“Show Broncos” Brings Folky, Filthy Fun
Comedy and music variety show raises money for charity
Lindsay TenesTHE SANTA CLARANovember 3, 2016
Men in dresses. Outrageous costumes. Big personalities. Music and comedy. No, it’s not drag—it’s “Show Broncos,” a Halloween themed variety showcase of student acts ranging from singer-songwriters to stand-up comedians to sketches.
The event, organized by junior Jimmy Flynn and senior Riley McShane, on its second year. In addition to providing students with a platform to display their creativity, the event is also a vehicle to raise money for Breakthrough Silicon Valley, a local charity which provides middle school students with the resources to reach college.
“We’re privileged to go to a great university where we get to do something like plan ‘Show Broncos’ in our free time, but for a lot of young people it’s a very difficult road to get to college. Breakthrough Silicon Valley is trying to change that and we were happy to support them,” McShane said.
The show kicked off with an address to the university by junior Emile Antone in the role of Father Engh. The sketch played on the recent leaks, transparency of the administration and the always relevant question of where exactly our tuition goes. Senior Nick Medal portrayed Provost Dennis Jacobs, Father Engh’s dutiful sidekick.
The characters returned throughout the show, dodging questions about the administration’s activities giving winning answers such as, “With donors’ money, nothing is impossible.” Ain’t that the truth.
Senior Michael Turgeon played electric guitar and performed an original song called “Midnight Sun,” a soulful ballad which drew a loud applause.
In their skit titled “Bronco News Network,” Sarver and McOsker played news anchors— named Tim Foreskin and Macwell Fiveskin, respectively—who clearly take their jobs very seriously, sporting pajamas and drinking grape juice out of plastic cups. They tackled the hard-hitting issues that affect first-years at Santa Clara, such as the top ten ways to “seal the deal” with a girl as well as roommate pairings.
“The first bit of news comes from the dear eighth floor of Swig. A pair of roommates has developed—get this—an airtight masturbation schedule. Shout out to Father Engh for personally matching them up. What a heartwarming tale for the whole family,” the faux-anchors said.
The show also featured recent graduate Jaelin McCreary, who returned to campus to perform in “Show Broncos,” crooning an original song while strumming a ukulele.
Following McCreary, Flynn, co-creator of the show, performed stand-up comedy in a fitting black dress, what appeared to be the ever-so-fashionable Clarks and Risky Business-esque socks. His hysterical set touched upon sex, diarrhea and Hitler—delivered in a manner so crude that the newspaper can’t quote him.
And for the finale, McShane—sporting a floral yellow frock that showed a scandalous amount of upper thigh—performed a more experimental song, layering beats on a keyboard. The musician then switched genres, singing a folk-style song about a rebellious Jesus while playing both the guitar and harmonica. At one point, McShane crooned, “I met Jesus, / he was 19, / he was the best joint roller that you ever seen.”
Turgeon joined McShane for the final song on stage to perform the duet “Midwestern Moon,” which McShane had previously dedicated to a special someone at the Fall Love Jones show. Two regular bros, jamming out about one of the bro’s girlfriends. Gotta love it when guys do that.
The event was widely successful, giving students an opportunity to perform, hone their craft and share their talent with peers. No other event on campus provides comedians this kind of platform, a unique aspect of the show. However, as McShane pointed out, the defining characteristic is that all of the material was created by the entertainers— something that the founders think is vital to the show’s success.
“The most important principle is to keep all of the content original. That’s what made Monday night unique—everything came directly from the artist,” McShane said.
The senior has high hopes for the future of Show Broncos, looking to elevate the production value as well as incorporate short films and other visual content created by students.
When asked about the opportunities or lack thereof student entertainers have on campus, McShane said, “There’s no shortage of events on campus where students perform, especially music. But one of the unfortunate things is that we’re simply not given enough time nor the right kind of attention at these events.”
“Like with many things at Santa Clara, it comes down to quantity vs quality. We should keep challenging the barrier of what’s expected from on-campus events,” he added.
Show Broncos will be produced on campus again in both Winter and Spring quarters.
Contact Lindsay Tenes at ltenes@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.