Seeing Disney characters speak in strange cockney accents as they pretend to be other characters isn’t the type of treat you’d expect to receive around Halloween. But it was nevertheless one that the audience at the Mixed Signals’ Halloween Show was given on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Putting on their usual improvisational style of comedic performance, the Signals delighted their viewers by incorporating many of the best parts about Halloween into the show (goofy costumes and candy) while doing a good job of sticking to what they do best — being funny.
The night included a costume contest for audience members. Characters such as Slenderman and Buddy the Elf, who appropriately asked everyone’s favorite color, were the biggest hits, along with the usual skits performed exclusively by members of the troupe.
Some of these skits were not in the Signals’ usual repertoire, though.
“‘Ding-and-Sing’ (one of the games played) is a skit which has been considered very difficult in the past,” said senior history and secondary education double major Jonathan Dowler. “Not only do you have to sing, but you have to sing with a partner, and it’s hard to get on the same page without having some basic ideas down. It’s a difficult game, but we’ve been pushing ourselves to try more difficult and new games.”
The singing bits, which could have been considered more of a trick than a treat to the musically-inclined members of the audience, served their purpose: They made the people watching laugh.
The new games and added styles served a purpose for the Signals as well, as they continue to always seek ways of improving their shows.
“Every year in the beginning, we try to go back to the basics and really (create) more characters, which I think really came out in the show,” junior women’s and gender studies major Morgan Teller said.
The characters included a pair of strange-speaking Lego builders, many of the aforementioned British with cockney accents and even Satan and his assistant made an appearance as they judged the sins of the nose-picker.
All of this, believe it or not, was fairly standard for one of these shows. And while it may not make any sense out of context, to the people who are performing, all that matters is getting the audience to do one thing: Laugh.
