Live, from Bowdoin College, it’s Tuesday night! Simon Brooks ’14 will unveil his independent study, Bowdoin Night Live, on Tuesday as part of Ivies week. Taking place in Kresge Auditorium at 9 p.m., the show will follow the classic Saturday Night Live format with a musical guest—campus band The NARPs—and celebrity cameos. Tickets for “Bowdoin Night Live” (“BNL”) are available at the Smith Union Information desk. 

“I love Saturday Night Live, it’s my dream to be a part of that writing team,” said Brooks.
The project has been an independent study this semester. 

“I want to write sketches,” said Brooks, “I write sketches in my free time, so I figured, why not get credit for it?”

He has spent the semester pursuing the independent study under the guidance of Davis Robinson, a Theater professor. 

“We tried to make it as close to the timeline of the real SNL as possible,” said Clare DeSantis ’16, writer and cast member. “The difference is, writing sketches is their only job, and we have to go to classes too.” 

Brooks assembled a team of writers—though he had the final say on all sketches—and then assigned roles. 

The cast of eight includes Sam Chase ’16, Catalina Gallagher ’16, Chuck Rollins ’14, Liv King ’14, Clare DeSantis ’16, John Swords ’15, Leo Shaw ’15 and Brooks himself. The writing team created sketches with specific cast members in mind.

DeSantis said that prior to working with the group, she vaguely knew five of the eight, noting that Brooks did a good job of gathering people from different social groups on campus. 

“It is interesting to pick up on what different people think are the funny things about campus, the interesting quirks of Bowdoin,” she said. 

The sketches focus on humorous elements of life on campus. 

“The idea of SNL is social commentary on the world,” explained Brooks, “So rather than do what the professionals do, we decided to comment on our small world, with sketches and jokes about Bowdoin.”

Other than hinting at its structure, Brooks is tight-lipped about what else the show will include. 
“I don’t want to give away any of the sketches,” he said.

Brooks’ decision to stage the show at the onset of Ivies stems from his perceived lack of campus comedy shows during the festivities, which are overwhelmed by musical performances. The group has rehearsed almost every night this past week, and they have been filming the digital shorts—inspired by The Lonely Island—for over a month. However, most of the sketches will be live.

“People like laughing,” said Brooks. “There’s more of a demand than supply for comedy on campus.” 

DeSantis agreed. “Maybe this could start carving out a niche for more comedy on campus.”