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Campus Lantern
A&E Editor Christy Allyn ae.campuslantern@gmail.com
Arts & Entertainment Thursday, October 29, 2015
Stand-Up Comedian BT Comes to Eastern Evan Ortiz Staff Writer Stand-up comedian BT took to the stage in the Betty Tipton Room last Wednesday, and I think it is safe to say everyone in attendance had a great time. The comic did arrive on campus about fifteen minutes late, and BT tried his best to open his set by apologizing. Nervousness seemed to be a clear danger in the room: he stumbled around an apology and tried to work in some improvisational humor about the GPS on his phone bringing him in the wrong direction. It was clear that he had not prepared for an opening like that, and his lack of weight on each joke was quite worrying. That all being said, I do not think I have ever seen a stage presence shift so quickly and so fluidly. After apologizing for a few minutes, BT changed gears and found a strong segue into his prepared set. He won
Evan Ortiz / Eastern Connecticut State University the crowd over very easily, and our perceptions of a bumbling, unprofessional comedian fizzled away as his stories filled the theatre with laughter. His driving force throughout his set was his personal life stories, covering topics from his race to his home life in Los Angeles and in Oklahoma.
The most humorous parts of his stand-up came from his admission that “black people are scared of other black people too”, and his constant reminder that Eastern seemed to have brought out “all of the black people on campus” for his set. BT pointed out that the audience was not very racially
Stephen King Leaves Readers Shaking with “IT” Nadia Balassone Staff Writer Above all, I must confess that I am perhaps the biggest wimp you have ever met. Yes, the type who usually cannot even sit through a commercial for a horror movie without snapping my eyes shut and diving for the remote. However, in full Halloween spirit, I stepped away from my comfort zone and tried my hand at reading at least one book by the renowned author and master of all things scary, Stephen King. IT follows the horrormystery of a small (fictional) town in Maine through the eyes of seven preteens in the late ‘50s. What is interesting though, is how often King switches narration, giving the reader a chance to live through the eyes of almost every single character in the book while in both their young and adult lives. The readers are left only with hints of those things that leave us shaking in our boots and I begged to know what was responsible for all of the horror woven into the earth of Derry, Maine…what is IT? Instead of spoiling the whole novel I will say this: King
believably portrays the most described the impossible that we unnoticeable and average charsee every single day and yet will acteristics of human beings in a never even notice half the time. way that connects the reader to Besides only a few feel as if they have known those nightmares and glances around in the story their whole lives. As my shoulder on dark nights, IT a writer, having a firm enough is very doable for the mildlygrasp on curious crowd h u m a n like me. If nature and you appreciate the world good writing, around us a little adrenato retell line, and allow it even yourself to get remotely sucked into realistically reading 1090 is perhaps pages of a one of the book, this one most difis for you. I ficult tasks highly recomto ever mend picking accomplish. up a copy of Yet, King this ‘80s clashas found a sic as King tell way to say us the story the things of what we all we never have in the would have back of our realized minds; and make us maybe that www.pastemagazine.com who we is what scares are, and in great detail. The readus the most. In the fashion of er is able to realize how much bad puns and overused quotes, people, or even the universe can perhaps the only thing to fear is truly all be connected, but in fear itself. Now…who is ready ways in which we will never to try The Shining with me next? understand. In short, King has lantern@my.easternct.edu
diverse, and that the twenty or so black students were all sitting together. Not a very good representation of Eastern’s diversity, and BT turned that around on us with a dose of laughter. BT was also very enthused about getting the audience involved in his set. He
asked some students about their majors, others about their race, and he asked everyone about their favorite horror movies. No matter what we said, he was prepared with a killer joke that made us laugh at ourselves with great vigor. When he asked about horror movies, someone mentioned a film about zombie beavers. BT was befuddled, but kept the film going as a running gag, referencing the film throughout the set when applicable. Admittedly, he is also the only person in the world who can make a strong argument for Paranormal Activity 2 being the greatest horror movie in existence. The only issue with BT’s set was the audience: Only a little more than half of the BTR was filled. Eastern students really need to come out to these shows more, they will not regret it. In BT’s words, “What else are you going to do on a Wednesday night?” You can find BT on Facebook and at his homepage, btrox.com.
“The Walking Dead”: Did That Just Happen? Evan Ortiz Staff Writer WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE WALKING DEAD, EPISODE 3. LOOK AWAY. Sunday night’s episode of the Walking Dead threw audiences for a loop when a main character was brutally torn apart by walkers. The character has been a staple since Season 1 of the show, and no one wanted to see them meet their demise on the show. But let’s analyze the scene a bit further and ask the question: Is he/she really dead? Spoilers. I am absolutely certain that our local pizza delivery boy, Glenn, is still alive. No, I am not crazy. Go to AMC.com and watch that scene from episode 3 again, and I will sound less crazy. The scene goes down as follows: Glenn and Nicholas are trapped on top of a dumpster, surrounded by a herd of walkers. Nicholas shoots himself, then his body falls on top of Glenn, forcing them both to the cement. As they fall, Nicholas’ body is clearly above Glenn, the weight of Nicholas brings Glenn down. The next shot is of Glenn hitting the ground, back first, with Nicholas off-screen.
The herd of walkers have lunch, munching on some intestines as Glenn screams in pain. The low angle of the camera never shows the audience that those were Glenn’s guts. Sure, guts come up from the bottom of the screen, and based on the shot those guts could be Glenn’s. The fact is this: Nicholas fell on top of Glenn. For all we know, one inch below the frame is Nicholas’ body being devoured. Off-screen space is an important tool in filmmaking, and this trick of the screen has fooled us all into thinking Glenn is dead. I do not think this sounds like I am making excuses, but has a main character on this show ever been killed by a walker off-screen? Dale? On-screen. T-Dog? On-screen. Noah? On-screen. Also, Steven Yeun (actor who plays Glenn) did not appear on Talking Dead, the talk show, after the episode aired - every actor who played a main character that died on the show on Talking Dead directly after they died. I am calling shenanigans: Glenn’s not dead. I guarantee that the next episode will open with him crawling under the dumpster.