Brandeis University's Fall Fest is an annual event that brings families of students together to enjoy a weekend of fun-filled group activities. One of these activities is the Variety Show, an ensemble presentation at the Levin Ballroom, consisting of singing, dancing, acting and comedy sketches from the Brandeis student body. It highlights the great amount of artistic work that students put into their craft and gives parents and extended families a taste of the kind of creative spirit that all Brandeis students possess. This year's show was a diverse display of talent-each group presented something unique and enjoyable. The evening was hosted by Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams, who brought a great amount of enthusiasm and humorous charisma to the proceedings as the master of ceremonies. All of the pieces were segued by interludes with Adams. He kept up the audience's spirits with questions about subjects such as age and aspirations, as well as rallying pep talks. The performances themselves consisted of four main categories, dancing, singing, comedy and acting, with dances bookending the show. The various dancing troupes included Adagio's Dance Ensemble, B'Yachad, the Kaos Kids and So Unique. Adagio's Dance Ensemble began the show with a dance to the Mike Posner song "Cooler Than Me." The dance was well choreographed by Julie Judson '11, though the dancers themselves were a bit stiff. They performed a second piece later on in the show to "Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan, which was much smoother, and overall they performed well.

The Israeli dance troupe B'Yachad danced to the song "Be Ezrat Hashem" by Sarit Hadad and displayed a great bit of cultural dancing. The Kaos Kids, a hip-hop group, presented a dance to an arrangement of five songs: "One," "In The Morning," "All I Do is Win," "Outta Your Mind" and "Elevator." In these songs, they used their movements to create suggestions of everyday activities. The whole piece seemed to take the form of a car driving through traffic, an interesting image suggested merely by the power of dance.

The So Unique step team provided a nice bridge between dancing and acting, as they danced without the use of background music, creating the music simply through their hands and feet. They also acted out a scene in which they were rehearsing to perform these dances in front of judges, competing among themselves to enter into a reality show competition. This idea brought a fun dynamic to the performance by giving us the illusion that we were watching them rehearse for a star-making dance routine, an idea not outside the realm of possibility judging by their talent.

The remaining acting pieces were a stand-up comedy routine by Devon Hermaneau '11 and three skits by the Boris' Kitchen improvisation troupe. Hermaneau's standout moments were his jokes about starting an anti-activism club and an irony club that wasn't allowed to have anything ironic about it. He also had a funny bit about the last person you'd expect a girl to have a crush on (punch line: her father) and a self-deprecating bit about his lack of ability to do a proper segue. Boris' Kitchen's skits included "Recycle This," a hilarious bit featuring a radical girl who insisted that people should recycle their souls and that juice was accessible from a faucet. They also performed "Eat You, Brutus," which featured a spin on the assassination of Julius Caeser, and "Postmodernism," which was a funny, offbeat piece with a man surrounded by hippie postmodernists who insisted they were figments of his imaginations.

The singing pieces were performed by a variety of a cappella groups, including Voices of Soul, Rather Be Giraffes, Starving Artists and VoiceMale. Voices of Soul performed "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree and a Michael Jackson medley that featured an arrangement of several of Jackson's songs including "Thriller," "Beat It" and "Smooth Criminal." The arrangements were done nicely, and the singers were very good, though they weren't always in sync. Nevertheless, they had a clear love for their chosen songs, and it showed. Rather Be Giraffes was supremely entertaining, performing upbeat and heartfelt renditions of "Scar" by Missy Higgins and "Santeria" by Sublime. Starving Artists performed the songs "Angels" by Robbi Williams and "Misery Business" by Paramore with pleasing results. VoiceMale, an all-male a cappella group, performed "Fallin' Over You" by Rockapella and "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall. They seemed to have a bit of a timing issue toward the end, but overall their voices were appealing, and they performed with heart.

The night was rounded out with a final performance by Hooked on Tap, who performed a tap dance routine to the song "Sold" by Michael John Montgomery. This finale was appropriately festive, presenting a country-western tune and a fun tap dance ensemble done in the square-dancing tradition. This upbeat performance was the perfect way to end a night filled with fun and talent. Overall, the Variety Show presented an excellent sampling of the great skill of Brandeis' performers. Family and friends no doubt left the ballroom feeling delighted and proud.