On Friday, May 23, Drexel Night Live put on its final show of the year, and it was definitely a good one to end on. Between two shows and a total of four hours of performances, the comedy group successfully tore down the house (the Black Box Theater), and provided no shortage of hilarious moments time and time again.
If it can not be concluded by the name, the organization is an homage to “Saturday Night Live,” the long-running comedy sketch show. Similar to the structure of their inspiration, DNL started off with an introductory monologue from club President and senior Ryan Console, who began by telling the packed audience that this would be his last show as a member of the club.
It was certainly an emotional moment, but any sort of sadness or even the faintest hint of a somber tone was immediately blown out of the water by the troupe’s opening sketch. This began with the now-infamous Home Depot jingle and with a Ron Swanson-type boss telling his employees, draped in the classic Home Depot orange, that no more liberal nonsense would be going on in his store, and concluded with a moving, progressive speech from one of his employees.
Without a doubt, a tone was certainly set by this. What tone exactly? It is hard to know for sure, but it definitely prepared the audience for what was to come in the next two hours, if such a thing is even possible. The rest of the show contained a mix of live and pre-recorded sketches, each one seemingly funnier than the last, with the crowd roaring louder and louder as the show went on. Some of the pre-recorded sketches include a mockumentary about a polycule, and a frat bro giving a cooking tutorial on how to make a burrito out of beer. The one that got the most laughs, however, was a spoof on old paranormal activity videos, this time featuring a man pooping his brains out in the toilet, because at the end of the day, what is better than a good old poop joke?
It was the live sketches that really allowed the group and all of its talent to shine. Along with the opener, this included a game show with very specific and maybe targeted questions, an intervention gone horribly wrong and a demonstration of a new toy line for fat children, with the group explicitly stating that it was indeed written by a fat person, in case anyone was concerned. The performances highlighted just how skilled DNL club members really are, in terms of their writing, their acting and their ability to put it all together into a sketch that can actually make people laugh, which is no small feat by any means.
The best part of the show was the segment titled “Quarterly Report,” once again a tribute to SNL and their Weekend Update program. Just like the original, it started off with a rapid succession of jokes based on recent headlines, executed perfectly by Console and fellow Senior Mike Borko. Then, also following suit of SNL’s annual tradition, the two hosts decided to write jokes for the other to perform to the audience, with both of them having no idea what they were about to say. The two left nothing on the table, and by the end, both the audience and the hosts were rolling because of what was happening in front of them.
The final sketch featured these two, along with yet another senior (and the aforementioned pooper) Matthew Lacy behind wooden cutouts with babies painted on, hurling insults at the nurse up until the very end. When the cast and crew walked out to take a bow, the audience erupted for one final time, concluding an amazing show, and an amazing ride for the graduating seniors.