Laughter and matchmaking: Two shows for the price of one
Students looking for some not-so-serious dating were not disappointed Saturday.
The Hilarities comedy group hosted an improv show and dating game for the first time at the Eccles Conference Center, or ECC.
“It was fun. It was so much fun. I loved it,” said Andi Vuksinick, a junior in human movement science. “I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to just get up in front of so many people like that and just come up with the funniest things.”
The event started with a basic improv show featuring the Hilarities who performed a variety of improv games and activities while interacting with the audience.
“I laughed more at this one than I did at other ones,” said Dayna Vuksinick, a freshman in human movement science and Andi’s sister. “I went to a comedy club one time and I think they tried too hard, and here they just seem really relaxed and chill.”
After a 15-minute intermission, the audience returned to the auditorium for the University Dating Game, styled after the 1970s TV show “The Dating Game.” But this dating game had a comedic take added by the improv group and audience interaction.
The winning contestants of the dating show received a date hosted by the Beehive Grill and paid for by the Variety Club.
Students can apply to be contestants of future shows online at eventyournight.com and fill out a form along with matchmaking questions.
Despite the variety of styles, the improv show and dating game was a combination that worked well, Dayna said.
“It was good. I mean, a long improv show would probably be too much,” Andi said, “so I feel like with how short the improv show was, it was good to have another back-up thing.”
Hosted by eventyournight.com, the new variety club presents a diversity of live entertainment, said Joshua Hermann, a sophomore in business administration and the president of Kingdom Enterprises, the umbrella company over eventyournight.com.
Events will vary from show to show, ranging from concerts to comedy improv and theater, to game shows, festivals and talent competitions, Hermann said.
“So a pretty broad variety of live entertainment that we’re hoping to kind of make it a staple here on campus,” he said.
Seeing a lack of available entertainment in Cache Valley is what sparked the idea of the Variety Club, Hermann said. Besides the random live entertainment or temporary and seasonal activities, there isn’t a lot of permanent options for students and the community.
“My idea behind that was to give them more of a reliable stream of entertainment and something to do that they can count on every weekend, excluding some holidays and things like that,” he said.
The frequency of shows will depend on the week and the community response for the first shows, Hermann said. Prices will vary as well, depending on the show’s success.
“If the students and the community all come together and love it, we’ll keep it cheap and we’ll keep going. We’ll just keep running it,” he said.
The Variety Club, featuring the comedy show/dating game combination, will open again Nov. 20-21. There will be four shows, each taking place at 7 p.m. or 9:30 p.m.
“I think Cache Valley is a very supportive community of local business,” Hermann said, “and I think that if they see that there’s something consistent and fun, they’ll come together to support it, so I hope it becomes as much a service to them as they will be to us.”
The Variety Club will work to present entertainment requested by the community, Hermann said, so suggestions and ideas for different shows are welcome.
“I mean, that’s our goal,” he said, “is to provide the entertainment that people here want to see and bring some that they may not have expected that they wanted to see but they ended up loving afterward.”
— miranda.lorenc@gmail.com
@miranda_lorenc