The lights dimmed and the crowed became quiet for the event was about to start. The host walked onto the stage, full of confidence, and proceeded to tell some of the worst jokes imaginable. The Gong Show on Wednesday October 15th, was a fun night filled with food, entertainment and community. While the goal of a gong show is to display talents and performances nobody would want to see under ordinary circumstances, I was impressed with the quality of some of the acts. Phil Miessner’s drum solo, as well as Sarah and Heather Capeling’s Doughnut man duet are such examples of, nearly, quality performances. What could have been the most professional act of the evening, a German song preformed by Graham Sweet, was made more humorous due to his music pages blowing around, and the occasional angry English outbursts.

This is not to say I did not enjoy the silly, light-hearted skits presented by others. The stage was blessed with two bands, “Raoul” and “Abrasive Bubbles” both were quite amusing and entertaining. Graham Sweet and Tim Chester performed a musical interpretation of “what Greek does to you”, and Fretzie brought us an interesting spoken word performance based on the story of Nicodemus. Several videos were submitted too, some by people who no longer attend EBC. Matt Eckhardt presented a joke about England, and Jessie Goulet played Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano Finally we come to my favourite act of the evening. Robbie Olenuik presented a two act skit with himself entitled “Frogman and Tadpole vs. the Dragon Lady”. At least that’s what I think it was called. Despite being terribly confused, I found these two acts to be hysterical. It did not make a ton of sense, but based on the fact that it was only gonged in the last few seconds of the final performance, it is my belief that it was liked by all.

I would like to thank the administrators of the Gong Show, and recognize the hard work and effort that went into planning this event. I encourage anyone who missed this event to show up for future events, if possible, and I remind you that the coffee house is coming in the future.

Matthew Vandervoet