‘The Buzz’ brings comedy and collaboration
Written by Emilie Kefalas
Photo courtesy of SCAD
An audience, whether massive or minuscule, is both an actor’s best friend and greatest threat.
When the SCAD School of Entertainment Arts presented an original, student-written and driven sitcom Saturday night, the two waves of students, faculty and curious strangers confirmed they were the former.
“The Buzz,” premiered to a packed studio at both its 6 and 8 p.m. live tapings in Studio A in Hamilton Hall on Saturday night. The eight actors on set fed off the energy of their audiences, who in turn contributed in their own collective role as the actors’ encouragement and permission to relax and have fun.
Executive producers and professors Mark Tymchyshyn, Andra Reeve Rabb, Greg Smith and Neil Short were the only “adult professionals,” so to speak, on a production entirely constructed of student volunteers from several different areas of study.
Writer and performing arts graduate student Matt Nickley’s script evokes a “Friends”-ish vibe, but his idea worked well when erected to full scale. The material eventually molded itself into an animal distinctive enough to carry its own concept. Writing a script for television is difficult, especially when every scene is limited to a single setting, as was the case with “The Buzz.”
Whether a freshman or a graduate student, every actor successfully fulfilled his or her character’s archetype. They earned every laugh, and certainly my attention, during their first taping at 6 p.m. Saturday night. I was also perplexed with the responsibilities of the crew, so much so I almost stayed behind for the second taping just to watch them.
The coffee shop setting, masterfully crafted by production design students, embraced the script’s action in such a well-developed layout that I started craving a cappuccino after the second scene. The three central male characters (Casey Edwards, Cannon Wise, and Loic Suberville) and the two women leads (Elizabeth Taylor and Georgia Nicholas) echoed character prototypes of primetime past, but I didn’t care.
Post graduate life hits 20-something Mike (Wise) like a brick wall when he suddenly finds himself unemployed and practically un-hirable. Mike’s level-headed friend, Reggie (Edwards), seems to be on the right track earning his master’s in psychology and tutoring on the side. Both guys struggle to make ends meet with their sex-crazed buffoon of a roommate, Brad (Suberville), who has a shortlist of ambitions which amount to becoming a sperm donor.
Andrea (Taylor) and Tori (Nicholas) are two baristas who work at the local coffee shop, “The Buzz” (no pun explanation needed). These two are the juxtaposed personalities typically found in a customer service environment on television. Eager and active Andrea compliments the ever dry and hilariously truthful Tori. Andrea has sympathy for the three guys who frequent the cafe, which Brad refers to it as his “vacation home.” He even attempts to bathe in the employees only bathroom.
Heather Schroeder, who was fantastic in Tychyshym’s recent production of “Becky Shaw,” brings back her sarcastic chops but with more bite as coffee shop manager Edward. Zane Harris, who acted alongside Schroeder in “Becky Shaw,” got a lot of well-deserved laughs as a guitar-playing hippie who looked like he wandered straight out of Portland high off something growing in Colorado. The two playing off one another was one of the show’s highlights.
The three actors have an eclectic dynamic, making for chuckle-worthy wisecracks and super sitcom-y stunts. They worked their material effectively, and picked up a great tempo as the show’s taping progressed. Some scenes had to be filmed twice, and it was equally as entertaining to watch one version from another.
To Nickley’s credit, his script has many quick, clever moments which help raise this pilot episode from total “Friends” territory to an alternate route relevant to every student in the audience. His dialogue is timely, because he brought his experiences to his characters, making them emotionally accessible and not as generic as the typical sitcom troupe.
This was an exciting and entertaining use of an hour, and I am still in awe of the feat these students pulled off with the help of their mentors. Television sets were non-existent at SCAD prior to “The Buzz.” Watching this collaborative effort was inspiring for this writer, and I left Studio A optimistic more joint projects could potentially emerge from the ground broken by the talent on set Saturday night. Majors such as sound design, production design, and performing arts needed an excuse to come together and create the next frontier of SCAD entertainment arts. “The Buzz” was the perfect remedy.
