, We Voted for Shovelhead" was a comedic success showcasing the abilities of its excellent cast and writers.

The show began with a video piece on Apolo Anton Ohno and his extraordinary rise to speed skating glory, followed by his staggering fall to D-celebrity status. Sean Kane, LSOE '07, playing the role of Ohno, talked about his life after the gold, including his difficult relationships with a cheese-porn star girlfriend (Molly McAleer, WCAS '06).

The opening video piece was merely a precursor to the core hilarity of the evening. Sketches invoking McDonald's marketing decisions, a hobo case against Faneuil Hall, and the Boston Herald were all hilarious and deserving of praise. But the most memorable portions of the evening were the smaller scale skits focusing on the community of BC.

Deborah Gross, A&S '05, played the role of the library cop in a sketch about the extreme security at O'Neill Library. While Gross harassed, attacked, and searched students for any sign of food or beverage, a cast member crossed the stage dressed in the garb of a Taliban member. Gross played her roles with a zest and charisma unparalleled in the cast. It was one of the more humorous parts of the evening's performance.

Another memorable small-scale sketch was about a student who could only speak in references to vintage board and video games. Griffin Bach, A&S '07, played the role of the game-obsessed student referencing the elementary school classic "Oregon Trail" in the form of a normal conversation. This type of off-beat comedy made Bach stand out from the rest of the cast.

The skit about BC style received the most laughs. Kendall Mayhew, A&S '07, and Gross played the roles of two BC girls deciding what to wear to a party that evening. Mayhew's character, with both new and old styles of the Burberry scarf, decides to wear both to showcase her ability to afford both. She states her reasoning as, "I know it's September, but the icy-cold blood running through my veins gives me a bit of a chill."

The show closed with a skit on politics, as the show's title suggests. The sketch involved President George W. Bush and Michael Moore in the Oval Office and a rendition of "Let's call the whole thing off." The song was well-scribed and showed a knack for political comedy.

With a variety of comedic sketches, Hello ... Shovelhead!'s fall show was a complete success. Cast members expertly played their roles, and the levels of professionalism and swagger inspired the audience to give a grand applause at the conclusion.

From the memorable one-liners like, "What made you smoke pot, Instant Messenger?" to the overall cast performance, Shovelhead's success in the fall show is something that all the club members can be pleased with.