Sketch comedy group Fourth Quarter All-Stars debuts new show


The student-run group’s hour-long showcased sketches featuring President Carol Folt impressions and spoofs of the college admissions scandal. (Photo from Facebook)

Student-run sketch comedy group Fourth Quarter All-Stars had audiences laughing throughout the entirety of its show “16 in the Middle of Miami” at the USC Brain and Creativity Institute Thursday night.

The hour-long show featured a host of witty sketches that showcased the group’s masterful comedy-writing skills and ability to craft relatable content for its college student demographic. Spanning various mediums, a combination of performed scenes, film bits, rap songs and a knockout musical finale kept the show fresh and fast-paced. 

The show opened with a stellar impression of President Carol Folt by Vivian Gray, a sophomore majoring in film and television production, where Folt suggests an alternative spanking punishment for the guilty parties involved in the numerous scandals surrounding the University. The momentum continued with a substitute Professor Snape sketch where the students observe that he has a “bisexual bob,” leading to suspicions that he is an actor. There are recurring motifs and characters throughout the show that appear when you least expect them, surprising audiences in an already unpredictable show. The Hannah Montana theme song interludes bring characters together, helping them build an enduring relationship, and the reappearance of mobster Domino’s delivery boy Guiseppe blindsided audiences and made for one of the most comedic moments of the show.

But it was the short musical performances that stole the show. A rap number where musical artist “Onset” raps about his early-onset Alzheimer’s has snappy lyrics and an energetic beat. The ending musical number captivated the audience with a tune so catchy that they all left singing it.

The audience’s reaction was overwhelmingly positive. There were a few scattered laughs at every joke and a unified uproar during the punchlines or any particularly edgy moment.  

“There is definitely a lot going on, very action-packed within an hour, but most of the jokes remained fresh and [the show] flowed pretty well,” said audience member Charlie McCollum, a freshman majoring in film and television production.

Cooper Roth, a freshman majoring in film and television production and one of the group’s newest recruits directed the SNL-esque film sketch “The Search for Cupertino.” The script was written by fellow group member Samantha Lee, a sophomore majoring in history and writing for screen and television, who also starred in the short film.

“We knew that we only had one day to do it, and so they were very kind because they had never actually seen a piece of my directing before, and yet they all agreed that I should be directing the film,” Roth said. “It was a total blast because, for me, I’m this freshman. I was hoping that I would be able to make a film at some point in my freshman year in film school and all of a sudden I was directing a film in my first month with a bunch of people that were already some of my closest friends.”

4QAS never missed an opportunity for a comedic moment. The show concluded with a Non-Disclosure Agreement being thrown out into the audience, prohibiting attendees from being “a little snitch,” which left audience members in fits of laughter as they headed back into the real world.