by John Downey '23 on March 3, 2022
A&E Co-Editor
Arts & Entertainment
Grace Whitman ’22
Even though many students stayed up late last Tuesday night for the Providence vs. Villanova Men’s Basketball game, an impressive number of them came to the Smith Center to enjoy the Six Gent’s Valentine’s Day show at 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
For each four shows that they have put on so far this academic year, the Gents wrote mini-acts to fill the transition time between different skits, ranging from mad libs that get the audience involved to some “top trending” Google search questions about each Gent. The Valentine’s Day show was no exception, featuring a few rounds of speed-dating, similar to the Celebrity Dating Show, in which a “mystery Gent” was paired with an audience member and both students were asked questions testing their compatibility and whether they would like to go on a second date. For example, the “contestants” were asked questions like, “what’s the most embarrassing text you’ve ever received?” and “would you be open to relocating to the Chicago suburbs for love?”
One of the night’s crowd-favorite sketches was written by Christina Charie ’25. The skit followed Coach Cooley as he lost Huxley somewhere on campus. “Cooley” (Aidan Benjamin ’23) is frantic about finding Huxley before the next game, but then finds out that Friar Dom let Huxley get hit by the Friar Night Life Shuttle out of spite because Cooley allowed Huxley to steal his spotlight as a new mascot five years ago. The most shocking plot twist, however, came at the end of the skit: “Cooley” and the audience learned that Huxley actually had not gotten hit by the Friar Nite Shuttle—he was just drunk at Brad’s.
Another memorable sketch was 50 Shades of Love. Written by Andy Belotte ’25, it starred Benjamin as Ben, a man hoping to win over a girl named Carla (Analisa Pisano ’23). When Ben is too nervous to shoot his shot with Carla, “Nate Watson” (Belotte) is brought in to give Ben his best tips for winning the girl over. “Watson” explains to Ben that he uses his TikTok fame as a selling point to impress the girls he’d previously struck out with. Abbie O’Connell ’22 enters the scene as Doris Burke. She, like “Watson,” tries to help Ben but fails, as Ben finally builds up the nerve to tell Carla his feelings only for her to confess that her true love is Watson.
The Family Restaurant sketch, written by Emma Harrington ’22, was yet another highlight of the show. It followed Benjamin and Sydney Cahill ’22 on a date at a family restaurant that takes a turn for the worse when they realize that they are in the middle of a Kitchen Nightmares episode starring Gordon Ramsay, played by Harrington in a spot-on impression. Over the course of the skit, the restaurant family and their strong personalities come out of the kitchen, yelling at one another. Pisano’s Italian accent, in particular, left the audience in shambles.
This past week, Six Gents had their spring auditions, so be on the lookout for new members at their next show!