BU Shows Off

Thursday night, a crowd of students crammed into BU Central for the evening’s open mic night, BU for Show.  Students from all majors and all talents performed for the event.  Performances included standup comedy, singing, magic, rapping, and even an accordion player. The Quad’s own Patricia Bruce stepped up with a song on her guitar.

One of the highlights of the night was the standup comedy of Ari Stern (CAS ’13). Stern poked fun at everything from the MLB’s potential ban on smokeless tobacco to the death of Segway CEO, James W. Heselden, who (I’m not making this up) drove off a cliff last year while on a Segway.

Open Mic Night not for the faint of heart. | Photo courtesy of Wikimedia user Holger.Ellgaard

Another high point of the night was the performance by Eden Beaudoin (CAS ’13), who sang two songs while accompanying herself on the piano. Both her songs, “The Chain” by Ingrid Michaelson and “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver, showed off her refreshingly unique voice as well as her beautiful piano playing.

The other comedian that stuck out in the mix was Matt Duffy (CAS ’12). He started off his routine with a rant on “growing up fat” and somehow ended up on Harrison Ford.   The topic then switched to the creepiness of kids and the games they play, particularly hide and seek. As Duffy put it, “There are no other moments in life when you can preface your arrival with ‘Ready or not…’”

Maria DeCotis (CFA) proved to be entertaining with just her voice and a ukulele. She performed a cover of the Beach Boy’s “I Can Hear Music” and Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Way I Am.” She told the audience that she was “too nervous to perform an original”, but I hope to hear an original of DeCotis’s at an upcoming open mic.

The most surprising, and perhaps most entertaining, was Paolo Mauricio (CAS ’15) and his accompanying of The Black Eyed Peas song “Let’s Get It Started” on the electric violin. The performance was both bizarre and incredibly entertaining.  Mauricio’s talents were evident, and his ability to entertain the crowd was prominent throughout the performance.

The night showed many more BU talents, but, as was expected, there were a few bumps in the road: a messed up lyric here, an awkward silence there. Now, I have nothing against those who crack under pressure. I have the utmost respect for anyone who is willing to put themselves out there, but performers need to learn to handle their mistakes. If you forget your lyrics, you don’t make a big deal about it and start over, you get over it and move on. If you don’t get the response you want from a joke, you don’t comment on the lack of approval, you shake it off and power through it. The most impressive performers were the ones who did mess up, shrugged it off, and kept going as if nothing had happened.

 

About Leah Mackstutis

Leah Mackstutis is a freshman in the College of Communication. Her favorite sections include anything entertainment (television, film, theatre) and campus events!

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