Shovelhead proves not "screwed"

Any program with a disclaimer that begins: "If you are male, female, white, black, Asian, Native American, Mexican, Irish, Catholic, Jewish, gay, straight ..." may have a preemptive, utterly offensive connotation. But this is a fair warning for the always insulting, yet always hilarious Hello ... Shovelhead. The sketch comedy group performed its fall show entitled "We're Screwed!" last Friday and Saturday nights.

The show began with a video portrayal of the first Thanksgiving, live turkey and all. Although it was a creative concept and put together well, it was a bit too long. The first live skit showcased the group commenting on how "screwed" it was due to the loss of a large and talented group of seniors. Despite the fear that their show would not be up to par, this year's cast proved that they still had the ability to make people laugh.

As seems to be a trend in Shovelhead, the show's strongest skits were those that were BC related. One short highlight was a piece about the BC housing lottery. It consisted of slow movement to music with no dialogue, as Kevin Allocca, A&S '06, handed a box with the word "Trust" on it to a person portraying the housing lotto. The housing lotto then threw the box back at Allocca. There was also a skit portraying an editor of The Observer as Hitler.

The most entertaining part of the night was the finale. There was a recall on the UGBC elections, and all of the new candidates came together for a debate. The four candidates included a typical UGBC go-getter, an Eagle's Nest employee, University President Rev. William P. Leahy, SJ, and Jean Claude Van Damne. This skit was the best in every respect. The writing was flawless, as every word was carefully planned to reflect the personalities of the character. The acting was also well-executed. George Jasinski, A&S '06, played a robust female Eagle's Nest employee who related everything to food that is made at the Nest. Paul White, A&S '07, played Van Damne, who was constantly obsessed with physical strength and violence. These two characters were hilarious. The randomness of their lines and the fact that neither of them ever broke character deserves recognition. Allocca portrayed Leahy, whose lines were centered on a discreet attempt to take over every part of the school. One unforgettable line said by Leahy was, "If I turned out to be gay, the irony level would collapse the universe."

Other skits included the interrogation of the Lucky, the Lucky Charms leprechaun. The skit did not build emotionally, as the whole scene was played very intensely. Jasinski did a great leprechaun impression. Another short but cute scene was Molly McAleer, WCAS '06, having a conversation with her boyfriend. Instead of the actual words coming out, she spoke the words that her boyfriend was hearing, a distracted and random compilation of stereotypical male thoughts. There was also a scene that had students invading Information Technology when AOL Instant Messenger was shut down. Sean Kane, LSOE '07, was very good when he portrayed both Doc Brown from Back to the Future and an annoying student in the library.

The highlight of the show was the variety and creativity of the subject matter. Aside from BC-related skits, the scenes featured characters ranging from Batman to Siegfried and Roy. The writing was very good, much attributed to Allocca. There is room for improvement in the execution of the lines, but the scripts themselves are quality.

One actress in particular has come a long way. Ania Pritchard, A&S '06, exhibited commanding stage presence and great comedic timing. She stood out among the group as a very valuable asset to the cast.

One downfall that is a trend in all Shovelhead shows is that their skits almost always run one or two lines too long. The scenes need to end with a big punchline or laugh. In other words, the audience wants a scene to end on a high note. Instead, Shovelhead tends to have a big laugh and then the scene will unnecessarily keep going. If this timing could be fine-tuned, all of their skits would be remembered and portrayed much better.

Hello ... Shovelhead also collected donations for the Jimmy Fund in memory of the late John McAleer, BC professor and grandfather to Shovelhead member Molly McAleer. He passed away this week.

Shovelhead has a young but improving cast. Writing is definitely its strongpoint. As much as the group misses its recent graduates, last year's cast would have benefited from this year's writing. The show was an overall success, so maybe the group isn't so "screwed" after all.