The Battalion
?sday • March 10, 1998
A Psychotic Slip of the Tongue
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Freudian
Slip
improv
troupe
presents
audiences
with
igh-speed
comedy
By Chris Martin
Staff writer
I t’s 5:18 in the afternoon — a Sunday af
ternoon — whose peaked remains of
daylight are being swept away by a curi
ous side effect of El Nino. Rumours Deli has
shut down for the day, but a few students
still linger in a line destined to not be
served. One student scrambles behind
their backs, waving his hands over their
heads like he’s conducting a symphony, a
symphony coming out of his subject’s
mouths one phrase, sometimes one sylla
ble at a time. The players seem to read each
other’s minds, finishing each other’s
thoughts at the whim of the conductor.
No one is around to clap when they finish,
but their reward is greater — they’ve made
each other laugh.
Freudian Slip is not only Texas A&M’s
only improvisational comedy troupe, but if
you can believe them, they’re “unofficially
the most successful student improv group in
the nation.’’
“Success, even though I’m failing my
classes,” Dan Grimm, a senior theater arts
major, said. The other members bust out
laughing, like a joyous group mantra. No one
wants to be on campus on a lazy Sunday af
ternoon, but an outside observer to Freudi
an Slip practice quickly gathers from the
laughter that they don’t mind.
Sure, they can make an audience of 700
people crack up, but what does it take to
make seven other comedians laugh?
Jason Parker, a senior psychology major,
doesn’t have to go far for his favorite laughs.
They’re right in the room.
“Some movies can make me roll around,
but mostly stories I hear with friends — es
pecially these guys — make me laugh hard
er than anything else,” Parker said. “I don’t
like stand up, or catchphrases either, because
it forces creativity to fall on the shoulders of
a few writers. Stuff like ‘show me the money,’
or ‘got milk,’ or ‘don’t go there.’ People should
come up with their own.”
A disdain for stand up seems to be a
trait shared by many of the members, in
cluding Kyle Lawrence, a junior speech
communication major.
“I don’t buy into silly stand up guys, like
‘aren’t guys with comb-overs funny?’ Every
one tells those kinds of jokes,” Lawrence
said. “One of the funniest tilings on television
today is The Simpsons. I like things with cul
tural references and inside humor, like Mys
tery Science Theater 3000.”
Tyler Willmann, a senior management
major, agreed with Lawrence, but admitted
an appreciation for low-brow humour.
“I like truthful, intelligent humor, with
good characters that can drive scenes,” Will
mann said. “If it’s crude, it has to be some
thing new, not the same old fart jokes.”
Emily Kryzak, a senior speech communi
cation major, finds humor in the day to day
drama of human life.
“I like to people-watch and see funny
things in everyday, humdrum things,”
Kryzak said. “I can sit for hours in class and
watch people instead of paying attention. I
think the people in our audience can relate
to that and enjoy the human connection.”
It’s that human connection Freudian
Slip will be aiming for Thursday for their
Spring Break show in Rudder Forum. The
small size of the Forum will afford the Slip
members a unique opportunity to connect
with the crowd.
“It’s smaller and closer to the audience,”
Willmann said. “They’re all around you, so
you can cater to the audience more. It’s the
only small venue show we do, and it’s almost
more fun for ourselves than the crowd.”
Lawrence, director of the troupe, said he
likes to involve the crowd members in the
smaller shows.
“We performed there my first year, so it’s
like getting back to my roots,” Lawrence said.
“We get to be more intimate with the crowd.
When you’re sitting in the front row you are
almost on stage.”
Lawrence also enjoys the artistic license
and freedom he gets when performing.
“I like the ‘Sphinx’ routine, because I get to
be as rude and mean to the audience as I can
and they love it,” Lawrence said. “It’s when
I’m at my highest level of smartassness.”
Parker described the ‘Sphinx’, one of his
favorite performance games, as an exercise
di
Twilight
Starring Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman
Directed by Robert Benton
Rated R
Playing at Hollywood 16
Critique: A-
in quick wit.
“The audience really likes things like the
‘Sphinx’ or the ‘Five Minute Movie,”’ Parker
said. “For the Sphinx, three people line up
and answer questions from the audience,
each person saying one word at a time, at a
high pace.”
One thing all the members agree on is
their total trust and friendship in each other.
“I think it’s amazing that although vari
ous members graduate, we still thrive,” Will
mann said. “We all get along. If we have
problems we work it out, because people
can see that tension. We hang out a lot, it’s
become our life.”
Kryzak agreed that Freudian Slip is more
than performance — it’s a way of life.
“These guys are not afraid to embarrass
themselves, but they also have a serious side,
like a good friend you can always talk to,”
Kryzak said. “Once I ‘shot’ everyone on
stage, and then realized I was all alone. I was
thinking, ‘what do I do now?’ Luckily some
one came and rescued me. Except for maybe
that, you are never alone up there.”
Whether it’s Rudder Forum, Disney-
world, or their own bathroom, the Slip
members never miss an opportunity to
make each other laugh.
“We learn to be uninhibited, and it
makes us closer,” Kryzak said. “We connect
onstage because we’ve learned to live with
each other — even if they always leave the
[toilet] seat up.”
Fatal Attraction
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Mandy
Cater
opinion editor
t the time just after sunset, there is
twilight, a period between darkness
-and light. The writers of Paul New
man’s latest film, Tivilight, understand this
connection can be a metaphor for human
behavior, as well.
Twilight features Newman as Harry
Ross, an ex-private eye who finds himself
living with Catherine and Jack Ames (Su
san Sarandon and Gene Hackman) two ex
actors who owe him a favor.
The Ames couple are “beautiful people”
— rich, famous and, in Catherine’s case,
quite beautiful. Their outgoing personalities make them
masters of manipulation, their dependency veiling their
darker side.
Ross, on the other hand, is less satisfied with life. He’s lost his
investigator’s license, a daughter, a wife and more years than he
cares to count. Life with the “beautiful people” eventually draws
Ross back into his former profession, and the drama begins.
From there, Twilight begins twisting an intelligent tale
of loyalty, lies and seduction so intricate one still may not
be sure who did what to whom and why when the house
lights go back up. The numerous plot turns constantly keep
viewers guessing.
One thing is certain, though, Twilight \s an acting tour
de force. All the performances are impressive — strong,
yet understated.
Although the all-star cast includes a number of veteran
heavyweights, at no time does it feel as if anyone is trying to
steal the spotlight.
Try or not, the spotlight is stolen. Newman is as much a
screen presence today as he was in Cool Hand Luke or Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof. His tough-guy image finds new depth in
his increasing age. The macho and bravado are strength
ened by maturity and vulnerability that only increase his
everyman appeal.
Sarandon’s sultry siren-like performance is just as sexy as
it was in the days of Bull Durham. Like Newman, Sarandon’s
presence only gets better with age.
Perhaps the most surprising moments in this film come
from the powerful supporting performances. James Garner is
moving and adds more than a few moments of comic relief.
He and Newman play off each other like two old pals.
His portrayal of a “clean-up man” disillusioned by his past
is touching, and could easily be the first step to a late-in-his-
career comeback.
Extended cameos by independent poster boy Liev
Schreiber and the ever-wonderful Stockard Channing again
reinforce Twilight’s success using the script, not special ef
fects, to make a great movie.
Twilight is definitely a complex movie that gives a peek
into the sometimes blurry boundary between good and evil.
The use of sun-drenched lighting to illuminate the “beau
tiful people” effectively contrasts the darker life of the down-
on-their-luckers.
While the film has confusing moments and difficult to fol
low plot twists, it’s definitely worth the effort.
And for those who are worried the age of this cast means
another Grumpier Old Men remake is in the theaters, don’t
fret. These actors use their age for mature, real-life portray
als, not easy laughs and jokes about liver spots.
Besides, the last thing one will notice about Paul Newman
is liver spots — we should all look so good in our seventies.
N ow that stalking laws
and psychotic domestic
violence have caught
media attention, Fatal Attrac
tion is even scarier than it was
in the ’80s.
Glenn Close and Michael
Douglas star in this dramatic
thriller that some of us were not
allowed to see when it was re
leased in theaters. There’s a rea
son for that.
Close plays a woman ob
sessed after having a “two-night
stand” with Douglas.
What’s even scarier than
Close slashing her wrists when
Douglas leaves is her electric
socket hair. It looks like she
fried it, crimped it and blow
dried it like it was going out of
style. Well, Glenn, it never was
in style. She seals off her look
with frosty pink Wet ‘n’ Wild lip
gloss. Scary.
When an audience sees this
movie for the second time, years
after its release, new light is shed
upon the storyline and acting.
Although one knows what
to expect, the movie still caus
es screams and panic. And
some of us will have to cover
our faces during the yucky
parts. This movie has not im
proved with age; it has only
become more realistic.
— April Towery
I f ever there was a film to
make husbands regard their
wives with the utmost re
spect and treat them as the
cherished human beings they
promised life to at the altar, Fa
tal Attraction makes the grade.
Although Glenn Close and
Michael Douglas appear in the
film as the wrong-made-ex-
tremely-wrong affair couple,
the person who needs to be rec
ognized is Anne Archer.
Archer portrays Douglas’ de
voted wife in the film. She loves
him, takes care of their daugh
ter when he’s not around and
still finds a place in her heart to
forgive and forget when she
finds out he had an affair.
Audiences may cheer on as
Douglas and Close fight through
out the film, but Archer steals the
film when she tells Close she will
kill her if she ever comes near her
family ever again.
So husbands beware: treat
your wives as they deserve to be
treated and watch out for rabbit
boiling femme fatales.
— James Francis
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