The Late Night Players, a sketch comedy group which is made up of five Brandeis Alumni, opened for the amazing Sklar Brothers during Orientation's Comedy Night in Levin Ballroom. They began their act with "The Coolest," the hit game show that "faces seventh graders against seventh graders in a pre-pubescent fight to see who is the coolest." Later, the Late Night Players decided to take Brandeis' theme for Orientation this year, "Scale New Heights," and make 10 different anagrams, out of which came some of the following amusing phases: The New Shagsicle; She Ate Eels, Shwing; Teaches W. English; Glans With Cheese; and Health Swig Scene. In between sketches there were installments of "Ask a White Guy." Throughout his time on stage, the "white guy" commented on how California "only has avocados and guys that look like girls," remarked that "Osama Bin-Laden eats tofu-burgers," and complained about Harry Potter.

They came out in Orientation T-shirts and presented the audience with a slide show of "memories" of which appeared to be original pictures from their four years at Brandeis mixed in with new ones taken just for the skit. They finished their wonderful set by promoting so many different corporations that I lost count. There was Microsoft, Jive Records, the Republican Party, and many, many others. It was a great performance by the Late Night Players as usual.

Finally it was time for the Sklar Brothers, Randy and Jason, to take the stage. The first few jokes poked fun at the Late Night Players and their "political science degrees." Then they asked if the Brandeis population was everyone who didn't get into Tufts. Everyone reacted with shouts and boos to which they smiled and said "fuck Tufts!" causing the audience to erupt into cheers. They commented on the Brandeis mascot, the Judges, saying, "You guys are bad asses: 'We sentence you to lose!'"

They seemed to feel bitter about magicians, resenting the fact that they always had to follow one during a show. In an amusing story, they related to the audience their experience at the "Lance Burton:World Champion Magician" show in Las Vegas which their parents took them to when they were on spring break in college. Of course, Burton's illustrious title begged the question: "What is there like a Superbowl of Magic?" As college students (at the time) surrounded by eager four and five-year-olds, and with parents who couldn't yet see the difference, they described their mortification as their parents tried to urge them onstage, how they were skeptical and watched as he brought out an empty cage, said some magic words and tapped the cage with a 'magic wand.' Much to their chagrin, however, 50 white doves burst out of the previously empty cage, leaving them only to comment: "Shit, good...trick!"

Then, Randy and Jason lamented how it was no longer cool to do all of the things that they used to do in college at their new age of 31. "When you were in college, you woke up, smoked a bowl, got drunk, laid around all day and ate cereal and you were a...god. Or you slept with five people at a party the night before, don't remember their names, and you are idolized for all time. Now, everyone just tells you to go get a job." They also mourned the loss of their ability to watch MTV, because it makes them pedophiles, by proxy.

The highlight of their show, however, were their ruminations about the Channel Four News helicopter, Chopper Four. It was an object of fascination for them, as it slowly took over the Channel Four news syndicate, until everything was covered by Chopper Four. "And then," they declared, "It crashed into the Hudson River! It was all over the news: Chopper Four downed in the Hudson River, live coverage being provided to you by the first on the scene. Chopper Four!" The Sklar brothers even managed to work Chopper Four into the most... intimate of settings, if you catch my drift. Let's hope that doesn't show up in our bedrooms any time soon.

After the intense peak brought on by their helicopter fixation, they began to wind down to a conclusion. They ripped on the "Girls Gone Wild" video, new and improved sneaky telemarketers, the heat wave in Europe, Mel Gibson and "What Jewish Women Want," and finally, how commercials on the radio nowadays sound like new hip-hop songs in an effort to confuse the old and out-of-touch wannabe hipsters. To say the audience was sad to see them leave the stage would be an understatement.

Hilarity of the set aside, the most impressive thing about the Sklar Brothers' performance was their incredible ability to play off each other. They were operating on what was obviously the same mental plane, as they finished each other's sentences and used their nearly-identical thought paths to literally layer their jokes, voices echoing over laughs from the audience. There are very few comics who display this ability to work so well in a team, and even fewer who understand that by doubling comics, they are also doubling laughs.

Overall, the show provided the audience members with an enjoyable evening of laughs. Starting off with the Late Night Players and concluding with the Sklar Brothers, the acts only proceeded to become more hilarious as the night went on. You can bet Tufts doesn't get that sort of entertainment.