A cross between Monty Python and Saturday Night Live, Penn's new Face and Hair Club is hitting the comedy scene. While they are not prepared to sing and dance in a line and boast no trained acting skills, the current 10 members are roaring with a vast amount of jokes, skits and of course a great sense of humor.
The Face and Hair Club began earlier this year when members of the club each tried out for one or more of Penn's comedy groups -- Without a Net and Mask and Wig -- only for most to be turned away.
Yet this did not stop the 10 budding comedians.
"We all tried out for the improv groups, and after one of the callbacks, we had lunch and decided to make our own group," says club member and College freshman Neil Malhotra.
Since their first lunch meeting, those in attendance helped place recruitment posters around campus and hosted an introductory meeting in September.
Unfortunately, the meeting "was the same day as Patch Adams [came to speak on campus], so we lost people," explains group founder and College freshman John Swierk.
Nevertheless, this unsuccessful recruitment event did not stop the Face and Hair Club. Instead, the few first members went around to friends and classmates, spreading the word about their club in an attempt to make a good name for themselves, Malhotra says.
Ultimately, the 10 members registered with the University, only to meet great resistance. Swierk says that the University felt that it did not need another comedy group.
"Other established comedy clubs are giving [the group] a cold shoulder. ... They're worried that we're in their face, taking over their turf," College sophomore Cezary Podkul says.
Club founder and College freshman Rachel Aronson added that she received an anonymous e-mail asking, "Who is Face and Hair, and why does the name satirize Mask and Wig?"
Nursing freshman Susan Paul says she can answer this question.
"They were really funny in an unpretentious ... down-to-earth sort of way. One of my favorite parts [of their show] was when they explained, in song, how they aren't Mask and Wig ... they have girls, can't sing and are able to laugh at themselves," Paul says.
Yet despite a shaky start, Face and Hair is unlike any other comedy group at Penn. They are the only coed sketch comedy group that requires no singing or dancing skills and is open to all those who would like to join. They refer to themselves as the "renegades of comedy," according to Aronson.
In addition, the club is composed of students who one may not typically associate with the comic field.
The members include pre-med students, systems engineers and even those studying to be marine biologists. All are looking for a respite from the world of numbers, yet not a total change of daily routine.
Swierk explained that "Mask and Wig is more like a lifestyle. We allow people to have lives outside of our club."
To emphasize the importance of having such a unique comedy group on campus, club member and Engineering freshman Hunter Schloss says, "Penn needs another form of comedy that's free-flowing like our group's."
Not only is their choice of comedy unique, but "it's experimental and different. We're changing comedy at Penn and someday Penn graduates will tell their kids about us," Aronson says.
True to their word, Face and Hair has begun making a name for itself on campus.
"I saw the group perform at the High Rise North rooftop lounge last semester, and I thought they were very funny," College freshman Matthew Brown says. "Their song If I Had Another Million, which parodied If I Had a Million Dollars, was the highlight of the show." The song poked fun at Wharton students, explains club members.
Swierk even boasted about an encounter with "random people on the street recognizing [Face and Hair] as [they] walked to a party at 1 a.m."
While Face and Hair is still in the registration period for University clubs, members are already looking into the future and hoping to continue the process of establishing themselves on campus and recruiting new members.
"By the time we all graduate [four years from now], I want to hear students say, 'I want to see the Face and Hair Club tonight,'" Malhotra says.
