Light Shows and Improv Dazzle Golisano Auditorium
Most students are satisfied with big speakers and good music in their room. Not Josh Dietrich. The only thing that made sense, to him, was adding a light show.
Living on the Computer Science House floor, Josh was required to complete a project that in some way benefitted his community. In response, he created the Digital and Analog Music Manipulation of Incandescent Technology (DAMMIT).
“I like music and I like colored lights,” Dietrich explained, “So, I decided to combine both.”
His demonstration shows the capabilities of and ease with which plugging in music and watching the lights take over can be mastered. Begun in the late 1980’s, the project has been through six revisions. The most current design allows for any musical device to be plugged into the system and results in a multi-colored light display.
“This could be used for a DJ setting. We’ve already used it for the Special Interest House formal.”
After Dietrich’s initial techno-light display, BrainWreck Improv brought laughter to the Golisano Auditorium. The comedy troupe comprised of Jean-Jacques Delisle, Jeremy Allston, Jason Eberle, Lowren Lewson, Kyle O’Neill and Nathan Horn began their performance with a slideshow that highlighted what improv is all about. They moved on to a brief Q & A session and played games for their finale. Each member displayed his or her own individual, unique comedic style.
“We’re bringing something new to the campus,” Delisle said. “We’ve started an infrastructure anew and began filling it in later…we’d like to see more groups and more shows. But, for us, things are really starting to accelerate.”
The troupe took root when Eberle held an informal improv workshop during Orientation Week his first year on-campus. O’Neill gained interest and eventually brought the rests of the team with him. They’ve recently gained club support from Student Government and hold weekly meetings on Mondays at 8:30 p.m in the SAU.
BrainWreck encourages people with none, some or lots of improv experience to come out and have fun as it continues to perform and gain notoriety at RIT.