Amateur comedians took the stage to bring out some laughs from students at the Baptist Campus Ministry’s center here at NKU on March 21.
The loud cackling laughs coming from the audience hinted that many of these students were friends outside of Thursday Night Live and were very much enjoying the silly costumes and skits their friends were putting on.
Thursday Night Live, an event put on the the BCM every other Thursday evening at 8 p.m. is open to the public and features students doing their best to one up the popular show “Saturday Night Live,” which inspired the event. The show focuses on talented guitar playing, student singers, and gaining laughs through skits and jokes.
Meredith Ellis, a sophomore, middle grade education major, is one of the main coordinators of the event and revealed that the event started this past fall. “We get a good size crowd, the same people usually, but we’re hoping to expand and get more people to come,” she said.
Those behind TNL have put together multiple ways to reach students and attract them to their bi-weekly event. “We have a Facebook page and a YouTube page,” she said. “Our goal is to have an advertising team to make fliers and get the word out to students on campus.”
Caitlin Ellis, a sophomore, communication and public relations double major, as well as, Meredith’s twin sister, is the host of TNL and appears in nearly every skit. Thursday’s skit featured Caitlin and Natalie Marsman, a sophomore social work major, trying to one up each other by competing over whose family owned the most milk, who helped the most people through donating fictional pints of blood daily, and adopting twelve kids from every country.
The pair held the audience’s attention, surprising them with each new wisecracking comeback that they threw at one another.
Another highlighted participant, Caleb Belanger, a junior electronic media and broadcasting major, sang a rendition of the song, “Wagon Wheel,” originally produced by the band, Old Crow Medicine Show. The audience sang along and clapped at his talented singing upon finishing.
Belanger also practiced his ability to revert his voice into that of a small child, while performing a skit as a troublesome, stereotyping little boy interrupting a date his mother (Caitlin Ellis) was on.
Videos were also featured throughout the show, showcasing the technological skill, talents with the sound board, and lighting effects by other members of the TNL crew.
Upon curiosity of the show’s inspiration for skits, Meredith Ellis said, “Whatever our conversations are about, we’ll say, ‘Oh that should be a TNL skit.'”
A lot of the skits mirror that of the types of skits performed on Saturday Night Live. The event is popular among other Baptist Campus Ministry centers according to Meredith.
Those behind the event plan to gain more audience members through improving their shows from week to week and informing more students through several different mediums.
Audience member Jessie Doloresco a freshman nursing major said, “I like coming to TNL whenever I can. I like being able to see all my friends act and do funny skits, and sing really well.”
Any student can find a seat front and center for each event, every other Thursday at 8 p.m. Those who regularly attend and perform are welcoming and excited at the prospect of seeing new faces in the crowd.
