By Laurie Frost
Trevor Kelley throws himself out of his wheelchair with a thud and scuttles under the table.
?Nobody panic ? the python is under the table,? he announces loudly to the rest of the cast. Brand X Comedy members scramble out of their chairs as the audience roars with laughter.
Kelley has a severe muscular disorder, but this doesn?t keep him from rolling out the laughs as he crawls across the stage.
?I would say the best part of Brand X is just being part of a group of people who are all really hilarious,? said Kelley, a member of the sketch comedy group.
Brand X Comedy, the self-proclaimed underdogs of the BYU comedy scene, created a new motto this year and screened it on their T-shirts: ?BYU?s ?other? sketch comedy troupe.?
?We?re like, BYU?s redheaded stepchild comedy troupe,? said Ryan ?Herbie? Hancock, a veteran member of Brand X Comedy.
Nevertheless, with their first show of the semester coming up, Hancock said their spirits are high and the gags are good.
Brand X, formed in 2003 by Jared Lesueur, brings zaniness in the spirit of ?Mad TV? to BYU?s comedy scene. Hancock said Lesueur coined the name ?Brand X? as the most basic name possible.
?Our name makes me think how you look for the generic stuff at stores because it?s cheaper,? Hancock said. ?Like we say on our Web site, ?It? s the Western Family of comedy troupes ? just as good, but a dollar cheaper.? ?
This semester?s sketches cover everything from the sickly sweet elementary school teacher to the perpetual movie quoter.
?What?s appealing about is we don?t base our humor entirely on BYU life,? Hancock said. ?Most of the stuff we do could be on national TV ? everyone would get it.?
Brand X?s trademark humor drew new cast members Kelley, Catherine Bridges and Earnest Cooper. Cooper saw Brand X perform at Fall Fest this year, so he auditioned for the group.
?I thought they were freaking hilarious,? Cooper said. ?When I got in, I felt like a kid with a shiny new nickel.?
Cooper, the only black member of the group, adds a little soul to the show with ?Cooper?s Collegiate Dictionary,? a series of quirky Ebonics definitions that has the cast rolling every time.
?What?s so cool about Brand X is that it?s not afraid to laugh at itself,? Cooper said. ?I already feel like we?re in a big family.?
Kelley is also an asset to the ?family? this year with his killer Scottish accent.
?Trevor?s got incredible accent skills, and Cooper?s got enough attitude for the whole troop,? Hancock said. ?And Catherine, she?s so not a diva. She takes any suggestion and just runs with it.?
Brand X performs Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Room 205 of the J. Reuben Clark Law School. Tickets are $3 at the WSC Information Desk or $4 at the door.