By Abigail Vachon
Correspondent
Catchy tunes with deceptively innocent melodies, considering the accompanying lyrics, rang out in the Rathskeller Friday night. The College Union Board event featured singing comedian Brian O’Sullivan.
O’Sullivan performed both original music and parodies of pop songs to an audience that was not easy to please.
“I feel like the audience didn’t cooperate as well as he wanted them too, but it was funny,” said Ceire Parker, junior fine arts major.
“Oh, good, I’m glad you guys are all still staring at me. Silently,” O’Sullivan said. His teasing and wit seemed to pull reluctant students from their end-of-the-week exhaustion into a let’s-start-the-weekend mood.
In classic comedian style, his humor poked fun at everything from himself to the audience to celebrities to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
By using pop songs and references to classic Saturday morning cartoons, O’Sullivan pulled material from the current-day college student’s psyche to lighten the mood — a welcome relief with midterms on the way.
“I thought the songs were really entertaining and original,” said freshman graphic design major Angelica Mundrick.
Much of O’Sullivan’s comedy made use of hyperbole and puns as seen in lyrics like “don’t do drugs, or you’ll get raped,” in his song about not doing drugs, and guaranteeing someone would “get a raise” every day when singing about why people should join the porn industry.
Opening for O’Sullivan was senior communication studies major Mark Smith with about 30 minutes of stand-up comedy.
As a senior, Smith talked about his bucket list of things to do before graduating which included jumping in the fountain in the Science Complex and getting a quote in The Signal.
“I’ve never been quoted in The Signal. If The Signal wants to quote that, that’d be great,” Smith stated in a none-too-subtle hint.
The show was coordinated by Jane Howell, sophomore communication studies major and CUB Rat co-chair.
Allie Binaco, senior English major and the director of CUB, said that one of Howell’s goals was to bring in more diverse performances to the Rat, which led to the decision to sponsor O’Sullivan.
After taunting the audience, O’Sullivan finished the show by saying, “Hopefully we’re all friends now.”
For all his jokes, Brian O’Sullivan had good advice when talking to him after the show, “Life is a joke — sing about it.”
