HA's show is weird, funny and all for you
By MARY ANNE LEWIS
Scene Writer
"All right, we decided who'd go first backstage, and, Tony, I believe you had the fattest girlfriend. You're in control of the board."
- from "Let's Get Personal"
Somewhere, sometime, somebody decided it might be fun to pretend to be other people. And, voila!, the actor was born!
Somewhere in Indiana, in a little town called South Bend, about eight years ago, somebody started the group called Humor Artists, better known as HA. And now, while you are sleeping or studying or eating, they are pretending to be other people in strange, but often familiar situations. Creepy? No. It's quite funny, actually.
Improvisation: 1.) the act or art of improvising; 2.) something (as a musical or dramatic composition) improvised, or arranged offhand
Picture this: 25 people — 19 men and six women — in the Hesburgh Library Auditorium. They sit on the stage and read over sketch comedy skits a few of them have written. Someone makes a suggestion: "Change that. Have the guy come in on the left and THEN bump into her …" Somebody else affirms the modification.
Suddenly, out of the blue, two guys jump onto their feet and begin acting out the skit. It, too, jumps to its feet and comes alive. A Notre Dame biology student has become a highschool teacher, and her real-life classmate is now, in this world that they've created, a janitor who will soon discover the teacher is actually an impostor. She is really the infamous mop-thief, wanted by campus security divisions everywhere. These worlds are crazy ones, but you may be surprised to see just how real it can all appear.
"I guess I'll just throw in the towel
Stop sending choc-lates and candy
And she'll never again
At 3 a.m.
Get phone calls when I'm feeling randy."
-from "The Song of Stalking"
This is the group that calls itself HA. And this is what they're doing on Sundays and Thursdays during their practices. They do sketch comedy as well as improvisational work, and you can see it all on Friday or Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Library Auditorium. The group has approximately 25 members, both men and women, who range from bio-chem to English majors. Andrew McDonnell, known as the "King," and Holly Hoffmann, the "Queen," organize and direct the meetings and try to keep the chaos somewhat manageable. It never seems to work, though. "It's a pretty chaotic group, really," McDonnell said, laughing.
When asked to state his favorite thing about HA, McDonnell answered, "Hmm … The free drugs … NO, no! The people are amazing. You grow to love them."
McDonnell has spent three and a half years with HA and has loved his experiences with the group. He has a great deal of respect for previous "King," Denis Hurley. McDonnell calls Hurley the driving force behind HA, because Hurley kept the group together during a very dry period. McDonnell recalls Hurley's nickname, a certain anatomical feature exclusively male, also a word that happens to be one letter away from his first name.
Somehow, this chaotic group has managed to pull together an incredible show brought to you for only $1.
Hours of practice, months of editing and rewriting and endless jokes are what this group does. It's a group with spunk, personality and charm. Individual HA members bring a montage of interests and ideas to the spirit of the group. Some members may become doctors, others actors in L.A., others writers. But for now, they'll stick with bringing you ludicrous scenarios for your laughing pleasures.
"And those are the disturbing details of a night in a girls' dorm. The FCC will not allow us to show the brutal assault on James Van der Beek that took place here subsequently. Notre Dame security was alerted by an anonymous tip but … they arrived too late. If you know the whereabouts of James Van der Beek, please call us toll-free at 1-800-Unsolved. Good night."
-from "Unsolved Feminine Mysteries"
All Scene Stories for Friday, March 3, 2000
