By Megan Sayles
On May 6 at 8 p.m. in Stamp’s Colony Ballroom Maryland Night Live will be performing their first show to University of Maryland students.
The show will be free and will be very similar to the late-night TV show Saturday Night Live, the group’s inspiration, according to Sam Intrater, senior producer of the show. The freshman theater and government and politics student said there will be a cold open, weekend update section, musical performances and musical guests.
Intrater said the group has primarily been writing for the last three weeks and workshopping their content.
“Just last week, we picked the very best handful of sketches that we want to put in front of an audience,” Intrater said. According to him, the group comprises at least 50 members with cast members, producers, writers and musicians.
The comedy group holds weekly pitch meetings to generate content, according to Walker Green, the show’s director. Green, a theater and government and politics student, said they have at least 15 writers, and they are constantly updating and rewriting.
“We want to make sure the audience sees the funniest thing possible,” Green said. They are also rigorous with how their actors perform the content, according to Green.
“Maryland Night Live is an accumulation of all of the best comedians on campus meeting in one place, “ Sammy Garcia said, the host and a cast member of the show. The sophomore supply chain management student said they have combined members from comedy groups on campus, including Sketchup, Erasable Ink and The Bureau.
Because of this collaboration, Garcia said the comedy group has had no difficulty generating content. Their biggest challenge is rehearsing the performances and making them attainable without the use of expensive props and sets and costumes.
The comedy group received their funding from Student Entertainment Events (SEE) through an application on the organization’s website, according to Garcia. He said the group needed to be recognized by the Student Government Association (SGA), which they accomplished by being endorsed by Erasable Ink–a group already recognized by SGA– and they needed to be student-run.
Garcia also said diversity was important to them.
“I’ve been to numerous open mics where it’s just white dudes,” Garcia said, adding that one of their goals is to encourage and reward diversity.
Green said in the future, Maryland Night Live would like to secure a permanent venue. According to him, it is possible that MilkBoy Arthouse will scout their show on Monday. Having a guaranteed venue would allow the group to focus primarily on their rehearsals, Green said.
Garcia said he is excited to see what the future will look for the group’s performers. His hopes are that they are able to refine their craft enough to be able to put it on a resume. He said he really believes that cast members could succeed in the entertainment business in the future.
Next semester, the group plans to perfect the process enough to have monthly shows, according to Green.
Students can expect all original comedic content from the show as well as two talented musical guests– a rapper and a guitarist. Monday’s show will consist of about 12 sketches, according to Garcia, ranging from family-friendly topics to 21-and-over topics, according to Garcia.
“Even if you don’t want to watch something funny, you can still just support your fellow comedians and your fellow people on campus,” Garcia said.