Bwog staff writers Marlee Turner, Avani Chaudhry, and Lynn Kim spent their Thursday evening in Lerner’s Blackbox Theatre for Latenite’s 49th Fall Anthology!

This weekend, Columbia’s Latenite put on their Fall Anthology Performance of experimental sketch comedy in Lerner’s Blackbox Theatre, treating the audience to a night of hilarious political commentary, dating-app horror stories come true, and creative takes on internet memes.

This year’s anthology kicked things off with “In the Mines,” as miners Georgie (played by Juliette Jimenez (BC ’27)), Jonny-Boy (Jack Seastrom, (CC ‘25)), and Frankie G (Macey Stancato, (CC ‘25)) were working tirelessly while a canary (Sofia Reecer (BC ‘25)), was chirping in a locked bird cage. Through perfectly over-the-top British accents and coal-stained attire, this sketch did an amazing job of replicating what we imagined 19th-century British coal mines to be like. This sketch contained some of our favorite one-liners of the night, like Georgie, who wished to see “progressive worker reform laws.” 

Next, a commercial entitled “Chat GOP” took the stage to give us all a little political comedic relief after the turmoil of the last month. It featured the vocal talents of actors Hannah Karsting (CC ‘25) and Shania Pahuja (BC ‘24) who played singers, along with Lucy Johnstone (BC ‘28), who starred in the titular role of the Chat GOP robot. As the salesman (Jillian Sullivan ( BC ‘26)), asked the robot questions, Johnstone delivered perfectly monotone responses based on far right propaganda while the singers performed well-choreographed dance and song in support of these ideas. Every joke landed, and we couldn’t stop marveling at the director, Matt Pierson (CC ‘25)’s, creativity. As much as we loved this sketch, we couldn’t help but think that our professors’ debilitating fears about AI might come true. Who knows, maybe chatGPT will go full GOP one day.

One thing you can always count on Latenite for is some incredibly well-written and performed eroticism. “Amelia Bedelia Fucks” was our favorite sketch, combining a childhood classic with the college student horrors of Tinder. After being told to “get fucked,” Amelia Bedelia, played by Norah Vlas (BC ‘26), set off to do just that, but not without her own spin. She met Matt (Matt Pierson (CC ‘25)) on Tinder and after exchanging some messages, Amelia found herself at Matt’s front door. Instead of the conventional sexual encounter Matt was hoping for, Amelia took it a step further. She brought her hair dryer to “blow” Matt, rode him like a horse (like literally riding on his back while wearing a cowboy hat), and, if that wasn’t enough, she ended the night with back shots. To conclude this already disastrous encounter, Amelia left Matt with lethal (gun) shots to the back. We’re sure this isn’t the Tinder hookup he was expecting, but once Amelia was charged with first-degree murder, we guess she really did “get fucked.” 

The next sketch of the night, “Health Class,” featured great one-liners and impressive directing from Roni Gal-Oz (BC ‘26) that gave each member of this ensemble of eight a unique comedic voice. The sketch opened with a health teacher, played by Ava Henderson (BC ‘26), tasking the students with taking care of an egg for a class project. However, because there are 7 students but only 6 eggs, Michael, played by River Alexander (CC ‘26), must take care of fellow student Tony, played by Beau Gantz (CC ‘28). A hilarious dynamic was established between Michael, the health teacher, and the other students through clever dialogue that ultimately resulted in Michael comforting Tony by giving him a piggyback ride. The sketch ended on a high with the health teacher eating an egg, a perfect plot twist that revealed that the health teacher had created this mess all for her entertainment. What we loved most about the sketch were the subtle jokes and comedic actions from the classmates. We each picked up on different details that made this sketch one of the most well written of the night. 

The performance of the evening for us was by Bijan Atri (CC ‘28) who played Rob in “Unhinged: A Tragedy in Five Beeps.” Returning home to his apartment, Rob encountered Lisa, played by Haniya Cheema (BC ‘25), a past flame attempting to seduce him. As the tension between the two rose and they were inches away from kissing, a beep interrupted the scene. Frazzled, Rob and Lisa tried to continue only to be interrupted by another beep. The sketch broke the fourth wall as the house lights went up and Rob confronted the stage manager to stop the beeping. Once the beeping interrupted the scene again, Rob went into a raging, psychopathic monologue, insulting Latenite, the audience members, and his co-star Lisa. The sketch concluded when Stancato, who in addition to acting is also the co-president of Latenite, had to drag Rob off the stage. 

In an SNL-like commercial parody, “Fushigi” opened with the familiar Fushigi commercial where a group of energetic teenagers were doing tricks and sharing what they love about their magic gravity balls. This commercial quickly took a comedic turn, when an enthusiastic Fushigi user shared the sexual things she likes to do with her gravity ball. The other teenagers attempted to brush off these remarks and continue with the advertisement, but these crude remarks about the Fushigi ball intensified. This sketch really brought me back to our youth as the choreography and dialogue were spot on to real Fushigi commercials. 

To finish off the night, directors Lucia Perri (CC ‘25) and Reecer took the audience on a journey through the testing facilities of the infamous rose toy through the sketch “Animal Testing.” Although inspector Jerry, played by Andrew Kelly (CC ‘26), may think he is inspecting a kid’s toy facility, he is in for a surprise when he finds himself immersed in the production of the famous floral sex toy. He starts confused and uncomfortable when he meets a trio of mice tasked with testing the product (get it, “Animal Testing?”), but eventually opens up to the world of female (human and mouse) masturbation. Inspector Jerry enjoys the orgasm of a lifetime with the help of the mice and a comically large rose toy (shoutout to the prop team) before proclaiming his love of the product, resonating with TikTok shop users everywhere. The striking visuals gave strong Rocky Horror Picture Show vibes, ending the night on the highest of notes. 

If you’ve never been to a Latenite show, definitely be sure to add it to your Spring Semester bucket list. From the perfectly curated between-sketches playlist, sound effects, set design, wonderful writing, and explosive acting, this was a night to remember.

Images via Elias Reville