Talented acts and big laughs came from the Little Theatre during Seaholm’s first annual comedy show on Thursday, December 1 and Friday, December 2. Students, teachers, alumni, and even administrators performed everything from stand-up to singing in front of an exhilarated crowd.
The next act was the math teacher and improvisation comedian, Eric Bruns. He shocked the crowd by bringing volunteers onstage. Among his victims were seniors Sam Katskee, Clay Petry, Daniel Beckemeyer, and Thomas Finke, and juniors Kieran O’Keefe, Jake Martin, Aubrey Wilberding, and Kathy Quigley.
These brave volunteers had to think on their feet and roll with Bruns’s jokes.
“You never know what you’re going to get with Mr. Bruns,” Beckemeyer said as he thought back on the night, laughing.
Bruns, actually has a history in improv. While at Hope College, he helped to found a comedy group called Vanderprov. Bruns loves working with the volunteers and seeing their different reactions to his ridiculous acts.
“The cardinal rule of improvisation is ‘never say no,’ Bruns said. “The volunteers did a great job of this, accepting my suggestions as reality for the scene.”
Other music performances included singers Jayla Jackson and Leah Lavigne performed her original song, “Turn the Page”. Other comedy performances were the duo of senior Sam Courey and 2011 graduate Alex Singer, as well as seniors John Denison, Nick Resnick, and Courey acting out a skit together.
One of the final performances was the band St. Louis 2011, with Sam Katskee (lead vocals), Micah Dabbs (spoons), Austin Filbin (acoustic guitar), Kaleigh Lawton (electric guitar), and Timmy Christenson (bass). Many students even joined them on stage for their final song.
“The highlight of the night was St. Louis 2011 performing “Indian River Style”,” Max Cormier said. “Great stage presence and I love how Katskee commanded the audience.”
All proceeds from the night went towards Lancaster’s B to D (Birmingham to Detroit) Toy Drive. The money is helping to buy holiday gifts for underprivileged children associated with St. Jude’s Church in Detroit.
The two nights went so well that they exceeded even Witenoff’s expectations.
“I was thrilled to see how good our attendance was, and we made over five times as much as we had originally thought we would, and all for an amazing cause,” Witenoff said.
