Mocha Madness Celebrates Centennial with 23rd Show

Commentary Editor

   Mocha Madness presented its 23rd show with a fanfare of coffee, cookies and creativity April 2 in the Patio Café.

   The Creative Society selected the theme “A Hundred Years of Opportunity: Opening 100’s of Eyes.” Ten people spoke and performed in the program and five participated in open mike. Participants received tie-dyed bandannas. Megan Prescott announced the performers for the event.

   The night opened with Gary Marshall, professor of Speech Communications, with “Horizons.” Sophomore John Ragsdale read a piece of prose about getting a vasectomy.

   After the reading, Megan Prescott said that it was certainly enlightening.

   Senior Brittany Pickett read a poem called “Childhood Age 5” about how a child must conform in school.  

   “I am five, I must conform,” Pickett said in her reading.

   Pork Chops and Apple Sauce did not perform this year, but said they would return next year.

   Kay Walter, assistant professor of English, read “The Children of the Night” by Edwin Arlington Robinson.

   Sarah Bloom, assistant professor of English, Walter and six students from her literature class performed in Lit Students Gone to Hell, “Right out of Dante’s Inferno.” Jacob Smith acted as a professor teaching Dante’s Inferno when Virgil (Bloom) appeared to carry the students to Dante’s 9 circles of Hell. The students visited Limbo, the first ring, “The Lustful,” the second ring and “The Gluttonous,” the third ring reacting to each environment as they encountered it. The other performers for the skit included Britney Forest, Shena Goodwin, Renee Martin, Jamie Palmer and Walter Toney.

   Robert "Red Hawk" Moore, professor of English, thanked the crowd for coming and said “I’m glad to see you here.” He made a joke about the fattest knight at the round table named circumference and said he got fat eating pies. He then read a poem comparing the ConAgra feed lots to Tribeca, the polish slave camp during World War II. He then read the companion piece to “King Kong’s Balls,” which he read in Fall 2007 titled “What Barbie is Missing?”

   This year Mocha saw the farewell performance of Eric Bell in “Ray Funn, the Graduating Pimp - farewell to Eric Bell.” The program described his performance as “I don’t want to offend anyone, but I am gonna do very raw, rude, crude and original material.”

   Bell talked about how he started participating on campus in the Creative Society, student government and in other areas of campus life before he began his comedy skit, where he joked about a variety of topics.

   The program ended with Caleb Burger’s light show to the sounds of “Bassnectar.”

   Ana Pazos, Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, said she like the poems, the play and Burger’s light show.

   “It was ok until Eric (Bell),” Pazos said. “He was gross.”

   The open mike provided the audience a chance to participate. Junior Alex Raybon, senior Anthony Newton and Ashley Smith performed a musical performance with the game “cups.” The performance transitioned from a slow tempo and sped up as it went along. Newton said he learned the game during band camp from Raybon, Smith and Tiffany Mathews.

   “It is a fairly addicting game,” Newton said.

   Charlotte, an audience member, read the advice she offered to a future bride such as:

• Share household chores

• Make a ritual of cooking, eating and cleaning up together

• Listen to music everyday

• Take time for yourself everyday

• Keep your own interest alive and well

• Always keep God in your life

• Dance, laugh and smile, they are contagious in almost every situation

   Others who performed included:

• Jasmine Bolen with an erotic short story called “Coffee with Crème.”

• Erick Garcia who read three poems

• Sarah Bloom who read a poem

• Jewel McKinzie

   The Creative Society awarded the Mars Award to senior Bonnie Crump, the Choragus for the event, and Jeffery Trotter. Prescott announced Crump as the Most Creative Person of the Year. They both received ceramic bowls made by Scott Lyken, assistant professor of Art.

   “I thought everyone did a great job and it was very entertaining,” Crump said.

   About 50 people attended Mocha Madness. Marshall described the turn out as a good crowd.

   “All 50 seemed to get into the artist’s work," Marshall said. "It was a good listening crowd."

   A special thanks went out to Randal Wilson for baking the cookies, Tandy Trotter and Bonnie Crump who made the coffee, Mimi Jean-Francois, Errin James, Doretha McClinton and others for helping with the event. The Student Activity Board funded the event.

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