the Ratliff family consists of two blue devils and two tar heels, page 4
1,
a look at duke men’s basketball’s players’ beloved films, page 7
the chronicle’s arts coverage over the years, page 6
Kadin Purath.......................Recess Editor
Zev Van Zanten...............Managing Editor
Tina Qian .......................Managing Editor
Bhavika Verma........................Arts Editor
Sonya Lasser......................Culture Editor
Olivia Prusky..............Social Media Editor
After classes ended at the beginning of May, I immediately began working full-time as a CNA. These hours have been exhausting, challenging and have made the thought of school work all the comparably more bearable. Despite this effort, the work has been rewarding and more meaningful than I can express. Beyond meaning and challenge, I’m tired, and I’m constantly looking for places to adequately rest.
While a doom scroll or NBA playoff game are consistently brain-meltingly wonderful, they’re a type of rest that shuts one down without powering them back up. They’re the type of rest that asks nothing of the person in need of it — a rest without benefit. I’ve been in need of a real rest. I need a recharging rest, a rest that energizes me beyond the person that was in need of it initially, a rest that doesn’t feed into carnal dopamine desires.
Fighting in direct contrast to this desire is the lack of time anyone working a ten or twelve-hour shift has for
anything in their life beyond work and sleep. Those precious four or six hours that sandwich your shift should be fulfilling beyond your work. They should scratch at the part of you that earning your paycheck can’t quite reach.
In this zero-sum, mutually-exclusive game I’ve been playing, I’ve only found one activity that can seemingly fill both needs — the arts. From reading a novel graciouslygifted by my mom — and long put-off by myself — to going to see the last release in theaters, to enjoying the combination of curation and cultivation in the Duke Gardens, I’ve found my rest best located in the challenge of viewing myself in the creations of others.
To engage with meaningful art means to see the inexpressible within yourself mirrored back at you — words you couldn’t say, thoughts you could only dream, emotions made whole. The parts of myself that become hard to actualize, or even see, are given their moment at the center stage of my mind and heart.
These moments occupy an indeterminable space within both challenge and rest. In some respects, they are as hard as any work.They ask the viewer to scan their depths in the same manner as they explore others’ — an uncomfortable confrontation for many. Yet, the part of you being challenged is the part of us often swept aside in the twists and turns of daily life.
A genuine engagement with a piece of art offers rest to the logical and dissecting parts of our minds and our toiling and sacrificing bodies. It instead reaches out to our heart and soul, just asking us to accept it.
The rest that I’ve found in art and my engagement with it these past few weeks — and my entire life — is what I hope to bring to Recess this next year. Just as I find rest in my journey into a local, campus or national art piece, I hope that our readers will find their own call to (in)action. A fast-paced and competitive campus like Duke asks each student and faculty member to be searching for answers and questioning truths at all moments. Appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us, especially when it is an expression of another individual’s innermost being, is a type of searching that lacks striving. It comes to us.
- Kadin Purath , Recess Editor
DukeWindSymphony
Directedby VerenaMösenbichler-Bryant ,theWind SymphonyisadynamicensemblemadeupofDuke students,primarilynon-majors,whoarepassionate aboutexploringandperformingthefinestwindand percussionrepertoire.Thegroupprovidesan opportunityforstudentstochallengethemselves musicallywhilefosteringasenseofcommunitythrough sharedartisticexpression.
ChamberMusicProgram
Ledby CarolineStinson ,thisprogramincludesnearly 20smallgroups—fromduetstosextets—withstrings, winds,andpiano.Studentsreceivecoachingfrom facultysuchasthe CiompiQuartet ,pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute ,andsaxophonist SusanFancher ,and performregularlyinconcertsandworkshopsonandoff campus.
DukeChorale
A55-memberchoirofundergraduateandgraduate students,theChoraleisdirectedby AllanFriedman andperformsmusicfrommanyerasandtraditions. HighlightsincludeaFamilyWeekendco ncert,aHoliday ConcertinDukeChapel,abenefitperformancefora Durhamcharity,andaspringtour.
DukeJazzEnsemble
Ledby JohnBrown alongwithassociatedirector, Evan Roberson ,thejazzensemblebringsstudentstogether toperformalongsideworldrenownedguestartistsfor eachofit sfourconcertsduringtheacademicyear.In recentyears,studentshaveperformedwithJeff Hamilton,JoséJames,VanessaRubin,MichaelPhillip MossmanandWalterBlanding.
DukeOperaTheater
Directedby DavidHeid ,theOperaTheaterstages scenesandconcertsfromavarietyofoperas.Recent productionsincludeareimagined MagicFlute , Artof theDivine ,andacollaborationwithDukeWind Symphony.
DukeSymphonyOrchestra
TheDukeSymphonyOrchestra,whichisconductedby HarryDavidson ,isanensembleof70to100 instrumentalistswhoperformformalconcertsof orchestralrepertoirespanningthe18 thcenturyto presentday.TheseasonopenswithaLaborDay WeekendPopsconcertandincludesanannualspring benefitperformanceinBeaufort,SouthCarolina.
DukeNewMusicEnsemble(DNME)
Directedby AndrewWaggoner ,DNMEfocuseson contemporarymusicfromthe20thand21stcenturies. Studentscollaboratewithlivingcomposersandexplore mo dernperformancetechniquesandimprovisation.
ChineseMusicEnsemble
OpentoallDukecommunitymembers,thisensemble, directedby JenniferChang, explorestraditional ChinesemusicusingbothEasternandWestern instruments.Musiciansofallbackgroundsarewelcome, especiallystringplayersandpercussionists.
Social Media Editor
Imagine my surprise as I am watching the season three premiere of HBO’s “The White Lotus” and Duke isn’t just mentioned within minutes of the show starting, but an entire subplot revolves around a college debate between Duke and UNC. Is this play about us?
Typically, most shows’ and movies’ university references stick to the top Ivies. It has become a pop culture joke that every teenage character applying to college easily obtains admission into a top school regardless of their previous academic rigor — think Elle (Joey King) from “The Kissing Booth” franchise.
While Duke feels like the whole world to us, it is a — kind of — niche school for such an overt mention in a massive TV show. So, if the writers are not sticking to the go-to college names, why did they choose Duke?
“The White Lotus” is a dark comedy centered around a fictional luxury resort chain. Each season follows an ensemble cast in a new vacation destination. The show satirizes the dynamics of the hotel’s wealthy guests — each main group has some deeper, darker backstory that culminates in a tragedy by the season’s end.
In this season, there appears to be five groups: a trio of blonde women on a girls’ trip, an unhappy couple with a large age gap, the workers of the hotel, Belinda (a resort masseuse from season one) and her son and the Ratliff family — the impetus of our
Duke-oriented conversation.
The Ratliff family consists of two Blue Devils — father Timothy (Jason Isaacs) and eldest son Saxon (Patrick Shwarzenegger) — and two Tar Heels — mother Victoria (Parker Posey) and middle child Piper (Sarah Hook). There is also youngest son Lochlan (Sam Nivola) who is choosing between Duke and UNC. The Ratliffs are stereotypical North Carolinians, with southern drawls and big university pride. They came to Thailand because Piper wanted to interview a Buddhist monk for her college thesis, a pursuit that everyone else, except Lochlan, finds unserious.
Saxon works in finance with his father, and both characters have a corporate, reeking-of-toxic-masculinity vibe. In a characterizing piece of dialogue, Saxon says, “I don’t need a vacation, I love working.” Victoria is portrayed as a ditzy mother hen, while Piper is a down-to-earth character embarrassed by her parents’ wealth and brother’s crude jokes. In making his choice between Duke and UNC, Lochlan hears arguments from his parents for their respective alma maters. “What’s the decision? You got into Duke; you’re going to Duke,” Timothy says at dinner, while Victoria silently mouths “Chapel Hill ... Tar Heels.”
White Lotus” is known for its rich character development. One of the show’s best features is how it uses small details in dialogue and body language to give deep character insights — we often can tell exactly who
a character is by one throwaway comment. So, this affluent family’s vocal ties to Duke and UNC, a somewhat rare collegiate mention in the grand scheme of entertainment, is interesting to say the least.
The first time the viewer hears from the Ratliffs is when they are greeted by hotel staff after leaving their boat. Despite their obvious wealth, they seem less high-brow than other White Lotus residents, donning Vineyard Vines instead of Loro Piana. One staff member immediately clocks this subtle
socioeconomic difference, asking the family how they found the hotel. Timothy mentions how Piper is a student at Chapel Hill working on her senior thesis, and Victoria immediately jumps in to explain the family’s ties to Duke and UNC.
This unprompted elaboration about the family’s affiliations to the two universities is quintessentially American.
See on Page 9
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Recess Editor
“Left of Black,” a web series hosted by Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Professor of African and African American Studies and Chair of the Department of African and African American Studies, was a Gold Winner of the 2024 Davey Awards.
The Davey Award is given to “creative Davids” — in reference to the Biblical David and Goliath story — for achievement in a respective medium without a “stratospheric budget.” It is run and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts.
“Left of Black” started in 2010 with the aim of platforming the voices of Black academics and authors. It is directed and produced by Eric Barstow (Graduate School ‘13), for the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, and has been hosted by Dr. Neal for since its inception. It features conversations with everyone from national figures like Sen. Raphael Warnock and Dr. Cornel West to Duke notables such as 9th Wonder and Dean Powery.
In each episode, Dr. Neal interviews an academic or culture-maker for 25 to 45 minutes. The conversations are defined by their sincerity, earnestness and willingness to expand perspectives. The show recently started its fifteenth season with an interview of DJ Lyneé Denise about the forgotten work of Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, the original performer of “Hound Dog”
and “Ball and Chain.” Both songs were later popularized by other artists, who gave neither credit nor royalties to Thornton.
It is storis and people like this that Dr. Neal’s show aims to amplify. During an interview with the Chronicle, his vision and personality shone through. When discussing the purpose and precedent for the web series, Dr. Neal describes that [“Left of Black”] was really never intended to have those types of academics that were fairly well known.” Instead it hopes to “identify folks within the field who weren’t as well known ... to give them a platform to talk about their work.”
A cutting name like “Left of Black” necessitates a strong view of what the podcast is meant to be. Dr. Neal describes that the series’ name and its “contrarian view of blackness” were in hopes of having “conversations around blackness that weren’t part of the status quo of black journalism. So [it was] stuff that’s literally to the left of conversations ... I’m just a conduit for the conversation. So it really was kind of taking mainstream black culture, mainstream black life, and just looking a little bit to the left.” When discussing this, it’s obvious that “left” means more to the show and Dr. Neal than any political or social connotation. It’s a way of viewing the world and discourse from the outside.
The program is uniquely personal and caring. Dr. Neal reads the work of interviewees rather than relying on an assistant
or staff member. This personal relationship to the texts allows his conversations to go in their own direction, instead of being manufactured and pre-ordained. This ability to flow freely has allowed his interviews to reach profound places that he didn’t expect. When he talked with Dean Powery in 2022, their conversation tilted towards Oscar Dantzler, the Chapel’s housekeeper, and his story. Dr. Neal discussed unexpected moments like his discussion of Oscar with Dean Powery, saying, “it’s important when
you have an author or guest who really doubles down on something that is interesting to them ... That I invest [in] a conversation [about] that interest.” This described interest is the most apparent quality of “Left of Black.” Dr. Neal’s willingness to follow the guest wherever they lead represents the show’s broader values of discussion and representation.
Recess Managing Editor
In 1925, The Chronicle published issue 14 of its 20th volume, announcing Trinity College was renaming itself Duke in honor of a donation from James B. Duke. Also on the front page is a much smaller story, announcing the creation of a chapter of Theta Alpha Phi, a national dramatic fraternity, on campus. This typified arts coverage for much of Duke’s early years. While The Chronicle covered the arts, the coverage was limited to significant events like celebrity visits and performances by campus groups. Rather than being relegated to a particular section of the paper, these stories were presented alongside the rest of The Chronicle’s content.
Arts coverage continued as part of The Chronicle’s broader news coverage until the close of the 1980-81 school year. Though the amount of stories written and their placement changed between and within different decades and volumes, arts coverage continued to be a regular part of the Duke Chronicle. The paper even regularly had arts editors on staff, who were responsible for writing and editing arts stories.
However, starting in the 1981-82 school year, The Chronicle’s arts coverage underwent some significant changes. While some arts pieces — typically reviews of local plays and art exhibits — would still frequently appear in the regular paper under the recurring Arts section, most entertainment
coverage was brought under the purview of a new weekly zine called R&R. The move enabled a greater diversity of arts coverage as the magazine was free of many of the stylistic constraints of a traditional paper.
First issued on Sept. 10, 1981, R&R was billed as a weekly arts magazine. Every issue contained a mixture of previews, reviews, interviews and essays on culture, as well as advertisements for local restaurants and theater shows. Compared to previous arts coverage, R&R was more wide-ranging and substantial, with the standard edition usually containing five or more articles, which would not have previously been found within The Chronicle. R&R would run for 16 volumes, concluding on Thursday, April 23, 1998.
R&R was retired for two main reasons, according to Timothy Millington (Trinity ‘00), who helped transform R&R and served as the second Recess Editor. The first was that in the summer of 1998, Devin Gordon (Trinity ‘98) and Jessica Moulton (Trinity ‘99) — the outgoing and incoming Chronicle Editor-in-Chiefs respectively — felt it was the perfect time to revamp the magazine. The second reason was that over time, R&R had morphed into an indie zine that focused primarily on music, though it also occasionally covered experimental films and lesser-known media. As a result, it had acquired a reputation as something so alternative that most of the Duke community didn’t read it.
Recess replaced R&R as the heart of The Chronicle’s entertainment coverage, striving to make it more relatable, fun and oriented towards pop culture instead of alternative media. It was an 8-page weekly magazine that covered topics of general interest from the world of entertainment, and included stories that previously would have been in the Arts section of the general paper as well as more consistent film coverage, something that had been largely lacking in R&R. The name was chosen by Adam Winer (Trinity ‘99), who liked its “fun and nostalgic vibe” according to an email he sent and felt that it “seemed particularly fitting given that” the staffers “were at school covering stuff to do during” their “play time.”
In the first year, it was run by Winer and focused primarily on entertainment and art, with some commentary on broader cultural trends. According to Winer, the early days were both extremely fun and incredibly tough, with one edition taking so long into the morning to finish that he inadvertently slept through and missed his class the next morning. He also worked to build Recess into a place where writers who loved pop culture could play around.
Recess came into being at a time before much of the modern cultural media ecosystem was born. Blogs didn’t exist and most print media covering the arts was dry. Recess was designed to be the opposite of existing alternatives, providing lively and interesting arts coverage.
After Winer graduated, the torch was passed to Millington, who worked alongside a team of undergraduate and graduate students. Recess also put together a special edition in December 1999 that looked back at the most significant cultural touchstones of the decade. By then, Recess had already covered everything from “The Phantom Menace” to Rodin’s “Thinker” to the Confederate flag controversy, according to Millingon.
Recess remains the primary vehicle of arts coverage at Duke to this day, though it has changed over time, first going from a magazine to a normal department — alongside news, sports, photo and opinion — within The Chronicle and later becoming a primarily online department as The Chronicle went online during the Coronavirus. However, we continue to cover the same arts and culture that have been a part of Duke University from the beginning. As while the name Recess is new, Chronicle staffers have been doing what is now Recess’s work for a long time.
The Lobby Shop, located in The University Store, offers a variety of conveniences from crackers to candy bars, frozen foods and beverages to canned goods, natural snacks, and health and beauty aids.
The Lobby Shop is open evenings and weekends to satisfy after-hours shoppers.
Upper Level, Bryan Center | Phone: 919-684-2179
Academic Year Store Hours
Monday - Thursday: 8:30am - 10pm | Friday: 8:30am - 11pm
Saturday: 9am - 11pm | Sunday: 11am - 10pm
Culture Editor story, making it an entertaining watch. The 152-minute long film is even available online through Duke University Libraries.
With March Madness in full swing, movies are an excellent way to immerse yourself in Duke basketball spirit during the sad periods between live games. Here are a few films beloved by several Duke men’s basketball’s players and coaches, all mentioned by players and coaches on The Brotherhood Podcast.
One of Knueppel’s favorite films, alongside “The Dark Knight” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Shawshank Redemption” is also the favorite of current player Neal Begovich and former player Ryan Young. This makes it the most commonly listed favorite film among players and coaches who have talked about films on The Brotherhood Podcast.
Though Flagg confessed that he does not watch many movies, he mentioned that the films of the “Harry Potter” franchise were among his favorites. Spanning eight films released over 10 years, “Harry Potter” is among the most well-known and adored film franchises. While there is scarcely a person alive who has not heard of the franchise, the series provides an exceedingly magical first watch and always a nostalgic and entertaining re-watch. From exceptional character development to fantastical
world building to engrossing stories, the “Harry Potter” films have something entertaining and moving for everyone.
“The Equalizer” franchise, based on a 1980s TV series of the same name, started in 2014, with the second and third installments released in 2018 and 2021 respectively. All three were directed by Antoine Fuqua and follow Robert McCall (Denzel
Also beloved by Kon Knueppel and Darren Harris, “The Dark Knight” is the second installment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Its star-studded cast features Christian Bale, Sir Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and the late Heath Ledger. Ledger’s masterful performance as The Joker even won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Arguably among the greatest, if not the greatest, superhero film of all time, “The Dark Knight” is less mind-bending than other Nolan films like “Inception” or “Memento,” but no less thought-provoking. On the surface, the film follows billionaire and vigilante Bruce Wayne (Christain Bale) as he works to defeat the villainous Joker (Heather Ledger). However, the film also features incredibly well-developed character arcs and an impressively in-depth
“The Shawshank Redemption,” directed by Frank Darabont, is an adaptation of the Stephen King novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.” “Shawshank” follows banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) who has been sentenced to life in prison for a double murder he is adamant did not commit. During his time in prison, he befriends fellow prisoner Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman) and gets involved in a money laundering operation run by the warden and prison staff. With phenomenal cinematography by the renowned Roger Deakins (whose cinematography includes “1917,” “Skyfall” and “A Beautiful Mind”), this film is moving and inspiring. You can stream “Shawshank” online using Swank through Duke University Libraries.
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MINOR IN WRITING AND RHETORIC EXPANDS HOW YOU THINK, TALK, ARGUE, AND CREATE.
Writing and Rhetoric is about shaping ideas, influencing people, and creating change. Across verbal, visual, and written context, you’ll explore how to argue, listen, and engage through communication, navigating varied formats and cultures. Whether you are interested in public life, advocacy, STEM, critical thinking, or any other field, a Minor in Writing and Rhetoric strengthens your voice and enriches your collaborations at Duke and beyond.
At Duke, TWP is your hub for writing, speaking, and visual communication—from your first year through senior projects and beyond. We help students craft powerful ideas in words, voice and visuals; support faculty teaching communication across the curriculum; and offer resources for Duke staff and the wider community. Wherever writing and communication take you, TWP is here to help you grow.
Meet the Dance Program faculty & students.
Undergraduate Open House & Info Session
August 25, 5:00PM in RubensteinArts Center 224
All are welcome to join African Dance Technique Class
August 26, 6:15PM in RubensteinArts Center 224
FROM PAGE 4
The international hotel staff give a confused look because they are across the world and likely have no knowledge of the Duke-UNC rivalry. This interaction shows the audience how self-important the Ratliff family is in overestimating their univerhow the Ratliffs are eager to use prestigious universities as a status symbol, even if such a symbol means nothing to these workers. Just from this episode, it seems like keeping up appearances and perception is going to be a major theme of this season — like it has in the past two. In the Ratliff family specifically, they are especially concerned with shaping Lochlan, who is meek and awkward, into the image of the more traditionally masculine (albeit chauvinistic) Timothy and Saxon.
In the final scene of the episode, Victoria emphasizes to Timothy that they have the ideal life with perfect children. “You did it. Everyone tells me what a great man you are,” she says. It is interesting how her compliment stems from external societal validation, instead of her internally expressing how she loves Timothy for who he is. The trope of the Ratliffs being perceived as the perfect North Carolinian family is inevitably going to be disrupted in typical “White Lotus” fashion.
I wouldn’t claim that Duke has the greatest reputation based on its portrayal so far this season: Duke is associated with one of the worst, most misogynistic characters (Saxon) and a potential white-collar criminal (Timothy). However, it is interesting to analyze how Duke is being portrayed in en -
tertainment from an outside, creative lens. Maybe we are a bit more insufferable than I thought we were, and watching this show is like looking in the mirror.
I am so curious to see how our beloved university will continue to be mentioned throughout the season; I really hope that at the very least there is some sort of discourse about tenting. If there is one thing to be sure, HBO is guaranteeing that even in our leisure time, we never forget to recite GTHC.
FROM PAGE 5
When asked about the impetus for the series, Dr. Neal mentioned classic outlets such as PBS and NPR but reserved special attention for Gil Noble, a black broadcaster and host of “Like It Is,” a public affairs broadcast focused on black, who he listened to as a child.
Dr. Neal’s work maintains this reverence beyond “Left of Black.” In one shining example, he wrote about the film “Round Midnight” for the Criterion Collection’s film magazine “Current.” The article focused on Dale Turner (Dexter Gordon) who serves as a stand-in for a swath of black jazz musicians that left the U.S. to perform in France. He says, “I saw ‘Round Midnight’ when it came out. I was a 20 year old undergraduate. [I] knew something about jazz, [and I] knew nothing about this history.”
Dr. Neal finds parallels to his work within “Round Midnight”: “I like to use my work as a portal for more information. I kind of see my scholarship as hypertext. You click on the book, you clip on the hypertext and you get all of this information behind that. I think that the filmmaker who made ‘Round Midnight’ was very conscious of that. Some of these folks were still alive or had most recently died. He wasn’t trying to tell a biographical story in the same way, but he also wanted to really tell the story of these great artists.”
The idea of parallel and shared history underpins “Left of Black” and Dr. Neal’s work. He continually attempts to challenge and broaden narratives with personability and genuine care and interest.
Even in the context of the Davey Award, Dr. Neal is deferential, stating “working with [Eric’s] team, it just seems fitting for us and for him and his team to be recognized for the look of “Left to Black.” So for me, it’s just confirmation that we’ve been doing good work. It’s confirmation and affirmation to Eric and his team that they’re doing great.”
FROM PAGE 7
Washington), a former marine and retired intelligence officer. In the first film in the series, he befriends a trafficked teenage sex worker, which leads him into a fight against the Russian mafia. Each installment is a generally well-liked action/crime thriller, and there are talks of fourth and fifth installments currently in the works.
Last, but certainly not least, the former Head Coach Mike Krzyzeweski’s favorite film is “Legends of the Fall,” a 1995 epic Western film directed by Edward Zwick. While Coach K stated that he is not usually into war films, despite his service in the U.S. Army, he said of “Legends of the Fall” that he “loves everything about it, the music especially.” “Legends of the Fall” follows three brothers and their father, all living in rural Montana during the early 20th century. The film has been praised for its exceptional performances — given by a star-studded cast that includes Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins — and for its cinematography, which won John Toll an Academy Award.
If you’re looking for sci-fi films, Maliq Brown has said his favorite movie is “Jurassic World,” while Patrick Ngongba II’s is “Transformers.” Be sure to also take a look at Caleb Foster’s selection of “Rush Hour,” Kyle Filipowski’s picks of “The Fast and the Furious” and “Spider-Man” or Neal Begovich’s choice of “Invincible.” Hopefully, these films keep you entertained while you wait to watch the next big game.
Recess Managing Editor
Trinity senior Nik Narain performed his new stand-up comedy show “Rusk” Feb. 6, exploring questions of identity while sprinkling in anecdotes and scientific comedy.
The show took place in the Rubenstein Arts Center’s intimate Ruby Lounge, drawing both in-person and virtual attendees, with the in-person crowd growing large enough to require additional seating. It was opened by Trinity senior Ana Herndon, who did a classic comedy set touching on everything from the TikTok ban to egg donations to choking alone.
After Herndon left the stage, Narain came on and launched into his routine, starting by introducing rusks, a hard biscuit or twice-baked bread found in many Eurasian cuisines. In South Asia, where Narain’s cultural background lies, rusks are commonly served with and dipped into tea. This process softens and transforms them, and Narain returned to this theme of transformation throughout his show.
Narain’s jokes spanned a wide range of topics, from “raw-dogging a kiwi” and being a “part-time gay” to the contrasts between the Duke community and his home community to becoming “overeducated and unemployable” by double majoring in Physics and Visual and Media Studies to his dating life. He wove in his journey through exploring gender and sexuality, including his experi -
ence coming out. Narain also interweaved comedy with science, including a number of quite funny physics jokes about energy and friction in his life – with a special emphasis on times he struggled.
His comedic approach blended anecdotes, cultural commentary and identityrelated content with effective wordplay. Narain drew from his personal experience to create widely accessible and relatable jokes. Though few in the audience shared all of his identities, the jokes Narain made about them resonated widely and felt quite relatable. He managed to make humor from his lived experiences in a way that respected them, while not reducing them to mere set pieces. Everything from the delivery to the pacing to the pauses further amplified the comedy. Narain was evidently enjoying himself onstage, creating a pleasant ambi -
Overall, “Rusk” succeeded in discussing and educating on identity without sacrificing its comedic momentum. The physics and science jokes sprinkled throughout added additional flavor, creating a balance of depth and comedy that made the show fun and memorable. The overall theme of transformation was also well-executed, Narain wrapped up the show in a way that felt inspiring.
During an interview with The Chronicle, Narain mentioned that he has been interested in comedy since he was a child and that grew up surrounded by it. Standup in particular appeals to him because it “makes you really good at failure” and lets you try new things, “meet a lot of really cool people” and “get better at telling stories” and “connecting with people.” He has
honed his craft through his involvement with the Duke University Stand-up Troupe and performances at shows throughout the Triangle area and elsewhere.
In putting on “Rusk,” Narain sought to celebrate transformation and trans joy while getting his first full performance and recording performance samples. Such samples are often used for securing gigs and promoting oneself, making them important for any aspiring comedian. He also wanted to further explore the intersection of comedy and science communication, the field he wants to go into. To Narain, laughing at science is very much a “radical act,” as the general public rarely associates science with joy, instead associating it with “pain and unbridled agony.” By incorporating scientific elements into “Rusk” and future performances, Narain hopes to help more people connect to science and shift their “relationship” with it “to one of joy.”
“Rusk” marks a promising debut of a routine that will undoubtedly continue to evolve through future performances. In fact, upcoming performances of “Rusk” are already scheduled at the NYC Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Between now and then, Narain hopes to work more science into his routine and replace American cultural references that may not resonate with international audiences. While it will not be performed again at Duke, “Rusk” exemplifies our campus’ lively comedy scene and the quality of Duke student comedy.
The Gothic Bookshop has been Duke’s independent bookshop since 1956. The shop offers a selection of Duke gift books, books by Duke faculty, as well as current fiction, non-fiction, scholarly, reference, computer, and general titles to the Duke University community, worldwide. We are also your on-campus source for Moleskine, Quotables, and The Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild, Papyrus, Recycled, and Good Paper greeting cards, gift wrap and stationery. Stop by our store conveniently located on the top level of the Bryan Center, just inside the University Store.
Need to purchase books with department funds? We offer competitive pricing.
Keep your money in the university. Call the Gothic Bookshop first. We accept procurement cards and IR’s and also provide FREE DELIVERY ON CAMPUS! For details, call 684-3986 or email gothic@duke.edu.
Upper Level of the University Store, Bryan Center, West Campus 919-684-3986 • gothic@duke.edu
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by Brian Quinby