"Funny guys" celebrate final moments

by Tiffany Royal
Staff Writer

In what they dubbed their final show at Ohio University, Four Funny Guys and Matt left their mark in Athens with pantyhose and dinosaurs.

But Friday night's performance at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium was not necessarily the comedy troupe's final show, as they plan on future events at Indiana and Ohio State universities.

The group began at Mentor High School in the late '90s, culminated at OU, brought in new members and performed around the state at various universities. Current members are Mike Busch, Anthony "Smokey" Deptula, Al Kellogg, Scott Miller, Jimmy Schurman and Rebecca Ballog.

Eric Moneypenny opened for the group with his Celebrity Spelling Bee, featuring impersonations of Matthew McConaughey, Tom Green, Dennis Leary and Christopher Walken.

Beginning the show was Vince Lee, the show's pianist, who graced the audience with a slow, note-by-note tune progressing into a full-fledged composition of Nintendo's video game music for the Mario Brothers epic. That was only the beginning of a roller coaster of laughter from the audience.

The guys, known for their physical comedy, introduced new skits and enhanced and improved old ones, such as "The Sinclair Brothers," (Deptula, Kellogg and Miller) a three-man dance group from London who don white sleeveless shirts, Umbro-style soccer shorts and dark pantyhose. The first performance of this group introduced the group to the audience, then they came back to perform during another skit, pulled three volunteers from the audience and enrolled them in the "Sinclair School of Dancing. "

The troupe was also known for their original songs, often parodying college life, such as "No Pizza, No Beer," with Miller and Schurman singing about the college student tragedy. Kellogg and Miller later did a duet together, calling themselves Salmon and Garlic, parodying fraternity life and Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer," including Lee's physical antics playing cymbals and a gong. The songs were dead-on in tune and the dry sense of humor behind the song made it even more amusing.

The skits were only the first part of the show - the group used their improv skills for the last third of the show, including "Party Quirks," "TV and Film Styles," "What's My Line?" and an audience involved version of "Jeopardy."

Compared to the guys' other performances, this one included new material and updated old skits in a refreshing way. The deadpan humor, while quite sexual in nature but tastefully done, gave the audience stitches in their sides.