Students Shac Up For Some Laughs

By:

Posted: 12/13/09

On Thursday December 3, 2009 Variety Shac, which is an all female comedic group, performed in Talmadge Hall at 7:30 pm. Variety Shac was brought to Hollins in conjunction with AIDS Awareness week and was sponsored by Hollins Activity Board.

Variety Shac was started in New York City by Shonali Bhowmik, Heather Lawless, Andrea Rosen, and Chelsea Peretti; together whose first initial make up the word "Shac". They decided to make the all-female group in response to their frustration with other comedy shows where they were always the only female performers.)

Their shows consist of music, comedy, and comedic shorts all by the members. In most of the shows all four will perform individually and then will have a new comedic short that features the entire group as an ensemble. At this performance, however, Heather Lawless did not perform because she recently had a baby and was unable to come.

"I liked it. I liked how there was something different so the audience wouldn't get bored; you don't usually have music, performances on DVD, and standup at the same time," said Brittany Jamison '11.

Over the course of the night, Shonali Bhowmik performed two songs that she had written for her band, followed by one of Variety Shac's video shorts, while Andrea Rosen and Chelsea Peretti performed separate comedic acts. The show concluded with another one of their video shorts.

"I also thought the two comedians who actually did the stand up were funny, witty, and seemed to really enjoy what they were doing. Overall, I had fun, the audience energy was great, and it was great entertainment for the evening," said Jamison.

After the performance there were DVD, CD, posters and other Variety Shac merchandise for sale. All the proceeds from what was sold went straight to a Women's HIV Center.