Fall foolishness returns with the upcoming annual presentation of the Ubiquitous They fall sketch show Boom! Paradox. There will be three performances Nov. 17, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Rausch auditorium. Admission is free but donations are appreciated to fund future sketch projects.
For those of you unfamiliar with the delightfully wacky antics of Ubiquitous They, allow me to elaborate.
Ubiquitous They, or UT as they are widely and lovingly known, is Puget Sound’s own team of both improv and sketch comedians.
Unsure of what improv is? Well, every other Friday in the Cellar at 10 p.m. is an improv show designed to take the edge off of a particularly stressful week and leave you wetting your seat due to laughter and the amount of perspiring done in the crowded Club Rendezvous.
Along with the improv shows, Ubiquitous They has its annual sketch shows where the UT team members come together in a creative environment and perform short, student-written comedic sketches.
While the end results of the group’s work are entertaining and sometimes a manically funny student production, UT is a serious campus club, and a good deal of time and effort goes into making the fall sketch show enjoyable.
This semester’s sketch show, Boom! Paradox, contains 13 comedic sketches written entirely by the fantastically amusing and sometimes jocular minds of UT members and other students who meet weekly to share in the fun of writing comedy.
Co-producers of this semester’s sketch show, Jeff Nickels and Sarah McKinley inherited the reigns of command last year as the senior members of UT graduated.
With their new command posts Nickels and McKinley met this summer to begin plotting for the upcoming sketch show. With ideas flashing around like metallic streamers, the co-producers set up the standards for this year’s sketch team and leadership style.
“We wanted to make sure that sketch kept communications open and that there was a community of support for directors and actors alike,” McKinley said.
Like other on-campus student projects, the Sketch Show preparation is a rigorous process of team auditions early in the semester followed by writer’s meetings and workshops to make sure that each semester the sketch show has a wide variety of funny to pull from and enact.
Once the sketches are chosen for the show, internal auditions occur to cast the parts, and then it’s just a short hop from rehearsal, tech days and finally the end product—the Sketch Show.
UT sketch and improv, similar to their financial and administrative advisor, Student Theater Productions (STP), is completely student-run. Everything from the writing process of the sketches to the production of the shows is in the hands of Puget Sound students.
Like UT improv, the sketch team works in a delirious haze of dedicated energy to produce its own show in a short span of time.
“Producing and acting in the Sketch Show is the most fun you can have. While behind the curtain the air is tense, as we wait for each scene on stage the fun just happens,” McKinley said.
This semester’s sketch show is sure to showcase an intensely funny repertoire of comedy with a cast of 12 UT members whose on-stage dynamics and antics resemble a playful family.
“We save each other on stage. Everyone pitches in to make their team member look great no matter what happens. Our motto is make your partner look like a rock star and just have fun,” McKinley said.
When the prospect of exams, theses and looming finals begin to get you down, look to Puget Sound’s own improv and sketch teams to help lighten your weary heart and get your spirits refreshed before another study session in the library.
“We love what we do, it’s a fun game that never ends,” Nickels said.
