The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 1, 1993 Page: 14 of 24
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14 friday, october 1, 1993 the rice thresher
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Band Picks
BY ANDY COULSTON
For those of us who have kept a place in our hearts for a great blues
and rock band, The Other Side is the one to fill the gap. Their recent set
at Fitzgerald's included a good mixture of straight rock V roll, pure
blues, some great blues-rock and even some folk music. They have the
feel of Led Zeppelin with some Black Crowes thrown in for extra flavor.
Singer Chad Hebert says he doesn't want the band to be pegged as
strictly blues, because they are capable of playing a much wider range of
music. Along with drummer Lee Brookman, rhythm guitarist Dave
Russell and Evan Sayre and Joe Faust, who switch off on lead guitar and
bass, The Other Side proved their versatility with covers of Zeppelin and
Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes. They stayed true to the original
artist's intentions, but their own unique style was evident in each song.
If a band has to rely on amplification to make music, it is probably
hiding a deficiency in either musical skill or songwriting ability. In other
words, if they can't unplug, they aren't worth a listen-
Two of the best songs 1 heard all night were original acoustic gems
performed by Hebert and Faust, both on guitar. These blues songs were
the purest that I had heard in a long time, and Hebert's husky, soulful
vo ice is perfect for them. When he si ngs, all the emotion and pain and love
of the song comes out in his voice, and you can truly hear what he feels.
With these songs, The Other Side left me without a doubt that they
can play just about anything, and they can do it with amazing ability. On
the other side (sorry, couldn't help it) of the musical spectrum, their
original "Rescue Me" is a non-stop, full-throttle ride from beginning to
end. I've only heard the song once, and a week later I can still hear it in
my head. This is simply great rock 'n' roll
I enjoyed everything I heard from this band, and they enjoyed playing
every song. It's about time someone realized that there is more to music
than alternative, rap and country. Just because it's not ground-breaking
doesn't mean it's not great music.
The music of The Other Side is not oppressive or ponderous; it will
not make you think about world hunger or war or civil strife (not yet,
anyway). It will make you smile, feel good and stand up and cheer at the
end of each song. After hearing the first efforts of this relatively new
group, I can't wait to hear more of what The Other Side has to offer.
"lite lifet a ferns!"
«
COLLEGE-AGE BIBLE STUDY
9:30 A.M. -- SUNDAYS -- ROOM 101
West University Church of Christ
3407 Bissonnet
Call 666-3535 for Information or Transportation.
'A
ComedySportz
Chuckleheads defeat Wise Guys
ComedySportz
Improvisational Comedy Troupe
Thursdays at Treebeard's, 310 Travis
$5 cover, $2 drink minimum
BY MARYANN
MCKIBBEN
Sure, weVe all played charades,
but for many of us, it's a dead skill,
used up in our youth at some child-
hood birthday party. But imagine hav-
ing to communicate the following non-
verbally:
• Skydiving out of an Oscar Meyer
wiener with Charles Bronson, wear-
ing a suit of armor and using bubble
gum as a parachute.
• A tennis match against Orson
Welles, using a pogo stick for a racket
and a stalk of rhubarb for a ball, with a
net made of spaghetti.
If you scoff at these situations as
much too easy for your dizzying intel-
lect, you're a prime candidate to join
ComedySportz, a very funny and en-
tertaining local improvisational com-
edy troupe. But for folks like me, who
just aren't that clever, youll still enjoy
watching their fast and frantic on-stage
antics, every Thursday (and some
Fridays and Wednesdays) at
Treebeard's downtown.
For the price of a movie and jumbo
popcorn at the Cineplex you can watch
two teams of "actletes" compete
again st one another for points and the
audience's adoration in a variety of
improv acts. And because the audi-
ence throws out the bizarre ideas for
the skits and games, every night is
completely different, but equally en-
tertaining and hilarious.
The show is run like a tongue-in-
cheek sports event from beginning to
New Exhibits
end, complete with a stirring rendi-
tion of "Take Me Out to See Improv,"
scorecards and a referee who calls
penalties for offenses such as hesitat-
ing in a skit, waffling, uttering (gratu-
itous) obscenities or making the audi-
ence groan with a particularly offen-
sive pun (185 sweaters walk in to a bar
with their bodyguard. Bartender says,
"Sorry, we don't serve sweaters."
Sweaters respond, "You better, or ar-
gyle beat you up!").
There are about 25 players on the
Check your
inhibitions at the
door; the manic
craziness of it will
get to even the
die-hard
introverts.
ComedySportz roster, but they cycle
in groups of six or seven to participate
in each night's competition, so the
teams are always different. Last
weekend's lineup included Rice alum-
nus Eric "Attilathe" Hahn, who wears
team number Catch 22 and plays the
official position of "Out There." He
and his teammates the Chuckleheads
officially won the match, although both
teams were so funny the players had
to distribute laugh sickness bags to
the audience.
The "competition"consistsof about
seven roundsofplay, with games rang-
ing from Forward/Reverse (in which
the team performs a skit forwards and
backwardsatthewhimofthereferee's
unpredictable whistle) to Radio, in
which the audience assigns a radio
station genre to each of the players
and they ad-lib it, in rapid channel-
hopping style.
Even when the skits weren't up-
roariously funny (a rare occurrence),
I was impressed and humbled by the
talent and quick thinking that goes
into a performance such as this.
Be warned: although the players
are entertaining to sit back and watch,
this is not a passive evening. The more
upbeat (and offbeat) the audience is in
their suggestions, the more fun this
can be. For one skit, the actletes ran
into the crowd and asked audience
members to make a goofy facial ex-
pression .which they used as the basis
for characters in a skit about bidets on
the moon (damn that gravity!).
Check your inhibitions at the door,
the manic craziness of it will get to
even the die-hard introverts. When
the referee, in setting up one of the
skits, asked for a geographical loca-
tion that can't be found on a map, I
blurted out "My bed" — much to my
eternal chagrin and the everlasting
delight of virtually everyone else in
the room.
Improv enthusiasts who'd rather
not sit on the sidelines can attend one
of their various workshops or prac-
tices.
Don't miss ComedySportz. And
before you go, think upcreative things
to suggest They'll be looking for bi-
zarre occupations, celebrities, loca-
tions and musical styles. Challenge
them. Even you aggravated polka-
dancing social workers in a Japanese
mon ster movie won't bed isappointed.
Marilyn and the Koran appear at Menil
Warhol Portraits
Art of the Persian Courts
On display at the Menil Collection
By Darren Glass
Whatdo MickJagger, Mohammed
Ali and Mao Zedong all have in com
mon? They are among the celebrities
captured in paint by Andy Warhol,
one of the most interesting personali-
ties in late20th-century art Warhol's
portraits are featured in an exhibit
thatopened this weekendatthe Menil
Collection.
From the very first painting, "Self
Portrait With Skull," the collection
takes you through, Warhol's
silkscreens and pencil sketches of
many celebrities of past decades.
Warhol's original silkscreens of
Marilyn Monroe are also on display,
as are sketches of Heddy Lamar, Joan
Crawford and several self-portraits.
Warhol's art is always distinctive,
with their pure colors and repetitive
images. He is probably most famous
for his portraits of Marilyn Monroe. In
fact, another patron at the exhibit was
wearing an "Ann Richards For Gover-
nor" T-shirt with four pictures of
Richards in Warhol's style.
Warhol is one of the masterminds
behind the genre of pop art, and this
exhibit displays many of his great por-
traits, along with less familiar works.
Also opening last weekend was an
exhibit entitled Art of the Persian
Courts, which displays art from Asia
in the 13th through 16th centuries.
Much of this art consisted of pages
from ancient copies of the Koran, the
Muslim holy book, and other texts.
There were many pieces of calligra-
phy and pages with decorative bor-
ders, alongside paintings and a few
sculptures. I was drawn to the impec-
cable detail given to the faces and the
time and energy that must have been
given tobackground work.
The two exhibits provide an inter-
esting contrast Where the artists of.
the Persian Courts pay attention to
detail and background work, Warhol's
portraits are more simplistic.
Both exhibits are free, as is the
Menil's permanent collection. The
Menil Collection is full of interesting
art, ranging from the Greek statues
from art history class to modern paint-
ings that make one wonder, "What
makes this art?"
The Andy Warhol exhibit will be
on display until Dec. 19, and the Art of
the Persian Courts will continue
through Jan. 2. The museum is open
Wednesdays through Sundays 11 a.m
to 7 p.m., and you can't beat the price
for a pleasant afternoon.
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 1, 1993, newspaper, October 1, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245849/m1/14/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.