Friday, May 1, 2009 Professor holds on to comedic aspirations By Bonnie Heyman contributing writer brhso7o<« psu.edu Sept. 19, 2008 Joe Falocco is not only a pro fessor at Penn State Behrend; he is also an aspiring stand-up comedian. Dr. Falocco will be performing this Saturday night at Jr’s Last Laugh, a comedy club on State Street. Falocco will be opening for comedians such as Andy Woodhull and Joby Saad. The admissions fee will be slightly under 13 dollars and people under the age of 21 are welcome. The comedy club not only offers entertainment but one can also purchase food and drinks. There will be a show at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. An interview with Dr. Falocco reveals an edgy man with a humorous background Dr. Bishop brings Young People's By Mike O. Wehrer news editor mrwso94i<i psu.edu Sept. 26, 2008 “A chorus reaches deep into community life, crosses all sorts of social and economic lines, and makes a contribution not only to a city's aesthetics, but also its humanity,” says Robert Shaw. If that is true, than imagine how big a contri bution Penn State’s own Dr. Jason Bishop is making by bringing three counties to gether into one chorus. “In Erie we have a city or chestra, and a city marching band, but no public outlet for talented vocalists,” says Bishop. “Right now, the only place they have to preform is in churches or with their schools.” In only his second year at All-American Rejects rock out By Evan Koser arts editor emk5110(" psu.edu April 24, 2009 continued from page 1 Center. As the performance opened with the aptly titled “Starts With One,” where the genius of frontman Chad Petree’s vocals really came through, the un prepared crowd was rocked. Treasure, who joined the band as a replacement for for mer singer Chara Faye Charnow in the summer of 2008, first noted the atmos phere of the unfamiliar college. “It’s such a different vibe from being outdoors. We came from Detroit, where we played out side.” Since their arrival that day, said Treasure, everything was “just go, go, go!” By the time STG had reached their latest single, “Ghost Town,” the crowd was completely revved up as Treas ure took the spotlight, jumping around the stage in her tight blue spandex and white tee. “Hey Penn State, I wore these colors for you,” exclaimed Treasure, entangled with the microphone cord. In the advent of a new studio album, Seasons of Poison, STG has been awash in a more mainstream fanbase. After having performed their first album, We Are Pilots, for more than four years, Treasure says that “Season of Poison is really a product of singing and per forming We Are Pilots for so long. By a certain point, the music was overplayed. On stage, there wasn’t a lot of breaking it down.” Treasure couldn’t put it bet ter. With their former album, songs were based heavily around prerecorded tracks, live-performance liberties were scarce. By the end of the set list, the crowd was roaring for the pop beats and dance-funk that the Shiny Toy Guns had to offer. The crowd ate up their per- Arts & Entertainment and upbringing. "I started doing comedy in my 205," he said. “It was the 1980 s: every one was doing it." He started out as follower and grew up to be a leader as a teacher and a comedian with his own mate rial. His first performance “bombed," he said, but he didn’t stop trying to make peo ple laugh. He used to try to use political humor in his acts, but now gets his material from “apolitical observations.” Dr. Falocco’s icon in comedy is either the late George Carlin or, more recently, Lewis Black. In Dr. Falocco’s “integrated arts" comedy class, students watch DVDs about different concepts and views of comedy. Lewis Black and George Car lin are both featured, along with many other comedians that he shows. How many Zen monks does it take to change a Chorus to Erie Penn State, he intends to fix this problem in a big way. The Young People’s Chorus is a tri-county effort founded by Bishop to bring together people from grade school through high school and help them to make their voices heard. “We wanted to make sure everyone, regardless of income, could participate." According to the the website of The Young People’s Chorus of New York, they share the same mission statement as YPC of Erie, “To provide children of diverse abilities and back grounds a comprehensive knowledge of music as a way to further their personal and artis tic growth and foster cross-cul tural understanding” Founded in 1988 by Fran sisco Nunez, The YPC of New York serves all five boroughs in formance and welcomed this somewhat unheard of band with open arms. Once the Rejects took to the stage, the crowd’s insatiable urges had let loose. All re straint prior to this last act had totally been forgotten. As the headlining band began to close the night, the Junker Center rumbled with the cries of screaming fans. By the third song on their set list, “Dirty Lit tle Secret,” Ritter was coaxing the fans to bombard the makeshift barricade. Through heavy guitar riffs and Ritter’s falsetto vocals, females swooned while males sang along to their favorite and most memorable lyrics. But only two songs later, after the crowd’s excitement level had dwindled, Ritter once again revved the throng of Tyson Ritter and lead guitarist Nick Wheeler during the song “Gives You Hell.” With its catchy chorus, the entire crowd screamed along. light bulb? Give up? Anytime you want to hear that joke or the answer, talk to Dr. Falocco. “That’s my favorite joke to tell,” he says. “The answer is two: one to change it and one to not change it. Get it?” Dr. Falocco explained what attendees should expect from the show Saturday night. “I don’t want to exaggerate my contribution at Jr.’s Saturday night,” he says. “I’m only doing five minutes, then I’ll be introducing the other acts: Joby Saad and Andy Woodhull. They are both established co medians with national reputa tions, but I have not seen their work.” This promises to be a good time, and the audience will get a whole lot of laughs from three different comedians. When asked if he has ever had a really bad experience on the same way Bishop hopes to serve the three northwestern counties of Pennsylvania: Erie, Warren and Crawford. This has not been an easy project so far, with the primary difficulties being transportation and simply getting the word out. Bishop said that it will be dif ficult for some students to at tend rehearsals when they have to drive from as far away as Warren. “Some parents would find it very hard to drive two hours to a weekly, minimum, rehearsal,” he said. The other major problem has been communicating with such a large group of potential singers. Bishops solution has been mailing every music teacher and choir director he could find in the tri-county area. adoring fans: “PSU, where you bitches at?!” With this final push, and along with the rec ognizable “Swing, Swing,” concertgoers had disregarded all regulations. Many were hopping the racks in hopes to escape being crushed, while others were busy crowd surf ing. Grabbing an additional microphone - amplifying his voice - Ritter brought the con cert to an end on a sudden note. Yet after encouragement from the audience, the Rejects came back for an encore fea turing their single, “Gives You Hell,” and “The Wind Blows.” After an almost ten hour drive cramped up on a tour bus, the All-American Rejects had put on a startling perform ance. “We sleep on the bus,” said guitarist Nick Wheeler. stage he replied, “Oh, yes.” “I was almost killed during the performance of a Theme Park Stunt Show,” he contin ued. “That inspired me to go to graduate school.” When asked who his favorite come dian to listen to or watch, Falocco chose Bill Maher, be cause he does “the kind of typ ical, political humor I wish I could pull off.” In Dr. Falocco’s class, the students watch and learn dif ferent types of jokes and come dians. He shows video clips and DVDs of comedians doing stand-up routines and then cri tiques, or laughs hysterically, at the performances. Now it is his turn once again to be watched on stage. Come on Saturday, watch him perform, and laugh. Whether you are laughing with him or at him, only you will know. Any major project is going to have to be funded somehow, and Bishop says that the YPC has a “solid fundraising foun dation” that is likely to expand as more people become aware of the program. Bishop, at present, is hoping for about 100 children to join the chorus from across North western Pennsylvania. Bishop recieved his doctorate from Oklahoma University and his Masters from Boston Uni versity, both in the field of music. Bishop, in addition to being founder and director of The Young People's Chorus of Erie, the Director of Choral Activities here at Behrend, as well as being interim conductor of the Erie Philharmonic Chorus. in Junker With equipment trucks rolling up behind the tour bus, many would assume a band like Aerosmith or Kiss had show up. But the Rejects, a once small time band known only to a se lect crowd, was breaking boundaries - especially after the release of “Gives You Hell.” “There was definitely a fun aspect about being a smaller band,” said rhythm guitarist Mike Kennerty. “Not that it isn’t now, but obviously it’s much different.” Their latest single, which has been out since September of 2008, is starting to receive mixed re views. “Sure some people hate it,” said Wheeler, “but it’s what’s keeping us popular right? Some people are always going to hate something that’s been overplayed.” Identifying himself only as “Toad,” the Rejects’ key boardist explained his pros and cons about touring with the band. “When I started playing with Nelly Flirtado, up in Canada, I was one of the few keyboard players. Contrary to what you may think, there’s really only a handful of touring keyboard players. [The music-industry] is like a brotherhood. It really is. We look out for each other. Like, if a band splits up, or a tour ends, we rely on each other for work. Techies work for everyone,” said Toad. It’s like a union of musicians, he explained, "That’s why you’re always seeing band members joining and starting bands with other members. It’s work, too, ya know? We have bills to pay too. We just make sure we keep an eye out for one an other. Touring with the All- American Rejects is awesome.” As the concert ended, some exited the building in anticipa tion for their long drives home, some lingered to buy memora bilia and others waited pa tiently to get a word, autographs, or pictures with their favored band members. A Year In Review 8-29-08: "Dail named as Penn State Behrend's new director" by Evan Koser - With the passing of last semester, we said goodbye to professor and director, Dr. David Jortner. Students - especially you actors - meet your new director and professor, Ms. Chiystyna Dail. 9-5-08: "All the world's a stage; improv group turns 60" by Evan Koser - Yesterday was the day for club rush; if you missed your chance to get a good look at the myriad activities on campus outside of the curriculum, you probably aren’t aware of the Matchbox Players. 9-26-08: "Professor Dail and actors excited for The Dispute " by Amber Williams - “They’re a really strong mix of experienced Behrend actors and new faces,” director Chrystyna Dail said of her ten-student cast for her first directed play at Behrend, The Dispute. 10-3-08: "Rootßerry act brings laughter to Bruno's" by Catherine Frisina - Bringing some unique and interesting humor to Behrend, Jonathan Root and Bill Berry kept the audience in the Bruno’s Cafe in stitches all evening. 10-17-08: "Eerie Horror Fest hosts film mak ers, fans, and actors" by Matthew Schwabenbauer - Downtown Erie had no lack of zombies, vampires and former B-movie actors this weekend, as the Warner Theater hosted the fifth annual Eerie Horror Fest. 10-24-08: "Behrendstock closes 'Flashback Friday' with a bang" by Jeff Kramer - Cover bands Hot Rocks and Hard Day’s Night played a foray of Rolling Stones and Beatles’ songs to an interested crowd just outside of Bruno’s. 11-7-08: "Students preview YPC at Northwest Songfest" by Rachel Reeves - After months of recruiting, planning, auditioning, add fundraising, Dr. Jason Bishop finally saw his efforts begin to take some shape. Penn State Erie, the Behrend College, hosted the Northwest Songfest in the McGravey Commons throughout the day of Saturday, Nov 1. 11-14-08: "The Dispute displays Behrend's act-; ing prowess" by Jennifer Juncosa - The Behrend Studio Theater’s fall performance, The Dispute, premiered Thursday, Nov. 13. 2-6-09: "Comedian Josh Sneed brings big laughs to small crowd at Bruno's" by Neil J. Peters - On Friday, Jan 30, Bruno’s was graced with the presence of the great Josh Sneed, the amateur comedian who spends his time hanging out with Tina Fey. 2-20-09: "Jessi Campbell entertains Bruno's crowd, laughter abounds" by Heather McGovern - Many students attended the Lion Entertainment Board spon sored comedy event in Bruno’s Cafe on Friday, Feb 6. 2-27-09: "Thirsty Thursday: drinking in litera ture" by Kay Smith - On Thursday nights, Smith Chapel is host to a variety of dif ferent authors -throughout the semester. The newly created Sweet Sorrow Reading Series, however, features Behrend Cre ative Writing seniors reading from their theses. 3-27-09: "Ceann brings Irish rock to Bruno's" by Heather McGovern - Ceann performed for the Penn State Behrend crowd in Bruno’s cafe Saturday night; The Irish-American band focused on their origins, at one point singing “Pittsburgh Makes Me Drunk,” as well as, songs about Vikings, Pirates, Canadians, Scottish, and various other subjects involving beer and the color green. 4-3-09: "International film, Black Book , brings controversy to Behrend" by Heather McGovern * Black Book, the first of three films celebrating Behrend’s In ternational Women’s Film Series 200$. Many students attended the film, unaware of its graphic nature. 4-10-09: "International film festival debuts The Flower of Evil" by Connor Sattely - An unfamiliar sound drifted through the halls of the Reed Union Building Monday. Rather than rock, jazz, or the bustle of students between classes, the air was full of French singer Marie-Louise Damien's mysterious voice. 4-17-09: "Behrend's spring musical opens and brings the message of love, sex, and Nazism" by Jennifer Juncosa - Penn State Behrend’s spring performance of Cabaret opened April 16 in the Studio Theater. The intimate cast of 17, under the direction of Chrystyna Dail, brings a provocative and polit ical musical to Behrend. The Behrend Beacon I 5
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers