Presents, Mount Allison’s improv group, is great at making things up on the spot, but Friday night they reintroduced Friday Night Live, a scripted and rehearsed sketch. With student union president Melissa O’Rourke as host and Max Grizzly and the Entertainment as musical guest, the evening at The Pond proved to be a success.

The show included a wide variety of comedy sketches. It incorporated a video with Beyonce’s “Partition” playing in the background, and satires of contemporary and relevant cultural and political subjects like Justin Bieber and Rob Ford. The show also made light of Sackville, as one cast member joked, “if you smell bad and have a beard, there’s a place for you in Sackville.”

FNL was reintroduced this semester after having been used by the group in the past. Cast member Tom Hearn said, “FNL is something that Presents has done before. I decided to take it under my wing and mount it again this year. The sketches were written by myself and other cast members, so it was a group effort.”

Although the sketches were well done and there is no doubt that they were thoroughly enjoyed by audience members, the four students who performed off-script at the end of the show really stole the show. They proved that improv really is their forte. Asking the audience for suggestions of where to begin, they came up with “eating at a buffet.” From there, the four students worked off of each other’s ideas and came up with some very interesting, very absurd, and very entertaining sketches. From being at McDonald’s, to a dinner theatre, to shooting ducks, and talking with fake French accents, they definitely got the audience’s attention. Among the four students stood Tom Hearn and Andrew Johnston—both cast members who were strong performers and comedians, and left audience members on the edge of their seats.

Presents host improv shows every Wednesday at 9:30 pm at The Pond, so make sure to stop by and check them out. If you missed this Friday Night Live, make sure to catch the  next two shows they have planned for the semester.

The first snowfall of 2014 had impeccable timing. Concertgoers to Suzie LeBlanc’s guest performance in Brunton auditorium on Jan. 14 were delighted to find their Christmas season extended. Although most of us have already put away our Christmas decorations for the season, the programme for the guest recital The More the Merrier was a celebration of winter, beginning with Christmas and ending with the Acadian feast of “La Chandeleur”—a tradition that takes place on Feb. 2 each year. And, as the tradition goes, it is forbidden to remove ones decorations before the beginning of February. “If you put them away already, just put them back up tonight,” joked Suzie LeBlanc, soprano, performer and Mount Allison music department’s artist-in-residence for the year 2013-2014.

In lieu of the traditional Christmas carols we hear each year, the repertoire consisted of a collection of French songs from different regions of France, found in what is known as the “Cradle of Acadie.” The collection ranged from soft, slow and melodic tunes like “Joseph Cherchant un Logis” to more up beat selections like “Noël Dijonnais.” The performance highlighted several musical instruments, including the violin, guitar, piano and the dulcimer. The audience was awed by David Greenberg’s impeccable performance and solos on the violin, and was entertained by his obvious enjoyment of the repertoire, as he tapped his feet, danced along with the music, and smiled fervently at his fellow musicians. Drummer and percussionist, Nick Halley, also made an impression with his solo that clearly demonstrated his coordination and technique.

It was obvious throughout the performance that audience members were drawn in as they swayed along with the music and tapped their feet. The performance reached out to a variety of patrons, including Mt. A professors, students, members of the community, Francophones and Anglophones alike.