BY AMANDA GOAD
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RECORD photo editor Erin Bernstein produced a photo slideshow of this year’s Parody.
Thank Allah it was good. If it hadn’t been good, I was going to have to type out a description of just how much 2L Jonas Blank sucked and then e-mail it to him to edit. But Jonas (head writer, also starring as Jurist Gump, a bumbling Alabamian 1L who, of course, proceeds to save the day and win Ames) was among the many strong performers in a genuinely funny show.
For the very few people who haven’t seen it or heard details already, I’ll refrain from giving away any more plot points of Parody 2003: The Lord of the Briefs. But I’ll warn you not to leave early, lest you miss some impressive cameo appearances. The show skewers many aspects of law school life, from evidence class to Skadden summers to beer pong at Lincoln’s Inn. It has enough bite to make you laugh out loud, but not enough to invoke the sort of disciplinary action that stuck a knife in the parody tradition at Rice during my undergrad years. The variety of personalities mocked reminds both those who love this school and those who hate it of what a crazy-ass place the Law School is.
Two major problems hampered my enjoyment of the Parody: First, as a 1L relatively unversed in law school gossip, I didn’t get many of the mockeries. More within the grasp of the producers (3Ls Joi Chaney and Kristy Kirkpatrick) and director (3L Jason Watkins), though, the actors’ lines were often hard or impossible to hear. The women of Section VII were devastated to miss the punchline of Prof. Miller’s pick-up strategy, and who knows how many other great but inaudible jokes we lost out on because of some combination of microphone difficulties and actors’ failure to project.
Fortunately, I could loudly and clearly hear The Riverbottom Nightmare Band (Dave Arkush, Dave Gold, Mark Sabath, Evan Zullow) backing the actors on such instant classics as “Law in Herre” (after Nelly’s “Hot In Herre”) and “Skadden Lunch” (to the tune of Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance”). It was amazing to see how many law students can not only act, but also competently sing and dance.
Even without comprehending chunks of it, I found the show well worth the investments of admission price and three or so hours. They say laughter boosts the immune system, but in any case, inoculate yourself against taking HLS too seriously this week by taking in the Parody.
The Parody runs through this Saturday. Showtime is 8 p.m. Thurs-Fri, 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $12 or $10 and available at the door.