Photo by John Meguerian / North by Northwestern.

Describe your personal style.

I like tight-fit, urban to an extent but still classy, coordinated and just me.

Inspirations?

On the East coast, I like a lot of what Jay-Z [wears]; the classy, sophisticated look but still with street cred. Because I’m part of the hip hop culture, my style is more urban. But at the same time, when I do pop songs, I feel like my style can hit that market as well. My style is like my music, it has a huge range. It’s a sort of relationship. If I’m in a good mood, I’ll put on something that would make me say, “you know what, I want to look good today.” With music, if I’m in a mood where the song is very sad or gloomy, it might be dark colors.

And the hat?

I wear a Yankee’s hat cause that’s where I’m from and every city I go, I want them to respect that fact–that New York boy’s in the building. And it’s fashionable.

What do you wear to class? What do you party in?

To class I wear sweats. It’s cold outside, so I just wear some Northwestern sweats and call it a day, but I still got the Tims, I still got the Yankee hat on. To go out, it’s a variety of things. I like Ed Hardy shirts, and I like polos and a class look.

At first glance, The Fourth Kind may seem like another typical alien movie, but Osunsanmi’s story deals with a different kind of extraterrestrial encounter. According to the scale of measurement established for alien encounters, the first kind is a UFO sighting, the second is physical evidence, the third is established contact and the fourth kind — the most difficult to document — is abductions.

Set in modern-day Nome, Alaska, The Fourth Kind follows psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) as she deals with residents who have been the victims of a disproportionate number of abductions. With archival footage woven seamlessly throughout the film, the audience begins to see disturbing similarities among the multiple accounts of alien encounters.

The Fourth Kind will be released to the general public Friday, Nov. 6. For ticket options, e-mail Logan Groover at LGroover@gmail.com.

“Party in the U.S.A.,” ASL-style

There is something absolutely hypnotizing about the movements in this video. It’s almost more like a dance-a-long than an aid for the aurally challenged. Maybe someday drunk college students can sign along to this catchy number (for extra fun, check out the translated lyrics on the sidebar).

Goodbye Twitter — or Miley trys to rap

To the dismay of millions, Miley Cyrus quit Twitter a few weeks ago. Instead of a formal statement on the matter, Miley decided to do a little rap to explain her choice. Unfortunately, the girl ain’t no T-Swift.

Miranda sings Miley

For those of you who haven’t yet discovered the YouTube gem that is Miranda Sings, you’re in for a treat. A YouTube pseudo-celebrity, Miranda is a character created by Colleen Ballinger to satirize bad singers who post on YouTube. This particular video was favorited by Miley — if you want to skip past her characteristic rambling, skip to 1:43.

“Ninja turtles — the mutant kind!”

There are countless, priceless videos from “The Miley and Mandy Show,” Miley Cyrus and creepy older best friend Mandy Jiroux’s (what happened to Lesley?!) YouTube channel. However, this mash-up compacts the infamous feud between BFFs Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato and Miley and Mandy — Selena/Demi posted a video which Miley/Mandy made fun of by directly parodying. This video is the only genuinely entertaining thing I have seen Miley do — at least that I will admit. “Ninja turtles — the mutant kind!” makes me laugh every time. Comedic gold, Miley.

WNUR is the largest student-run station in the country, according to WNUR representatives. The station sets itself apart by aiming to play music that is underrepresented by most outlets, seating more and more independent music each year.

“We try to play music that if we weren’t playing it, you wouldn’t hear it anywhere else,” says Doug Kaplan, a Communication junior and general manager of WNUR.

This kickoff concert is the first one for WNUR in recent years and will hopefully increase awareness of the station.

“We’re better known in the community than in the school, so we’re just [trying] to gain awareness for WNUR and have fun,” Kaplan says.

The concert will also work to help integrate new DJs into the station and get them excited about the year to come. Prepping a concert is a side of the radio station that’s different from the day-to-day schedule of shows.

“It’s a different aspect of getting to work with a radio station,” says Kate Watson, a Weinberg junior and the phonathon director for WNUR. “Not just doing your own show, but doing promotions and planning events.”

This year’s concert features two local bands, Owen and Joan of Arc. The bands individually feature the Kinsella brothers, Mike and Tim respectively, who have been active and influential members of the Chicago music scene since the mid-’90s. The Kinsellas have been playing in bands together for years: Cap’n Owl, Joan of Arc and Owls, to name a few.

Owen, Mike Kinsella’s solo project, will take the stage at 3 p.m. Listeners can expect a mellow, folk-based sound with plenty of acoustics. Mike’s softer sound might segue oddly into Joan of Arc’s harsher, experimental indie rock. Tim Kinsella is Joan of Arc’s only permanent member. Since the band is not a very active project, it has an elastic, continually shifting 11-person lineup. People can expect around five or six performers for Sunday.

“They’re really important local bands that we’ve been playing on WNUR for years,” Kaplan said. “They’re bands we really like, that are fun and that are popular in Chicago.”

The concert will be broadcast live on WNUR, 89.3 FM or streamed online. In case of rain or unseasonably cold temperature, the concert will be moved to the Louis Room. Students interested in WNUR should contact the general manager at gm@wnur.org.

Northwestern administrators had previously been interested in holding a concert to celebrate the inauguration and approached A&O Productions last spring about handling the proceedings.

“After extensive discussions, we combined our money for our normal fall show with extra funds that they provided to make a show of this size possible,” said Barry McCardel, co-director of promotions and public relations for A&O. “We have been working hard to bring all the pieces together and are really thrilled with how everything is turning out.”

Legend is a famed R&B singer and songwriter who has won six Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Legend has collaborated with many artists such as Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and Kanye West and is also an accomplished pianist. A&O chose to pursue Legend due to his musical accomplishments and diverse discography which could appeal to a larger variety of students.

“We felt that Legend is accessible to a huge number of people because of his immense musical credibility and variety of songs,” said Carolyn Goldschmidt, A&O’s director of concerts. “Our goal with this show was to find an act with a wide appeal that would provide a great concert experience and we know John Legend will do that.”

Busing will be provided to accommodate students across campus. While doors will open at 7 p.m., the concert itself will not begin until 8 p.m. with an opening act that has yet to be announced. This show will be the first held at Welsh-Ryan since Kanye West performed there in 2005. According to McCardel, the arena is about twice as large as the Riviera, the Chicago venue where A&O has previously hosted acts like Death Cab for Cutie.

A&O Chairman Adam Pumm believes that the new location will lend itself to the professionalism Legend exhibits in his performances.

“We’re happy that we can have the chance to bring the feel of a big arena show to campus,” Pumm said. “We think that the combination of an act of this size and scale and the awesome venue that Welsh-Ryan provides us, this is going to be a show people will remember for a long time.”

Tickets go on sale Thursday, Sept. 24 at 10:30 a.m. on the Norris Box Office Web site at $10 per ticket for undergraduate students. Students may purchase four tickets per account on the site. If there are any remaining, tickets will be opened on Oct. 1 to graduate students, faculty and staff for $17 per ticket. WildCARDs will be checked at the door.

Bradley Cooper as Phil in The Hangover. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

What was the most enjoyable part about working on the movie?

Probably just being around Todd Phillips [the director]. He’s a pretty cool guy. And being around him and Zach (Galifianakis) and Ed (Helms). Shooting in Vegas was hard. We were in Caesar’s Palace for a month and a half, that was pretty crazy. A month and a half is [when] you go past the point of no return.

Was working on this movie more fun than Wedding Crashers?

It was different, totally different. But I liked it because I was able to be a bigger part of the movie. So that was cool, to be creatively [involved], to be really telling the story in a more thorough way. But Wedding Crashers was amazing too, but that was my first really big studio movie, so that was great for so many reasons. I was a lot younger, crazier then. And being around Owen (Wilson) and Vince (Vaughn) was great. And (Christopher) Walken, I mean that was amazing. [...] He was the best, he was insane. I actually got to become buddies with him. He was very open, available. But this movie, I got to say, this was the best thing I’ve ever been involved with.

In most of your roles, even if you have a smaller part like in Wedding Crashers, everybody remembers you. Do you feel like that’s close to your personality at all?

(laughs) No, not at all. But obviously it’s somewhere in there. It came out.

How was the chemistry with the other guys off set?

We became friends. It felt like we did a war movie together. I mean, we get the shit kicked out of each other in this movie, and it was like being in the trenches together. So we actually, Ed and I, went to Zach’s farm for New Years, and we actually are buddies now. I love those guys.

So did you guys do any partying while you were in Vegas?

The thing about it is, how are you going to one-up what you just did. You come from set where you were like, there’s an Asian naked guy on your neck. And then there’s the tiger. You know, so what are you going to do, go to a bar and get drunk? Is that going to be crazy? You couldn’t surpass what we filmed. So it was pretty much just resting, a lot of sleeping between. We were doing 16-hour days, six days a week in Vegas, and we shot a lot at night too. So you know, getting up at like three in the morning to go to work, it was weird hours.

The show Nip/Tuck has gone miles in different directions, how did you get into your role on that show?

That was crazy, right? A lot of that was improvised, I mean a lot of that. Which is awesome for a TV show to let that happen, I’ve never experienced that on a TV show, ever. That kind of latitude they would give me to do. I love that character — Ryan Murphy and I just came up with that guy, what would it be like if a 15-year-old who has way too much access, you know. And he’s just fucking out of his mind, he just wants to devour and he’s so insecure at the same time. Yeah, that was a ball, I would do a hundred more of them.

What is the difference in difficulty between shooting television and film?

It’s pretty much the same. I mean, it’s the same concept. The only difference is that in a TV show, it’s more of a machine. You’re shooting more pages in a day than in a movie. And also, on a network show, there’s no end, you don’t really know where the story’s going. Where film is, you have beginning, middle, end, you shoot it and it comes out later, which I prefer. It’s a more sort of encapsulized creative process. Where, in TV, you’re beholden to the network and what they want to do, depending on how the viewers see your character, stuff like that.

The photos in the end credits are pretty outrageous, how did you go about taking those?

We took them during the movie. Which was smart — every place we shot, Todd would take us off and we’d do stuff. We shot in the strip club, and we’d also take random people off the street and ask them to do crazy shit. And they’d do it, which you’ll see in this film.

Were there any injuries from all the crazy stunts you guys had to do?

Yeah, we were pretty sore, we got banged up. No irreparable damage, but we got banged up pretty bad.

I heard a lot the script was largely improvised. How did you fit improvisation into such a complex plot?

That’s a good question. It’s a lot of filler, in the parts of the script where we’d, say, [have] three guys wait for the car to come up in the valet and there’s no dialogue. In that scene, I’m getting a ticket, Zach’s talking about Coffee Bean and where he picks up kids, he’s putting blue blockers on the baby. So all that stuff is filler that sort of brings everything to life. So that’s how it works it’s way in.

What was the most challenging part about this role?

Well he’s the leader, and I think there’s a sort of energy you need to have as the sort of leader of the group, keeping the ship together before it falls apart. So I think just being able to play that sort of alpha male for the whole movie was challenging, I didn’t know if I could do it. And then I sort of realized that I was just playing Todd Phillips, so it was easy, I just mimicked him.

On set, do you have any sort of day-to-day routine you use to prepare?

It’d be so cool if I had one, but no. It mainly consists of trying to get something to eat, I’ll try to actually do something physical before. But it’s so run and gun, you sort of enter into the movie and then you come out the other side. There is no day, it’s like the whole thing. Once you start the movie, you sort of get into that black hole, and you don’t come out until it’s over. [...] [We went] four days in Vegas, didn’t see day light, that’s crazy.

If you laugh at the the thought of Brad Pitt and David Beckham’s holy Simba-child working at baby Abercrombie in skin-tight Pampers, Daniel Tosh is your kind of comic. If you think about how badly you want to sleep with said baby, you probably are Daniel Tosh. (It’s not offensive as long as “the premise is improbable.”)

The 33-year-old comedian took the stage at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall Thursday night as A&O’s spring speaker. Although Tosh is a stand-up veteran by most standards, he is typically considered an up-and-coming comic, despite his large and dedicated following. His new show, Tosh.0, will push him further into the mainstream when it hits Comedy Central on June 4.

Jasper Redd, who, like Tosh, currently lives in California, started the night with jokes on everything from Whoppers to weed. With his easy-going manner and light-hearted observations on pennies and skinheads, Redd warmed up the crowd and provided an entertaining opener.

When Tosh finally took the stage, he began in a very nonchalant fashion that would typify his entire show. Emptying his pockets and wandering offstage, he warned students that he was “not very good live.” As per usual, he was being sarcastic. No subject was off-limits in a routine littered with pop-culture references and jabs at great American tragedies. College shootings, Octomom, Hurricane Katrina and decapitated teenagers were just a few of the topics Tosh covered, offering students insight into his unique point of view. His tendency to make random observations coupled with his laid-back, conversational attitude (Tosh doesn’t make use of comedic segues), gave the show a lilting rhythm.

“I like to do jokes [...] then bring the show to a screeching halt,” Tosh said during his performance.

Although Tosh’s sarcastic attitude and complete disregard for political correctness may be off-putting to some, his disarming honesty and charming delivery have made him particularly popular with college audiences. Before the event, Tosh sat down and talked with North by Northwestern about Cru Jones and the misery of college, and gave us the exclusive on his potential five-year plan.

It’s pretty well-known that you’ve said the middle of the country is for people who gave up on their dreams. Does that apply to Chicago?

Did I say that? I feel like I’m being misquoted. No, I don’t think that applies to Chicago because technically you’re not in the middle, you’re at the top of the country. So when I say middle, I am specifically talking to people in St. Louis. Oh ho, damn you Bird fans.

You have a reputation for taking on subjects that most other comics might not want to touch, is there anywhere you will not go?

Sure, I don’t like talking about babies. No, there’s nothing I won’t say. I mean, that’s not true. If it’s not funny, I don’t enjoy saying it. That’s not necessarily true either. Let’s just go with there’s nothing I wouldn’t say.

How much of your stand-up is improv and how much is written before?

Sixty percent.

Exactly?

Is which one?

Improv?

Nice, you’re quick on your feet. No, I have no idea what percent. Probably a small percent…it’s completely a thought I’ve never had before. I tried to pause there as if I was going to improvise something, but I’ve already planned this answer.

Tell me a little about your college experience.

It was really good. You want more? Okay. I don’t know, I didn’t like school. I didn’t like studying because college is hard, and I didn’t enjoy that. Like, it’s not like a Van Wilder film, which came out years after I graduated but still portrays a not-so-realistic picture. It wasn’t fun really, and it was a lot of work. I’m one of those people who had to study really hard to get kind of bad grades. So, no. And everything I was studying, I didn’t like or wasn’t interested in. I had a business degree, and I was like “Oh, I’m taking this because I know I don’t want to do this with my life.” I would have to study almost everything to realize what I do want to do, which I still haven’t figured out yet. It’s not comedy though, that’s for sure.

Through your stand-up, it seems like you like to make people very uncomfortable through your jokes. Has that become harder the more well-known you’ve become?

I’m going to say that that’s probably a good question. I don’t know if I have a good answer. Because you’re right, because now people kind of expect when they come to my shows to hear certain types of things, so yeah, I don’t get the normal hatred that I grew to love so much. I’m not intentionally trying to shock everybody. I think the answer is yes, if that was a yes or no question.

Yes, it was.

Oh good. Good. I thought you were going to ask me questions about my favorite food. [sings] Pizza!

Once again about your stand-up, you use a lot of obscure references that you just kind of throw in there. I think there was a joke about The Kite Runner?

I’m all for any bit of information. Anything that I’ve recently read or seen, I will immediately assume that the entire public just saw this as well, therefore they should get my reference to it. Are you familiar with Cru Jones?

No.

Yea, he was a character in a 1986 BMX movie that I recently watched called Rad. Pretty awesome.

Good example, I had no idea what you’re talking about. What can we expect from Tosh.0?

To be let down. To say look at him, he’s sold out, he’s not as funny on television as he is live. You know, the normal. But what I hope is that it’s a show that you’re like “Oh, that’s not awful. I’ll watch it again.” I’d like people to watch it long enough for me to be on the air more than just a couple months. I’d like to get a decent run out of this. That way, I don’t have to only do stand-up to pay my bills. I need to diversify somewhat, or I’m going to kill myself. You have the exclusive — I will put a bullet in my head if I’m still doing stand-up, only stand-up, five years from now.

Would you name subsequent seasons Tosh.1, Tosh.2?

Oh would I change it, I don’t know. I really didn’t think I’d even get to episode one when we started doing this show. I’ve had a bad track record. I think I’ve shot 13, maybe 14, pilots that have all failed before this. Yeah, I am not good.

My last question is, are you ever serious?

Yes. The answer is yeah, I’m always serious. I think that’s the great thing with always being ridiculously sarcastic is that you can be very truthful, and if people don’t like the response or answer, they just assume that you were kidding. And I can walk away with a shit-eating grin on my face.

That’s very wise.

[laughs] There’s nothing wise about me! I have the aptitude of a chimp.

Michelle L’amour. Photo by Sarah Collins / North by Northwestern.

It’s nighttime in the West Loop. The studio smells of aged brick, the wood floors have been scuffed by dozens of pairs of four-inch heels and pictures of burlesque dancers hang on the back walls. As the clock ticks towards 7:30 p.m., girls enter the mirrored room, laughing and joking around before class. “Michelle doesn’t sweat, she just glistens,” they remark admiringly.

Michelle L’amour walks gracefully into the studio and begins directing warm-ups for her ‘Beginning/Intermediate Burlesque’ class. The former Miss Exotic World (2005) is Dita-esque in appearance, petite and pale with short, black hair and dark red lips, and she wears an ornate feather clip in her hair, shaped in an apropos heart. She swings her hips to the sultry beat, leading the girls in the “sexy walk” warm-up, and talks all the while, making splits and turns look effortless. The atmosphere in the studio is fun, playful and very comfortable, despite the blatant sex appeal.

L’amour, 28, recently opened Studio L’amour — The Dojo for Your Mojo — in Chicago’s West Loop where she teaches the art of burlesque dancing to students of all ages and skill levels. This studio opening is just one in a greater trend of burlesque revival that’s been seen across the country. And although the comeback has been largely based on the coasts, Chicago has become home to several burlesque troupes and plenty of individual performers.

Over the years, burlesque has become somewhat synonymous with stripping, giving it an undeserved stigma. Although burlesque usually involves some kind of striptease, it originally began as a way of satirizing classical works of performance art and is deeply rooted in the comedic. It has also become associated with old-time Hollywood glamour, as was popularized by the likes of Bettie Page and renewed by women like Dita Von Teese. As more and more people are becoming interested in burlesque, studios like L’amour’s offer an easy way to learn more.

L’amour, an Orland Park native, attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and majored in finance but had been studying dance for years and knew it was what she really wanted to pursue. After college, she was approached by her now-fiancé, Franky Vivid, to dance and choreograph her first burlesque show and “got hooked.”

“There’s no turning back after you show your ass in public,” said L’amour, laughing. “Not much more you can do after that.

L’amour did not learn from any class or instructor but rather developed her own style away from outside influences. Once she started working, however, she realized that she had been training for burlesque her entire life. Everything from classical dance lessons to making pretty poses in the mirror came into play.

“There’s a lot of pageantry and theatrics involved,” said L’amour. “A lot of intelligence put into it as well. I like being able to portray sexuality in a clever, intelligent way.”

Unlike some performers, L’amour does not approach burlesque from a political or feminist point of view. For her, it’s about the entertainment and getting people excited about burlesque. L’amour is known for her fan dancing and her tag-line, “The Ass that Goes POW!” because “people don’t expect it when I turn around,” she jokes.

In 2006, she performed her trademark “Snow White Act” on America’s Got Talent — a G-rated version of the act she performed to win Miss Exotic World 2005. Although she said she had a good experience on the show, she felt anxious knowing that she was on the show purely for the controversy.

“I took it as a challenge to represent burlesque and make a mark for burlesque,” said L’amour. “I felt I had to represent it well, so I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome.”

Like many burlesque performers, L’amour is hurt when burlesque is looked down upon, but she appreciates the rise of neo-burlesque, attributing much of this new-found nostalgia to the crazy level that sexuality has reached.

“It’s loud, dumb, in your face and not what people are looking for,” said L’amour. “Burlesque brings some realness to sexuality, and I try to make it a very genuine experience on both ends.”

For some women, the novelty of a fun and exciting workout draws them to burlesque. Suzy Boyle, 25, commutes from Whiting, Indiana to work downtown but makes time to stop at Studio L’amour on a weekly basis.

“It’s a fun environment and a good work-out,” said Boyle, whose aerobic instructor actually recommended the class.

Others, like Greta Layne, appreciate the costuming and creativity of it all.

“I loved the idea of old Hollywood glamour and bringing it to life,” said Layne.

But for both Boyle and Layne, the studio’s biggest selling point is the great environment that L’amour provides.

“I love this place, it’s like a second home,” said Layne. “There’s a definite family feel here.”

For beginners interested in trying out burlesque, L’amour offers a very non-commital four-week session for $50 where you will learn the basics of burlesque — the walk, the bump, the grind and the shimmy. L’amour is currently working on creating a “L’amour Method” of burlesque instruction, with standards and an outline, in order to help legitimize it as an art form. When it comes down to it, she simply wants to get people excited about the “bump and grind.”

“It’s accessible to anybody,” said L’amour. “There’s not a time when it’s too late to get in touch with your sexuality.”

Springer studied political science at Tulane and enrolled at Northwestern Law School after graduation. College had come easy to Springer and it was at Northwestern that he was forced to adjust to a more competitive atmosphere. “I just thought life was a breeze and then suddenly I show up at Northwestern, and it was like oh my gosh, these people are serious,” Springer says. He was disinterested in that cutthroat environment and became more politically involved, largely due to the political climate of 1968. Springer viewed his law degree as a background for his future in politics.

He spent 10 years in Cincinnati as a city councilman, then mayor, and then 10 years after that as a news anchor for the NBC affiliate. It was NBC that gave him the job he is best known for.

“One day they took me to lunch and said we’re starting a new talk show, and you’re going to be the host,” Springer said. “So I was assigned to the show, but no one had any idea that [it] would last 18 years.”

Springer relocated to Chicago to host The Jerry Springer Show, which began as a political talk show. Although he never made the decision to “go crazy,” he did make the decision to change the show’s direction and target audience. Instead of competing with shows that imitated The Oprah Winfrey Show and went after “middle-aged housewives,” Springer decided to go after a younger demographic. After the show’s popularity started to build, the show was bought by Universal who kept it solely focused on dysfunctional behavior. The Jerry Springer Show quickly turned into the chair-throwing, drama-fest we know today.

“Young people are much more open about their lives and much more wild, so we had young people in the audience, young people on stage, young subject matter… of course then it started going crazy,” Springer says.

The show has maintained its audience throughout the years due to its particular niche. Springer says that while most of American television caters to “yuppie, upper-middle-class white,” their show was the first to feature a different group of Americans. “We know it exists in our society, just walk down any street in America, but we’ve never seen it on television before which made our show a breakthrough,” Springer says.

Springer became one of television’s most iconic figures and went on to host America’s Got Talent, dance on Dancing with the Stars and continue his work in politics. His schedule keeps him constantly on the move and flying almost daily, Springer joking that he practically lives in the air. Surprisingly, fame and a career in entertainment were never a part of his plans growing up. “It came out of nowhere, which is what’s so absurd with my life,” Springer says. “I never applied for any job except running for mayor, but everything else was handed to me. It’s always someone calls me and says will you do this, it’s a charmed life. It’s embarrassing, but that’s how all this comes about.”

Despite his busy schedule, Springer tries mainly to enjoy life and take the opportunities as they come. You can often find him visiting family in Evanston, hanging out at Bar Louie or checking out Barnes and Noble. “I’m so blessed, I’ve had such a lucky life,” said Springer. “I have no talent, how the hell did that happen that I got so lucky?”

If you think you have nothing to do this weekend, you’re wrong. Not even counting the other great productions opening this week, you do not want to miss Noises Off.

Photo courtesy of Wave Productions.

Noises Off, which is being performed in The Louis Room at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, is a play-within-a-play and a farce-within-a-farce. Produced by WAVE Productions, it tells the story of nine Brits struggling to put on the play Nothing On in three acts — the disastrous dress rehearsal, a mid-season matinee performance and their final performance. Each character is dynamic, slightly ridiculous and completely hilarious. Most of the humor in the first act comes from the inability of the company to rehearse professionally, despite the urgency of their upcoming opening. We then begin to see individual quirks and personalities and the relationships between the characters, which becomes largely important in the following acts.

The show uses gross misunderstandings and a lot of slapstick and sexual humor to keep the audience laughing (you’ll see a lot of underwear). The second act is by far the most impressive part of the show. The entire set is taken apart and flipped around, and we get to see the play from backstage. Due to a series of love triangles, jealous lovers and basic miscommunication, the relationships in the cast devolve into pure drama and anger — almost all the actors wield an axe at some point. Because it’s backstage, the characters remain silent and pantomime an intense series of conflicts at breakneck speed. At the same time, they are performing the actual play onstage, where we can only hear dialogue, and constantly running back to continue fighting. The timing has to be precise, and the cast manages it perfectly. It’s truly one of the most impressive bits of theater I’ve ever seen, and the high-speed action keeps you tense throughout the act.

Because timing is so important, the direction of Noises Off all the more impressive. It’s easy to see that a lot of time and effort went forth into the staging of the show. It’s also easy to see that the cast spent a lot of time rehearsing. All of the actors performed wonderfully as individuals and as a group, with good chemistry between all the characters. From the frustrated and overbearing director to the poor, put-upon stagehands, everyone put on a great performance, so it’s difficult to single any one out for individual praise. Chris Leck and Jonathon Webster did wonderfully as two of the more sympathetic characters, an overworked and timid stagehand and an over-thinker who’s overly sensitive to violence respectively. And Alex Ryser easily played one of the more humorous roles as Selson Mowbray, an alcoholic actor past his prime who has trouble remembering his entrances and lines. But the show’s best selling point is truly the strength of its cast as a whole.

Noises Off is an incredibly funny and entertaining show. The entire cast and crew put on an amazing performance that is definitely worth a view or two, so take a break from studying, stop sitting around and go laugh your pants off.