The Daily Collegian
Dane Cook to bring
comedy back to PSU
By Karina Yiicel
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Jean Shelton won the Bryce
Jordan Center’s “Tickets and a
Meet & Greet with Dane Cook”
impression contest Tuesday.
Shelton (sophomore-veterinary
and biomedical sciences) is now
taking her boyfriend to see Dane
Cook at 7:30 tonight in the front
row of the BJC.
Cook will perform on a circular
stage in the middle of the audi
ence to make sure everyone can
see his performance and to play
up his physical comedy, said
Bemie Punt, marketing director
for the BJC.
Fbr this tour, Cook is going back
to being more physical on stage.
“I love physical comedy,” he
said. “It’s going to be raw and
open and silly and ridiculous and
over-the-top. When you’re in the
round, it feels like you’re in front
of four theaters.”
He is one of very few artists
who can pull off the center stage,
Punt said, adding that the last
person was Bill Cosby 10 years
ago.
Cook won’t be the only one to
take the unique stage.
A 1 Del Bene, J. Chris Newberg
and Ben Gleib will warm up the
•crowd. Cook said he is bringing
these emerging comedians to
give them a shot in the industry.
"That’s how he started,” Punt
said.
Bluegrass band to ‘jam’
By Josh Bollinger
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Don’t be fooled by the name
Yonder Mountain String Band
isn't your typical bluegrass band.
Yonder Mountain String Band
will play at 8 tonight at the State
Theatre. Tickets are $3O.
“It's kind of like rock, it’s kind of
like bluegrass,” banjo player Dave
Johnston said. “I think definitely
by now it's just Yonder Mountain
String Band music.”
State Theatre Marketing and
Membership Director Kristy
Cyone said the band is classified
as "newgrass." She said it is a jam
band at heart, but it is unlike most
jam bands today.
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lionscrossing.com
“[Comedians] never forget
their roots.”
Cook started his tour Oct 26 in
Syracuse, N.Y., and the BJC will
be the fifth stop on the new Dane
Cook Live! tour.
Cook has been preparing for
the tour for eight months and has
his preparation down to a science,
he said.
In the planning stages, Cook
said he tries to come up with a
conscious theme to stick to.
“You learn your lines and then
you try to forget them,” Cook said.
“For bigger shows there’s a bit
more planning. You don’t want to
get distracted on stage, so I make
a strong beginning and strong
ending and know that in the mid
dle I can improvise and
freeform.”
Shelton said she has been
preparing a lot, too for her
meet and greet with the comedi
an.
“I don’t want to be one of ‘those’
fans,” she said. “I might just try to
play it off or think of a funny joke.”
Shelton said she has listened to
and watched Cook since middle
school, but has never seen him
live.
Fbr Cook, the first time he per
formed at Penn State was a turn
ing point in his career during
his Tourgasm tour five years ago.
“Whenever someone brings up
Penn [State] something happens
to me, because I recail that
moment standing backstage, and
“It’s not traditional bluegrass.
It’s like an updated jam band ver
sion,” Cyone said
Johnston said the band derives
its influences from many different
genres other than bluegrass, such
as country and classic rock.
He said Yonder Mountain String
Band is also influenced by punk
band the Dead Kennedys’ “do it
yourself” work ethic.
But Johnston said the backbone
of the band has always been blue
grass, though it’s slowly evolved
over time into something more.
“Mainly we’re still an acoustic
band. We’re just pretty loud,” he
said.
But, he said, for the most part,
its fans see the band as a group of
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Dane Cook will perform at 7:30
tonight in the BJC.
I was amazed that that many peo
pie had come to see me.' Cook
said. “It was my ultimate dream
coming true.'
Cook described the atmos
phere at Penn State as a kick in
the pants.
Ffont said he also remembers
Cook’s show five years ago.
“We had the most people he
had ever performed in front of."
Punt said. “He was on a college
tour performing in front of maybe
1,000 fans a night. Then he came
here and saw 7.500 crazy, rabid
Penn State fans. "
at Theatre
guys who are more or less a lot
like them, having a great time
playing a unique style of music.
“It's something they can relate
to in a way they could never relate
to before,” Johnston said. “We
don’t represent that old way
we’re just regular guys framed to
the bluegrass contexts '
That’s exactly how Kay Yeager
(junior-information sciences and
technology) „ees the band.
Yeager said he likes that Yonder
Mountain String Band plays clas
sic bluegrass songs because his
uncle used to play those songs
when he was a kid and he's
learned to love them.
To e-mail reporter: kzysols@psu.edu
To e-mail reporter: tjbs267@psu.edu Yonder Mountain String Band
Chamber music trio
to perform in Schwab
By Brittany Horn
FOR THE COL.cGiAN
| Five-lane traffic stood still as
! thousands gathered to listen and
: watch the concert, broadcasted
on screens outside a concert hall
in Vietnam. said Sara
Sant Ambrogio, cellist of The
Eroica Trio.
“We finish and just hear this
roar outside from the people. It's
| so incredible that music has this
power." Sant'Ambrogio said.
She ran out of the concert hall
during intermission to see the
crowds, she said
Sant'Ambrogio is one of the
Eroica Trio, which will perform at
7:30 tonight at the Schwab
Auditorium.
The concert is part of the
Center for the Performing .Arts'
seasonal line-up.
Student tickets are Y 1 ”,
student ID.
The Eroica Trio will ple\ a vari
ety of pieces including one co
commissioned b> Penn Smte.
said John Mark Kaiacz. CPA's
editorial director
The performance w:!i feature
the composition "Tno-Sinfonia"
by Kevin Puts, a "ma.sshely tal
ented'' composer. San! Ambrogio
said.
"It tickles your ‘
makes you want in
Sant'Ambrogio sail;
While the group 1.-. Known for
classical char.ibei music, this
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form 2 new su
Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010 I 7
should be no reason to stop stu
dents from coming, Rafacz said.
There may be a lot of chamber
musicians, but these women are
"new wave” and have had suc
cessful careers as soloists and
ensemble members, he said.
When it comes to solo careers,
all three are known for expansive
backgrounds and credentials,
Rafacz said. Sant’Ambrogio and
pianist Erika Nickrenz attended
high school together and took les
sons from the Sant’Ambrogio
family.
They grew together “like sis
ters" in the field of music and
opportunity. Sant’Ambrogio said.
Because the three members
know each other so well, they
have a strong "dynamic” of spon
taneity and chemistry,
Sant'Ambrogio said.
Feeling is everything for the
trio. Sant'Ambrogio said it’s
raw, life-changing” music that
they play and share with the
w'orld.
"Music is one of those few
moments where there is no tech
nology and interference,”
Sant'Ambrogio said.
"It's live. It’s real.”
College students should find
the group a lot more accessible
than other musicians, as audi
ence interaction can be expected,
Rafacz said.
ar-ov and
Not only are they first-rate
musicians, but they're also “easy
on the eves." he said.
Courtesy ot Myspace.coni
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