Shovelhead's final show ends on a note of tearful laughter

The words, the punch lines, and the expressions kind of sit in their own slice of divine humor and are, for the most part, done no justice by mere words on paper and are probably incommunicable. The show, for the most part was golden, sure it was a little crude, but crudeness, raunchiness, and vulgarity can be gold. So when there are over 250 people on the VIP list, you expect one heck of a show. That crowd, that mob of people waiting outside Fulton 511 was more than warranted. Think Saturday Night Live, but think Saturday Night Live before its fall from grace. Maybe that's too much. Scale it down a little, and imagine SNL for BC students. Or maybe think about it in terms of being worlds better than MAD TV. Perhaps those references are a little obscure and off the mark, but the point is that it was really, really, really funny. Really. Best opening movie for a sketch comedy show, ever. Perhaps best movie, ever. If I had the power to nominate things for big shiny awards, I'd put this baby up for a Nobel Prize. Now, I will move on to a glossy summarization of the sketches that can't possibly do Hello … Shovelhead's talent justice.

One sketch had Captain Planet, played by Sean Kane, A&S '06, return, after a long drunken and fattening hiatus. So what does a drunken Captain Planet crave after years of being locked up in the rings of unrealistically peppy and enthusiastic do-gooders? A hot tub and maybe Abtronics to jiggle off his beer belly. Another sketch featured Molly McAleer, A&S '06, Griffin Bach, A&S '07, and Tom Ganjamie, A&S '06, writing on the face of a passed out Kevin Allocca, A&S '06. While he's passed out, the others make him get married, run for mayor, get divorced, and eventually use a time machine (I was hoping for a Marty and Doc Brown appearance) to send Allocca back into Elizabethan England. That was money.

What about the other sketches? Well, they were side-splitting to say the least, but the difficulty in writing about them is that they were, more or less, interwoven and rather inseparable from jokes with a lot of sexual innuendos, explicit language, and a lot of other random stuff that just wouldn't make too much sense when stripped of the original voices and faces, when removed from that packed room in Fulton 511. There wasn't a single weak link. George Jasinski, Ganjamie, Ania Pritchard, Kevin Allocca, and Molly McAleer, A&S '06, capped off their careers with Shovelhead in a climactic bang. Though Jasinski's most memorable role would seem to be the "Wrap Lady" in the winter show, he was still hysterical. He should voice cartoons someday. Like the statue of David or a really good burrito, no one can really capture the essence of Shovelhead until they see it for themselves. It's a personal relationship, an intimate one that arguably rivals actual relationships. Would I be surprised if someone cheated on their girlfriend with Shovelhead? No. Would I say it was okay? Would I condone it? I don't know, though I'm leaning toward yes. This last show was a beacon of light. Shovelhead illustrated that it offers much more than everyday typical human love and kindness.

Sure, maybe Shovelhead can't hold you or cuddle with you while you sleep. And maybe Shovelhead, though I'm not sure, can't make you breakfast in bed or buy you chocolates on your birthday. But one thing is for sure. The possibilities are endless and its ideas and creativity are so universally appealing. When you leave a Shovelhead show, you don't just take away the laughter. No, it's much more than that. It has something to do with playing Mario Kart and doing explicit things or having things done to you, rather. Yes, it's a deeper love, an enduring and enchanting one.