Students filled a majority of the lower level seats in the Kendall Hall Main Stage Theatre on Saturday evening.
What, what, what were they doing there?
Those in the campus community came together to watch a presentation by the Second City Network’s Sassy Gay Friend, commonly recognized for his YouTube fame.
Sassy Gay Friend, clad in the same black shirt and orange scarf as in his viral videos, told the crowd that the show was going to be gay, even possibly too gay for his outspoken, flamboyant self.
The phrase “splatter the walls gay” was used to describe Sassy’s plan of action, to which he added that even he himself did not know what this meant, but hoped it would catch on as new slang.
He “shared the stage” with Brian Gallivan, a 42-year-old former middle school English teacher.
It was no coincidence that Gallivan appeared strikingly similar to Sassy; they are the same person, with the only difference being wardrobe — Gallivan wore a blue hoodie to distinguish himself from his audacious alter ego.
Through monologues — and song — Gall-ivan shared scenarios from his own life.
He explained that many of these moments could have been significantly less terrible if he had his own sassy gay friend to help him out.
In his skits, Sassy travels back in time, usually to the settings of well-known literary works — mostly those of Shakespeare — and saves the females, who he refers to as “stupid bitches,” from their tragic downfalls.
These ladies included Juliet, Lady Macbeth and Desdemona — three women notorious for making, in some respects, rash decisions.
Through his blunt remarks, Sassy snaps the girls back to reality, to which a voiceover narrator sets the scene, explaining how these tragedies “could have been avoided if (insert name of distressed female) had a sassy gay friend.”
Because the actress who plays Desdemona was unable to attend, Sassy reverted to casting in the same way as in Shakespeare’s day — he found a boy to play this female lead.
Matthew, a student at the College, was chosen from the audience and joined Sassy on stage to assume the role of the soon-to-be-smothered damsel.
Throughout the show, Sassy also helped two freshmen audience members with relationship advice.
First, Leo shared her own dating dilemmas and received reassurance from Sassy that she was capable of fighting her crush’s ex-girlfriend, if need be. Then, Graham called his friend from home, who Sassy called out for dumping his ex-girlfriend for a frivolous reason.
Sassy was quick to critique the individuals in a candid, joking manner, whether it be Leo’s braces or Graham’s tendency to speak in a high-pitched voice when nervous.
The College’s improv comedy troupe, the Mixed Signals, opened and closed the show.
The crew performed several original skits, after seeking suggestions from the audience for different terms to incorporate into their improvisation.
When Gallivan finished his show, he called the Mixed Signals back on stage, where he and the actress, who played Juliet and Lady Macbeth, joined the group in a game.
While the show was filled with a variety of skits, there was a constant in each act; whenever Sassy exited, he broke out into impromptu, idiosyncratic dance moves as he leapt across the stage.
Jamie Primeau can be reached at primeau2@tcnj.edu.
