It's easy being Green

His bum may have been on the rail in 1999, but last night comedian and actor Tom Green’s bum was in Zellerbach Theater.

Green hosted the 12th Annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival, produced by Penn’s Mask and Wig Club and the Social Planning and Events Committee. Two hundred thirty-three students attended, according to the Annenberg Theater manager.

Green opened the show as he tried to “outrun the spotlight” on stage and joked about his marriage to Drew Barrymore. Some of the jokes he performed were “off the top of his head,” he had said in an interview before the show.

“I’m not all that prepared, but I had a lot of fun rehearsing with these guys today,” Green said. “And if the audience starts throwing vegetables at me, I brought my own to throw back.”

Princeton University’s Triangle Club, the University of Maryland’s Sketchup and Penn’s own Simply Chaos followed Green’s opening with a few sketches of their own.

Mask and Wig closed with several of its sketches, many of which included Green’s participation.

Mask and Wig Head Writer, College senior Ian Stringham said most of the sketches were recycled from past fall performances.

Writers scripted some customized sketches for Green, but Stringham said they “weren’t crazy about most of it” and instead decided to adapt older material.

“Tom obviously has his own shtick,” Stringham said. “But he came more prepared than most hosts have in the past with all of his lines from our scripts memorized.”

Members performed one sketch, titled, “The Penis Monologues,” as a spoof on the “Vagina Monologues” that are performed at Penn each February and on Green’s testicular surgery. The sketch required members to write new material for the comedian. Green said he enjoys making fun of himself, and audience members tend to enjoy it too.

“[SPEC] really enjoyed working with them because both of our organizations are really invested in the projects we put on,” SPEC Chairwoman and College senior Dasha Barannik said of the collaboration with Mask and Wig.

Green is currently on a world stand-up comedy tour. He said he began in Canada and will continue across the United States. “I had to get out of my house after three years of filming my show in my living room,” Green added.

ComFest Co-Director and Wharton junior Josh Oynick said he was especially excited to work with Green. “I’ve been a fan all my life,” he added. “Tom’s hilarious.”

The show was originally scheduled for February but was canceled due to the snow storm. “It was a nightmare, but it all came together in the end,” Wynn said. “What a great end to a week.”

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