U student producers are Absolut funny guys

By Elizabeth Manasse

For the Daily

A show inspired by a bottle of Vodka. Could anything sound like a more

appealing way to spend your Friday or Saturday night? Enough said. This

weekend's Basement Arts performance, appropriately titled, "Absolut

Comedy," promises to be 2 hours of gut-wrenching laughs with a group of

extremely talented University students. The free performance, which will

be located at the Arena Theatre, will consist of a collection of 5

hilarious one acts.

Directing the show will be BFA performance majors Ethan Kogan and Rob

Weiner. "Absolut Comedy" will mark their first Basement Arts directing

experience. The featured acts will be rehearsed scenes by some of today's

most prominent comedic playwrights including David Ives, Carl Martin,

Kathy Najimy, Mo Gaffney, John J. Wooten and David Simpatica. However,

director Ethan Kogan noted that each rehearsal has resulted in more and

more hilarious add in lines and special cast touches. Chuckling as he

explained, Kogan said that the works have been "slightly molded with the

addition of personal touches from actors and directors." Actually, Kogan

gives the impression that the acts have been a little more than "slightly

molded." Many innovative ideas have been added by the student cast

throughout the preparation for the show. Even after several rehearsals,

Kogan declares that, "the show is still in the making."

"Absolut Comedy" features approximately 10 actors, most of whom

are students in the Department of Theatre and Drama. However, the

auditions were not limited to only theatre majors. There are 2 members of

the cast who came from outside of the Theatre Department. These cast

members were able to show off their talent and impress directors during

auditions by reading comedic scripts or telling their best jokes. The

diverse cast even contains 3 first year students. Kogan, who spoke

enthusiastically about his talented cast, said the members "have very good

sense of timing and are down right funny and energetic."

Both Kogan and Weiner promise that the show will most definitely

be fast-paced and entertaining. Speaking from experience, Kogan

sarcastically added that the performance caters to the short attention

span of college students. Boredom, he says, will not be an issue. There

will be props and costumes, some acts that carry deeper meanings, a couple

of bizarre twists and most importantly, "quite a few surprises." For

students and members of the Ann Arbor community, the performance will be

this weekend's best opportunity to laugh out loud.