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Stand-up comedy, karaoke rule at SAC’s Cafe House


The UC Patio was the scene of Wednesday night's SAC Café House Open Mic Night and Karaoke.

The stage was open to any and all comers, from guitarists to stand-up comedians, and later turned into a karaoke dance party. There were about 30 chairs set up in a semi-circle around the stage and karaoke screen, and at any given point in the night there were around 50 or so people, coming and going.

The SAC Café House committee chair Jared Powelson got things started by singing originacompositions and a Pink Floyd cover, while accompanied on keyboard. Following Powelson was Dustin Binger, a freshman who lit up the stage with a rousing bit of stand-up. His set included topics from his parents (who were in attendance in the audience, possibly as a gag for him to rail on), to marijuana, and advertising.

There was a slight lull in the night as Powelson begged the crowd to come and sing karaoke. He eventually donned his guitar once again and sang a few covers before singing a few songs of karaoke himself to tempt the crowd.

The crowd, interested in Powelson's rendition of Britney Spears' …Baby One More Time began to swell, and more and more people started to sing. A few karaoke singers graced the stage two or even three times, such as Herb Wilkins, who had the crowd singing along with his version of Outkast's Mrs. Jackson. Freshman Travis Ragle and sophomore Natasha Ross, both from Memphis graced the stage with their own takes on Duice's 1995 hit Dazzey Duks [sic].

Everyone sang along with the karaoke singers, who sometimes numbered five to seven people on stage, depending on who decided to jump in and enjoy the fun. People rarely sang by themselves, often dragging their friends along to suffer the torment in groups of two or three. Songs ranged from the newly-remade Lady Marmalade off the Moulin Rouge soundtrack to Destiny's Child's Bootylicious, to Staind's Outside, sang onstage by Brad Hadley. As people began to dance and sing, the Café House took on a party-like atmosphere. Everywhere in sight people were singing along or dancing.

All in all, a night that started out on rocky footing wound up to be a success as karaoke helped to liven the mood and atmosphere.