by The Cowl Editor on February 28, 2019
On-Campus
by Brigid Walshe ’19 A&E Staff
On a cold, wintry Tuesday night at 11 p.m., many students ventured down to the Smith Center for the Arts for a good late night laugh, and that is exactly what they got with Six Gents’ Valentine’s Day show. For those who may not be familiar with Six Gents, they are Providence College’s only premier sketch comedy group on campus, and they put on multiple shows per semester. Even though the group is called Six Gents, there are actually 12 members in the group, including five new members who joined last fall.
William Oser ’19 says that his favorite thing about Six Gents is that it is probably the biggest creative outlet he has on campus here at PC. The comedy group is not as structured as other clubs on campus, and members have the freedom to create whatever they would like in comedy. Oser says that it is empowering to be able to collaborate and create original ideas and then execute them by putting them on their feet and performing them live for peers and fans.
The group usually writes their sketches in pairs and takes an idea based on what is happening on campus, in society, or even “a random idea that might’ve came to us in a dream,” according to Oser. They then meet as a group to get opinions and decide what to do with the sketch.
The sketch group made it clear that the annual Valentine’s Day show was open to everyone, regardless of their relationship status. The group performed their original sketches for an hour, which included skits about a mock dating show, a sitcom spoof, and a girl who finds unexpected love at a book shop. One of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the night was the final sketch: a Toy Story spoof where all of Andy’s toys come to college with him and get a glimpse of one of Andy’s new friends. Oser said that this was his favorite sketch, written by Rita Murphy ’19. The group performed their own original interludes in between sketches, including a very romantic love poem about serial killer, Ted Bundy.
The group’s popularity and presence on campus has grown over the years, having larger and larger crowds at each show, and now performing in the Angell Blackfriars Theatre in Smith, with a crowd that fills up almost 3/4 of the theater. The group used to perform in the black box theatre, but their shows became so highly attended that the group moved into a larger venue.
This was the group’s first show of 2019, and if they keep the laughs coming, it will be a very successful year for PC’s top comedians. Keep an eye out for more shows coming later in the semester, and do not miss a chance for some free laughs.