Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘video’

Mar 18

5 Comments

Jimmy Wong Sings Viral YouTube Success

MiddBlog tweeted out about this a few days ago. But when things go viral, more of Midd should get in on the action. Jimmy Wong ’09.5 was the #1 most viewed musician on YouTube yesterday with his response to the “UCLA girl.” His video is almost up to a million views helping his budding acting/singing/improv/producing/etc. career. At Middlebury, Jimmy was involved with the Theatre and FMMC departments, sang lead in a band (The Gremlin’s Kremlin), and sang for several semesters with the Mamajamas. Below the original video and Jimmy’s response:

(via @aadragna ’10)

Jan 16

Arts Runoff: PUBLIC SAFETY

Summary: Otter Nonsense, Midd’s oldest improv group, has become a for-credit organization.  As an independent J-Term project, some Otters (and friends) are writing and producing a series of 10- to 15-minute Webisodes about a fictional Department of Public Safety at “Corwin College.” Officer Greg (Greg Dorris ’13), a former cop, has been hired to bring order to the sinking P-Safe department.  (I know the series is nothing new – I wanted to wait to review it until the second episode came out.)

Good: Solid storytelling, immediately accessible characters. // Pretty funny, especially episode 2. // High production quality; nothing in the filming or audio to distract from the writing and acting. // Greg Dorris and Michaela Lieberman stand out as actors (of course, the latter is true again and again and again).

Bad: Even after the upswing of episode 2, “Public Safety” still runs the risk of just being “Reno 911″ with different uniforms and a splash of “The Office.” The producers haven’t quite found a way to make it feel like there’s something special about the Public Safety job, or this office in particular. We have some archetypal characters (the sophomoric goofuses, the overenthusiastic rookie, the serious but doomed leader, etc.) // Sometimes the humor is a little predictable, and less often juvenile. (E.g., I saw the skunk thing coming.)

Broad: The Otters are the cool kids at Middlebury. People will come to any Otters project already prepared to enjoy it. Maybe that’s why it’s so nice when the group pushes its boundaries: the Otters don’t have to push any boundaries to remain immensely popular, but they do it anyway, because they’re sincerely interested in improv and comedy as creative outlets. (Not to say there aren’t plenty of other people on campus who feel that way, too.)

Contextual Rating: If you have something important to do this J-Term,
…do it, and see this show if you can.
…put it off and see this show. (The episodes are only about 12 minutes long. There’s no excuse not to watch them.)
…skip it. SEE THIS SHOW.

Jan 8

2 Comments

First episode of Otters series ‘Public Safety’ released

Yesterday, campus comedy troupe Otters Nonsense released the first full-length installment of their new online show, “Public Safety,” as promised back in December. You can watch the episode below or on the show’s blog, where the troupe is also seeking donations.

My first impression is that the production quality of the show is first-rate. A solid plot line, interview asides with characters, and the amusing but maybe overly frequent glances at the camera, (taking directly from NBC’s “The Office“) gave me cause to laugh out loud a few times and held my attention for the duration of the episode.

It’s another venture away from the Otters’ typical repertoire of short-form improv, following their long-form show in Hepburn this past fall, but it’s a departure worth continued efforts.

Overall, a quarter of an hour procrastinating from my thesis well-spent. Leave a comment below and let the Otters know what you think.

Also (update 01.08.2011 4:50 p.m.): The Otters 20th anniversary show is tonight at 8:00 p.m. in Johnson. I’ve spotted legend alumni Xander Manshel ’09 and Adam Levine ’09 on campus, both expected to appear with a cast of twenty tonight.

Oct 2

Live feed: Middlebury TEDx Conference

Middlebury College’s TEDx Conference is happening right now.  Here’s a live feed of the talk:


Sep 9

1 Comment

Bernie Sanders on Unemployment

Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was on the town green in Middlebury this Monday talking about the future of the Vermont economy.  Check out WPTZ’s (Channel 5) coverage of the event, which features several Middlebury College students:

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »