Sketch comedy group Boris’ Kitchen delighted a packed Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose Room last Friday night with their annual “Old Shit Show”.

The comedy troupe performed skits about everything from Pokémon to Star Wars to David Bowie to Encyclopedia Brown. The group made jokes about topics ranging from space travel to cancer without missing a beat.

The group’s first sketch of the night broke the fourth wall by acknowledging the fact that they were a part of a performance. The sketch began with a father (Ben Astrachan '19) tucking his daughter (Yael Matlow '18) into bed. After a few minutes of back and forth, a man (Evan Mahnken ’19) selling “P-Nuts” interrupted the skit. The group encouraged audience participation at different points throughout the skit.

Another sketch depicted a battle between two Pokémon trainers, Jason Kwan ’20 and Mira Garin ’19. It was timely, given the popularity of the app “Pokémon Go.” The sketch began as a job interview and devolved into an all-out Pokémon battle. The skit compared Pokémon to animals in a hilarious parody of the game.

The show not only featured stunning acting, it was also a cohesive artistic statement. The music between sketches related to the previous sketch. Certain characters reappeared throughout the show. Each skit reflected on the impacts of popular culture. Desiigner’s “Panda” started playing after a skit with a panda in it. The Pokémon theme song played right after the Pokémon skit. “Starman” by David Bowie played after a skit that centered around David Bowie’s eccentric behavior.

Five new members of the 12-person group — Kwan, Claudia Davis ’19, Alan Omori ’20, Sarah Sharpe ’20 and Perry Letourneau ’20 — made their Brandeis sketch comedy debut that night. It was impossible to tell the new members from the veterans, as they blended seamlessly into the group’s performance. Each one had “their own unique comedic styles and skills,” according to director Andrew Agress ’17, that added an extra dimension of excitement to the show this semester.

One standout sketch was the last sketch of the night, titled “River to Birth.” Co-president of Boris’ Kitchen, Sarah Duffet ’17, said that “River to Birth” was her favorite sketch of the night because she “loved that it involved a little improv, and [she] loved that it showcased the whole troupe — it was also a sketch that folks managed to play differently every time, so it was such a blast, because [she] was constantly surprised.”

The other co-president, Zephry Wright ’17 also explained that he enjoyed putting on the last sketch. “I loved working along my fellow seniors,” he said. “We worked together to constantly improvise the last scene to really find what worked best.”

Constant surprise was a theme of the show. The audience was kept on their toes all night in anticipation of what might happen next.

Boris’ Kitchen showcased great talent at the group’s performance on Friday night, and the audience was very receptive. Every joke elicited a laugh from the audience. Every snide comment was met with a chuckle and murmur of appreciation.

The comedy troupe is led by Duffett and Wright. Boris’ Kitchen was founded in 1987, and the group is celebrating its 30th anniversary next year. The group performed sketches that dated all the way from the 1980s to the present. Boris’ Kitchen is also the University’s second-oldest performance group on campus.

Boris’ Kitchen’s next show will be on Dec. 2 and 3 as part of their annual Fall Festival.