THIS SHOW IS FIRE. Was that enough to get you to buy tickets for this weekend? No? Alright, fine, I guess you'll have to read another one of my lovely posts with the blurry pictures and the poor photoshop skills and the terrible jokes. Here we go.
Rutgers Night Live is presenting its 14th show at Cab this weekend! Hosted by Dan Robertson, this hilarious troupe takes the audience through a whirlwind of some of the funniest jokes I've heard since Inauguration Day, or whatever the heck that was on January 20th. Sorry, am I allowed to say that? I don't know but I'm confident you're all interested in this show's content!!!
The show starts off with a sketch about the #reallife struggles of the first class of the semester, which is followed by a highly entertaining monologue by the ever-fantastic Dan Robertson (Theatre BA, Sophomore), who has always wanted to be on SNL - luckily, this show is only 1 letter off! On how he wrote his opening monologue, he said "There's a lot of pressure tackling the art of stand up comedy when you are not in fact a stand up comedian; it's a whole new ball game. A funny idea won't just suffice, you need to write jokes with natural fluency while keeping the audience perspective in mind. This is extremely difficult, but when you find a line that just works it's pretty awesome." Guys, I don't know what he's talking about being "not in fact a stand up comedian" because Jill and I were LITERALLY cracking up in the audience like GUYS THIS IS SO FUNNY UGH
One of the cool things about RNL is that it's so gosh darn different every they put on a show - which is cast member Paige Grecco's (Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Senior) favorite part about it. Current events are happening literally all the time - that's what makes them current, duh. So these guys have a lot of new and different things to work with each time they sit down to write. Kim Bollard (Theater and Journalism, Senior) talked to me a little about how she prepares for sketches. "I don't really have a plan for writing, I just think of things that I think are funny and then I put them in story format. Some are good, and some are less good, and then I turn in the sketches that I think are worthy of being performed and then we vote on them!"
“It’s cheaper than a mainstage!”
Mario Gambino (Communication, Senior) mentioned how this year so far hasn't been very pretty. "It's been a rough year, we all need something to laugh about. But most importantly it's a lot easier to get tickets to our show than SNL. I mean you don't even have to wait in line!" I think that's a recurring thing for most of them: It could be worse.
Chris Michael even mentioned the cheeto-skinned hairball by name! "People should come see RNL if they have no plans this weekend and they want to make plans... To laugh! Also this is the first RNL since The Donald became The President, so if you want to see some college kids make slight political commentary this is def your show. RNL 14 is one for the books! We've overcome a lot of obstacles to be here. Such as not knowing our lines, not having costumes, and not even having sketches! Needless to say we've worked hard to be where we are today."
“People should come see it because RNL has now been around for fourteen seasons, and Seinfeld only lasted 9 seasons, so we must be doing something right.”
We've got some real redeeming qualities in this show, one of which is that the cast has a great bond and has had a wonderful experience working together and creating art. Paige said, "The most rewarding part of RNL this semester was being able to cowrite my first sketch with my cast mate Chris. I've never written a sketch before so it was really exciting seeing it come to life."
Let's be real for a hot second though. Since 2017 started, there is SO MUCH material for this troupe to use. like SO MUCH. and RNL uses literally ALL OF IT. I LAUGHED SO HARD YOU GUYS DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND - please see this show if you like smiling and laughing in real life. No regrets will be made in the watching of this production.
COME GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
“Everyone with a functioning bladder should take caution in coming to this show. 95.62% spectators have reported theirs busted after the show. Viewer discretion advised. Omg jk ilysm come see it we’re kewl.”