Inspired by the Artist Formerly Known As Prince's transformation of his name into a symbol, an adolescent Jewish summer camper began spelling his name "M-y-q." "I like that it changed the whole spelling except for the M. If I changed the M, I would have to get all new monogrammed things. Not that I had anything monogrammed at age 14," young comedian and Brandeis alum Myq Kaplan '00 said before his show on the night of Saturday, Oct. 1 in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

Kaplan and opening act Josh Gondelman '07 offered a sometimes innocent and often perverse caper through all sorts of forbidden topics-bulimia, messiahs, oral sex and board games-with equal amounts of contempt and fascination. The roughly one-hour show was slow moving at times, but a worthy endeavor by two developing comics.

Gondelman was pleasantly self-deprecating while warming up the crowd for a short 10-minute stint. With a routine involving an unexpected bat he named "Joan Rivers because I never want to see it again and I hope it dies," Gondelman showed the audience just why many believe him to be the funniest man on campus.

What followed was just as enjoyable. With some well-received one-liners and various types of observational jokes, Kaplan managed to amuse the crowd of student attendees for roughly 50 minutes. His jokes consisted of such amusing and unusual topics as the use of mice as confidants, the octopus as a perfect Jewish Messiah (picture the Star of David) and the gross similarities between losing your cell phone and losing an autistic child who has memorized everyone's phone numbers.

Unfortunately, a deluge of patrons slowly exiting the 24-Hour Theater Project Showcase at 10:30 p.m. interrupted the comedy show early and made for a difficult second half of the set. One can only hope that next time, the Department of Student Activities, the sponsors of the evening, arrange for a more practical location.

-Dana Hall