UPB's final Open Mic Night included off-beat humor and unique acoustic sound.
While its final Open Mic Night didn't get as big a crowd as organizers hoped for, it included acts ranging from the acoustic sounds of Mike Hughes and his guitar "Hargus", to the psychedelic rock sounds of Architecture Aviva, to the comedy of Ben Hail.
Architecture Aviva member Nick Carpenter said his unique style comes from a variety of sources.
"Our inspiration is like a blender," he said. "We get sounds from surf rock, psychedelic rock, punk rock, pretty much anything," Carpenter said.
He and his musical partner, freshman Evan Owens, utilized a keyboard, "compressor" and electronic "looper" to create the unique sounds of their instrumental music.
"The music is obscure in a setting like this," Owens said. "People don't know what to think about it, but they like it."
Comedian Ben Hail used his observational humor to draw laughs from the crowds. His act focused on the stupidity of Americans and his tragic love life.
"I think we should legalize marijuana and make organizational religion illegal," he said.
One of them makes you loopy, dysfunctional and destroys your life – the other you smoke."
Hughes said he had to adjust his act to make it less obscene after receiving comments at his last performance. This time he focused on more subtle music, with his rendition of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen.
Craig Franklin took his comedy in a different direction using situational humor in his routine.
"If I ever got a girl pregnant, I'd pull the God move and say, ‘Here Joseph, you can take this one, I'm going to sit up here and not have my life ruined,'" he joked.
"It's hard to get people to come out when we aren't in Pruis Hall because it's not as big a venue for performers," event marketer Matt "Slade" Kepler said.
Kepler said next year he'd like to move the event to Pruis Hall. He said next year he'd like to make it a contest where the performers compete for audience approval.
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