By Tanner Corbridge
For poor college students, the only thing better than a cheap laugh is a free one. That”s exactly what a group of BYU students is trying to provide through an on-line comedy show that has been gaining popularity.
“Blitz!,” a comedy team comprised of 15 freshmen, broadcasts original shows once a week over the internet with skits and stand-up comedy routines based on typical experiences at BYU.
The group performed their first live show at the Morris Center and attracted over 200 students, according to Ryan French, 18, from Glendale, Calif., majoring in information technology and co-founder/producer of the show.
“It”s fun to do, and we just hope more people find out about it and watch,” French said. “It will make it even more fun to do.”
The “Saturday Night Live” styled shows were originally geared for freshman audiences, but French said that word of mouth is taking the show”s popularity to other corners of campus.
Typical shows include glimpses into the dating life of a BYU couple, a testimony meeting at the BYU 805th Ward or a bishop”s interview.
“We have one skit with the bishop giving ”the talk.” That one was pretty funny,” said K.C. Kern, 18, from Sandy, Utah, majoring in pre-media arts, and a co-founder/producer of the show.
The producers said they do their best to keep the shows clean and G-rated-a feat Saturday Night Live has yet to accomplish.
French and Kern began the comedy group with little more than a few funny ideas and a love for web work and video editing. As they began broadcasting their shows, other students with similar interests hopped aboard-mostly from their Deseret Towers ward.
Now, the average show is the product of about 80 man-hours, consisting of scripting, recording and editing.
Kern said the numerous man-hours that go into every show are always worth the sacrifice.
“Receiving the audience reaction is the greatest thing about it,” said Kern. “We get some negative feedback as well, and sometimes that”s fun too. But just seeing how other people get excited about it. It is pretty rewarding.”
A few weeks ago, finding more funds to host the site became an unavoidable issue for the freshmen. After a brief sponsor search, Pizza Pipeline agreed to help support the site with monthly contributions of both money and free grub for the cast members.
The Web site broadcasts an original, pre-recorded show every Wednesday at 11 p.m. The late showing is to give students time to get home to log-on and watch.
The weekly broadcast and previously aired shows can be viewed by logging on to www.blitzcomedy.com.
