Photo Courtesy of President Ambar
Oberlin’s bi-weekly live comedy show Good Talk launched its fifth season on Tuesday night with a live Q&A featuring witty answers from President Carmen Twillie Ambar.
“I love doing the fun things that are happening on campus that students want me to do,” President Ambar said. “I had a chance to do Good Talk before, to be on WOBC a lot for various interviews, so it’s just another way for me to connect with students and to know what’s going on on campus. In this instance, [it’s] to see our really cool sense of humor.”
Besides featuring President Ambar, the show featured an exciting change in format. Good Talk producer and college second-year Juli Freedman explained that last season the show had a talk-show format, but now they’ve transitioned to sketch comedy skits. One of Monday night’s segments was called “HAZING.” In this hilarious, PSA-style sketch, show director College third-year Mary Brody chugged ketchup, squeezing it directly into her mouth.
While the “hazing” sketch may not be directly related to the Oberlin experience, several other Good Talk segments were campus-specific. After the show, College fourth-year Caitlin Kelley mentioned that she enjoyed the way that Good Talk satirized the everyday life of Obies. Good Talk, Kelley said, is one of the numerous unique events that make a student’s time at Oberlin so memorable.
“I [may be] tired on a Monday night, but I feel like I have to go to every event to just make sure I get the whole Oberlin experience, and Good Talk is definitely part of that,” Kelley said.