Lights, camera, comedy: "After Hours"

Lights! Camera! Comedy! The performers and producers of Muhlenberg’s first live sketch comedy show “After Hours” specialize in bringing laughter and fun through the magic of television. Students ranging from freshmen to seniors participated in the show’s very first filming on Saturday night, Feb. 18, in the television studio in Walson Hall. A live audience provided the upbeat energy and fun interactive quality that made the first taping a success.

“The ‘After Hours’ show is Muhlenberg’s late night show, like SNL or The Tonight Show,” said director Ilana Saltzman ’18. “We don’t really have one here at Muhlenberg, and we thought it would be really fun to add that into the community,” said Saltzman. “We’re reaching out to the community because we’re going to have a live audience coming in…and we’re airing in the Light Lounge and digitally, so we’re actually the first show in a really long time to take the Light Lounge TVs and the TVs in the Seegers area.”

A team of 22 actors, producers, writers, promotional crew, makeup artists and musicians are responsible for “After Hours”—and every one of them is a student. “There is no faculty involvement with this club at all, and it was all started by Saltzman, and she organizes a lot of it,” said Emmia Newman ’18.

The team is divided into four groups, which often overlap in their responsibilities. The writing department includes John Wrigley ’18 (also involved in production), Sade Ogunjimi ’18 (also on the promotional team), Newman, Christine Strange ’19, James Sopher ’19, David Ossa ’19 and Ali Ruchman ’19. Other writers for the show include Jason Leonhard ’18, Dov Foger ’19, Julia Tyson ’18, Lizzie Roswig ’19, Hannah Schmitt ’20 (a promotional team member as well), Jennie Silber ’20, Max Kasler ’20, and Natan Isack ’20, who is also part of the on-camera talent. Other actors are Natalie Trachtman ’20, Cheyanne Leid ’20, Theresa Wegher-Thompson ’19 and Xavier Pacheco ’19.

The “After Hours” cast is always looking for new talent to join them on camera. The promotional department includes Jason Silberman ’18 and Yael Green ’19. The makeup department, which is also looking for new recruits, consists of Lucy Massad ’20 and Annie Diaz ’19.

Saltzman and Silberman were primarily responsible for having the idea for the show and bringing it to fruition. Every student involved put in a great deal of time and effort to make the show the best it could be, which is no small feat for college students struggling under the weight of class requirements and social obligations.

Before the show, Saltzman coached the audience on what to do and how to behave once the cameras were rolling. Certain cues indicated that we should laugh, others that we should applaud. There were a few technical hiccups as the crew tried to pull everything together for the moment of truth, but the team just laughed it off and thanked the audience for their patience. Actress Theresa Wegher-Thompson assured the waiting crowd not to worry, “We’re professionals."

The show began with a sketch depicting a potential presidential debate in the year 2020, written by Wrigley. “I work in the writers’ room, developing sketches and writing jokes,” said Wrigley. “It’s really about how the election has become a reality show, and it’s really just a parody of how that has happened…it’s satire. It’s just kind of making fun of the way the media has turned the election into a show.”

Isack opened the “debate” as moderator Ryan Seacrest, welcoming his guests and potential 2020 presidential candidates: Trachtman as Kim Kardashian, Wegher-Thompson as Justin Bieber, Pacheco as Kanye West, and Leid as Jeb Bush. The debate went just as you would expect it to: no one responded to any questions, Kim and Justin took a bunch of selfies, and Kayne interrupted his wife’s response to a healthcare question to insist that “Beyoncé had the best healthcare plan of all time!” Laughs were had by all, as the debate turned into a promo for a potential reality show with all the present celebrities moving into the White House together.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if this did eventually happen, but I digress.

Silberman got up next to perform a magic show. I was called as an audience participant, and wrote my name on the nine of clubs; Silberman then performed “sleight-of-mouth” and coughed up my card. I got it as a souvenir in a “norovirus-proof” plastic bag. Silberman then used other audience members as volunteers and read their minds as they picked out words from a joke book and a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey. Silberman is an incredibly talented magician, and I hope he continues to use his skills on “After Hours” as the show premiers on its weekly time slot.

“After Hours” concluded with the “Mule Update,” a news-type show that was *ahem* apparently “better than The Muhlenberg Weekly.” Wegher-Thompson was the lead anchor, discussing important Muhlenberg events such as the norovirus epidemic on campus (and her relief that there have been “no casualties” as a result) and how the recently-suspended fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon would soon be permitted to operate again. She spoke to Leid, a norovirus survivor, and Isack, who had been picking up the campus party slack since Sig Ep had been suspended. This was the only sketch that utilized a green screen for the background.

While the first show was an overall success, Slatzman had an important message for the Muhlenberg faculty from the “After Hours” cast and crew: “There isn’t enough equipment at the school, and all 22 of us would benefit if we were able to use more of the equipment or if Muhlenberg could get more equipment,” said Slatzman. “It actually really affects us. We have a team of twenty-two who are passionate about this industry, and we need the tools to learn.”

I for one hope “After Hours” becomes a staple in Muhlenberg’s culture as time goes on, although I have to heartily disagree that the Mule Update could ever outshine The Weekly.

I guess we’ll just have to see what else happens as “After Hours” makes itself a part of the fabric of Muhlenberg culture.