Is there anything more frightening than a deranged clown? No. Anyone who ventured up to Marsh House's Haunted House on Saturday night now knows it too.
Then again, everyone in attendance should have been well-prepared. Obviously if you put a bunch of artists together-artists experienced in the Haunted House racket no less, since hosting the event is part of the house's contract-you're going to get scared. And scared people were.
The concept of a carnival is frightening enough as it is, but the residents of Marsh decided to take it one step further, with scarily successful results. As Erzsi Palko '02, a dancing zombie entertaining people as they stood in line, remarked, "It was actually scary, as opposed to being gross."
The haunted carnival featured such attractions as a man in a gas mask banging his head against the wall, a hallway draped with glittering curtains displaying people's hands and heads and a guy at the end who who jumped out from under the stairs for one last scare. And did we mention the deranged clown?
Tristan Jeffers '03, the mastermind behind the production, said that the best part of the annual Marsh House project was that, "You get to act like you'd never get to act in public." Let's hope so.
The Amazing Ronny Romm!
This weekend, Amherst was inundated by people who repeatedly revealed humiliating secrets, claimed to know everything and forced students into embarrassing situations in front of their friends. That's right-it was Family Weekend.
But it was also time for the annual visit from psychic and hypnotist Ronny Romm, who exhibited all of these parental talents-but without the redeeming free dinners.
On Sunday night, Romm entertained a packed Frontroom by reading people's minds, identifying objects while blindfolded and hypnotizing audience members. While these feats were entertaining, they were not convincing enough for some skeptical viewers.
"I thought that the only way he could have [read minds] was if he had someone planted in the audience, but I don't know how that would have worked," said Rachael Youngs '02.
There was no doubt, however, that the hypnosis was real. Alex Viehman '04 was one of the lucky audience members chosen to give up his self-control in order to perform such abnormal behavior as doing the moonwalk and eating ice cream and then wiping his mouth on the sleeve of the person next to him.
"I remember pretty much everything, and I can recall things when people tell me about it, so I have a pretty good reconstruction," said Viehman. "But it seemed like 20 minutes, and it was actually over an hour." Hey, sounds kind of like TAP.
Parental Puppetry
Four snazzy a cappella groups mixing humor with song in Johnson Chapel: your average Parents Weekend Concert? Not quite.
Saturday evening's show included a new twist on the Zumbyes' rendition of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," sung by Sam Rice-Townsend '01. Lines between audience and performers were blurred when Zumbyes pulled audience members onstage to act out the group's choreographed moves.
Former Zumbye Andrew Sloat '99, was pulled up by new Zumbye Matt Murumba '04, who had no idea that his guest performer was actually an expert. "I told him I was a Zumbye alum, but he moved me so I was standing in front of him anyway and started to guide me through the choreo," Sloat said. "Finally I just turned around and told him, 'Yeah, I know the moves!'"
The gimmick proved entertaining for audience members. "It was great that they got involved with the audience," said Christy Lee '03. "Some of them brought up their mothers, which was a nice way to promote the parent theme of the evening."