Otters and Funk Brigade Maintain Energy All Night

Author: Leah Koenig

Opening 24 Hours For Peace, Otter Nonsense's performance last Friday night also began what would prove a long night for the group, which was scheduled to make numerous cameo appearances throughout the festivities.
The Otter's packed, and often rowdy audience, crammed Pearsons lounge beyond capacity, spilling out into the hallway and onto the fire escape. Audience members dictated the order of the Otter's first show of the evening by calling out the names of improvisational games for the troupe to create.
Audience participation was vital in generating themes of the different games. Throughout the performance, Otter members encouraged the audience to call out suggestions for categories like "emotions," "a common crime" or "superheroes," from which they developed short skits.
The audience's suggestions were realized as they watched their shouted ideas morph into fully developed scenarios.
The Otter's talent for creating hilarious scenes was manifest in the enthusiastic laughs from the audience.
One particularly funny skit depicted a conversation between Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin. The two Otter players traveled throughout the stage space, which was divided by string into four different emotional states, happy, jealous, perplexed and excited. The players aptly switched emotions as they jumped from box to box while developing a coherent and witty scene.
The tempo of the 24 Hours For Peace kept its vigor as Shari P'oon's Funk Brigade took the stage at midnight for their hour-long set.
Preceded by the music of DJ Ben Gore '04, Pearsons lounge was transformed from the Otter's makeshift theatre into a dance venue. As the Funk Brigade set up, several dancers warmed up the floor to the end of Gore's set.
The Funk Brigade's set combined many musical styles to suit the diverse tastes of their audience. Their set included music from their own repertoire and also pulled from the well known hits of other musicians.
The band also improvised during many of the songs, showing off the full extent of their skillful and energetic playing. Among the crowd's favorites were Beck's "New Pollution" and Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians' "What I Am."
The crowd's excitement was demonstrated by the number of audience members dancing to the Funk Brigade's set.
The dimensions of the dance floor quickly expanded to accommodate the increasing number of bouncing bodies. As with the Otter's show, the audience's interaction with the performers enhanced the show's excitement for all participants. Within a few songs of the Brigade's set, the only audience members lingering at the snack table were those searching for refreshments to cool down from dancing.
With much of the 24 Hours For Peace, including the rest of the Brigade's set and several more high-energy Otter's shows still ahead, conserving energy was a smart idea.



Editor's note: Other articles on last weekend's protests can be found in the News section, pages 1 through 7, with accompanying op-ed pieces in the Opinions section, pages 10 to 11. Last weekend marked other celebrations on campus, including the Harvest Moon Festival and the Cook Commons Fall Festival, held at Battell Beach. See photos on page 15.