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December 7, 2007 > Arts & Entertainment > Rice Sketch Comedy creates laughs at Rice’s expense

Rice Sketch Comedy creates laughs at Rice’s expense

By Casey Michel | Thresher Editorial Staff

If there is one lesson that is to be gleaned from the premiere of Rice Sketch Comedy, it is thus: Never stare at a girl with big boobs. For, if we are to believe RSC’s creator-director Faheem Ahmed, “She will think you are a terrorist. And you will go blind.”

While the male members of the audience may patently disagree with this disjointed piece of advice, there is little else they would find fault with in RSC’s sketches. From not-so-subtle ironic racism to Drunk Sid Girls, RSC tried to offer a bit of everything that the coveted young male demographic desires.

However, these were not just your generic poop-and-booze jokes — they were your generic poop-and-booze jokes with a focus on the Rice life. Held in the Rice Memorial Center’s Grand Hall, the program began similarly to the much-lauded Chappelle’s Show, with Ahmed, a Baker junior, grabbing the mike to introduce the first sketch which, like the rest, appeared on a projector screen. RSC opened with a VHS-quality infomercial that highlighted Rice’s 2-to-1 student-teacher ratio (“That’s crazy! No, that’s true,” an over-confident Ahmed voice-over claims). This ratio creates an intimate relationship between Martel College sophomore Christopher Lenzini and “teacher” Austin Mueller, a Hanszen College junior. Mueller’s motives are clearly not always professional, like when he asks Lenzini out for drinks right after he joined his student at the urinal.

The infomercial also takes the time to highlight Rice’s legendary diversity. Wiess junior Jarrod Ford, an African-American, does his best “Where’s Waldo?” impression by flashing a creepily exuberant thumbs-up whenever the camera finds him.

Rice’s notorious attributes are not the only things coming under fire from RSC: Stereotypes about the Rice Boy and Rice Girl inhabit many of the characters. “The Three Amigos” sketch, in which three Rice guys compete for the affections of (any) girl at a party, hammers home many of the common views on Rice students. While some pigeonholes of male Rice students are only touched on briefly many other are made painfully obvious. The unsuccessful Michael Jackson crotch grabs of Ahmed, the blatant douchebaggery of Jaffe and the disturbing, under-the-breath muttering of Mueller — “This is fate … um, I like to masturbate” — all perpetuate the myth of social awkwardness in Rice guys. But just when it looks like all is lost, the boys discover a LAN World of Warcraft party they can go to.

As with any debut, growing pains were evident. Mueller’s acting was static and most of the sketches stuck with the Rice stereotypes theme. But the lone sketch that stood above the rest involved only one faux character, and many real. Baker sophomore Connor Hollowwa portrays the main character of the “Connor O’Hoolihan Experience,” whose host is a sleuthing investigative reporter who combines an overly-dramatic newscaster voice with the eyebrow exercises that would make Stephen Colbert jealous.

RSC’s second volume of work will be shown in the spring, and while there are no promises that Leebron will be there, plans are in the works for more chances for the audience to go blind. Or, at least, so we hope.

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