Thurajay, ~ Features
Behrend Nightlife:
The Beef with B
Jell-0 wrestling, rock bands and a lot of empty seats...
by Robb Frederick
The Collegian
If the people at American
Gladiators got together with
the people at Double Dare,
they'd probably come up with
something like this...
Contestant number one,
deltoids rippling in the glory of a
blinding spotlight, dives into the
makeshift ring, fakes to the right,
and -- Slam! drops his
opponent with a lightning-bolt
swipe at the legs. The meaty arm
locks around the thin neck, the
straining face is ground into four
inches of cold, orange Jell-O. His
opponent's back exposed, the
crowd starts to chant ... he
knows what they want, and his
challenger does too. And with a
devilish grin and a slight tug at
the shorts - r-r-rip! they get it.
Sound like another stab at
late-night syndication? Not quite.
Welcome to Bruno's, the only
Erie night spot that accepts Penn
State meal card points.
As a handful of Student
Programming Council (SPC)
volunteers hustled, poured and
mopped up more than 400
gallons of Jell-O, the crowd
grew, at one point jamming the
Wintergreen Cafe with more than
200 shoulder-to-shoulder
students. They craned their necks,
stood on chairs and, for a while at
least, forgot about their watches
and the other parties they would
soon leave for.
For a few short hours, the
beleaguered night club was a
genuine success.
"The ultimate goal of Bruno's
is to provide entertainment that
gives students a place to go on a
Friday or Saturday night,"
explains SPC President Mark
Johnson, fourth semester M. 1.5.,
who coordinates Bruno's events.
"We've shown that we can
make this work if we just have
the money to work with," he
says, "but we don't have enough
Why is Craig Campbell obsessed
with this moose?
We're
not sure,
but he's at it
again on
page 8 ...
In your face: Nicole Komfcarski, second semester psychology, locks up
with her Jell-O slinging opponent, Gail Sinoski, second semester psychology,
during a co-ed tag-team match Saturday.
money to get the acts students
want to see."
Student Government
Association (SGA) allocated
approximately $14,000 to SPC
for this semester, an amount that
was supplemented
with sales of
activity cards and
revenue from the
SPC weekly film
series."
But Johnson
says those
numbers should
be higher.
"Each of the comics we bring
in costs between $l,lOO-$1,200,
and most of the bands we get
charge between $BOO-$1,000," he
says.
After a recent SPC budget
evaluation, the organization was
forced to drop several acts
scheduled for later this semester,
including one comic.
According to Johnson, those
budget woes have affected other
student programming as well.
"Our film series hasn't been
touched yet, but with only a few
"Bruno's has worked out well so far,
but there*s definitely a lot of room for
improvement."
exceptions, such as the
Snowball, every other cent has
gone into Bruno's," he explains.
Not all of the night club's
problems are related to finances,
however. An even more
Greg Geibel/T/te Collegian
frustrating obstacle for Bruno's
organizers is the stigma that has
enshrouded the club since it
opened last year.
"I'll admit that I’ve had a
decent time both times I've been
•Mark Johnson
SPC President
"The Jell-0 wrestling was
definitely a plus," he concedes.
"That worked well because it was
something different and it was
something we could actually
participate in."
Johnson says he is well aware
of the problems associated with
Bruno's.
runo's
to Brunos, says
Mike Ronan,
fourth semester
international
business, "but I
don’t normally
go, because there
are better things
to do on the
weekend.
"Bruno's has worked out well
so far," he says, "but there's
definitely a lot of room for
improvement."
That improvement, he
believes, may come through the
purchase of a new sound and
lighting system, which has
already been funded by officials at
University Park.
But Johnson also recognizes
the need to schedule quality
performers that will attract
audiences.
"I'm slightly disappointed
with the crowds so far," he says,
"and I admit we need to work on
One group that has done well
at Bruno's is the Butler Brothers,
whose acoustic rock and local
name recognition drew a sizable
crowd when they performed here
last month.
The crowd numbers were
boosted that night by members of
Kappa Delta Rho and Delta Phi
Epsilon, who were serving
"mocktails" as part of Drug
Awareness Week.
Once that event ended,
however, the crowd thinned
noticeably, and the Butlers found
themselves playing to a sparse
Wintergreen crowd.
"Hey, where are you guys
going?" guitarist Ric Butler asked
as a string of tables cleared. "The
party's not starting 'till later.
"Trust me, we went by earlier,
and all the lights were off,” he
continued, forcing a nervous
smile.
The door swung open again,
spilling yet another group into
the Reed lobby and on to other
evening plans.
Johnson leans back in his
chair and tosses out ideas for
improving Bruno's. Bigger-name
acts. Student-initiated band
choices. More novelty acts. In
essence, improvements that cost
money, money the organization
doesn't have.
"I don’t know," he sighs,
looking up at the performance
calender. "There's so much we
could do with that place."
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