It’s an old saying that, “Laughter is the best medicine.” If this is true, then Tang Theater must have been converted to a pharmacy on Friday, April 21, for Comedy Night at Phillips Academy. It began with an opening from Mr. Mark Efinger ’74, who treated the audience to tales of his youth at Andover, thirty-two long years ago. As we went back in time, Mr. Efinger told us, “I regained my hair, and I lost 32 years of beer gut—bringing me down to only three years of beer gut.” His most outstanding joke of the night was when he quoted his wife, Director of Student Activities Cindy Efinger, who told him before the show, “If you don’t get those kids to laugh, you won’t get anything else.” Efinger then introduced a recent PA grad, Billy Doyle ’05. Doyle, who currently attends Brown University, told a long string of jokes in a few minutes. Some sent the crowd into hysterical laughter, such as, “You know that clothing line for black people, FUBU: For us, by us? Well, I’m going to make one for white people, called FUBIKIS: For us, by kids in sweatshops. After telling a few more jokes between the acts, Mr. Efinger introduced the next comedian, Rob Paravonian, who has appeared on both VH1 and Comedy Central. While his first joke, mocking the name of Tang Theater, fell flat, the audience quickly warmed up to him as he talked about his past. Paravonian recalled his inability to go on a plane after 9/11 without being searched two or three times—“Next time, I’m just gonna wear a bathrobe and flip-flops.” Paravonian also joked about his college roommates, who had never left the state of California. The exchange went… Roommate: “Hey, Rob, how’s the weather in Chicago?” Paravonian: “Well, it’s four below.” Roommate: “Dude! … Four below what?” A musician as well as a comedian, Paravonian, was kind enough to share his musical talents, performing a number entitled, “You’re Wasting My Minutes,” about his girlfriend who constantly calls him. What followed was an amusing rant about the fact that music nowadays is all basically the same. He proved his point by playing a country version of “The Thong Song” by Sisqo. In addition, Paravonian explained how nonsensical the lyrics of the “Friends” theme are. Finally, to wrap it up, Paravonian revealed that he is haunted by Pachelbel’s Canon in D. “As a cellist, I had to play the same eight quarter notes 54 times—I counted, because I had nothing else to do.” His theory as to why the part is so monotonous? “I think Pachelbel must have dated a cellist once, and she dissed him really bad, so he gave cellists the worst part he could think of.” He then proceeded to play selections from a few songs based upon Pachelbel’s Canon, like Vitamin C’s “Graduation” and “Basket Case” by Green Day. All in all, Friday’s comedy night was lived up to its name with a barrel full of laughs.
