Evening of laughs showcases college groups, pro comedian

The sixth annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival, presented by Mask and Wig and the Social Planning and Events Committee, took place last night in a packed Irvine Auditorium.

Stephen Colbert, best known from his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, was greeted by cheers as he walked onstage. He immediately engaged the audience by conducting an Irvine-wide hum, and once the audience followed his command, he silenced them, saying, "And you wonder how Hitler took power?"

The show hosted four comedy groups, including University of Maryland's Sketchup, Princeton's Triangle Club, Yale's Fifth Humour and Penn's Mask and Wig Club.

Colbert set out to address the question, "Is Mel Gibson anti-Semitic?" He interviewed Gibson, played by Penn Mask and Wig member and College senior Wes Mullen, posing questions such as, "If a Jew stole your cab and threw a latke at you, would you hate him?" The response, "Hate is a very strong word," did not seem to satisfy Colbert, who then proceeded to interview Jesus.

Colbert also decided to poll "audience members" about "Mel Gibson," asking a posing Mask and Wig member to compare his butt to Gibson's. He then proceeded to drink from the member's flask of "mystery liquid," saying, "I probably shouldn't, but what the hell, it's Spring Fling!"

Maryland's Sketchup performed at the comedy festival for their sixth year. The group performed sketches involving pranks, Jesus' ghost and a tap dancing duo with a stale relationship.

Princeton's Triangle Club performed for their second year, beginning with a song about a birthday on Sept. 11. One of their skits involved a man telling his best friend he's getting married. When the friend asked who he could possibly be marrying, he responded, "Your mother." At this, a large group of audience members yelled "Yes!" as the first friend stared in disbelief. Princeton concluded with a song about enjoying spring break in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Fifth Humour's performance included skits depicting a Where's Waldo-obsessed Bush and a third-grade presentation on "the strange and odd country of Canada." The first province began with, "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Manitoba," and Nova Scotia -- played by a Fifth Humour member -- said, "What time is it? That's right, it's maritime."

Mask and Wig skits covered farts, sororities and Looney Tunes, with Colbert getting cameos as a heroin-shooting doctor and as President Bush's adviser.

College sophomores Giselle Kohler and Allison Parker thoroughly enjoyed the show.

"Yale was better last year," Parker said. "I liked Mask and Wig's 'Morimoto Asian Fusion' restaurant skit."

Kohler agreed, adding the restaurant skit "was really good."

"I was going to boo Princeton, but they actually weren't that bad," Wharton freshman Gregory Cohen said. "I still hate Princeton, but they made me laugh for 10 minutes."

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