Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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Saturday Night Live comedian demonstrates off-color wit for Northwest audience. By Amanda McManigal and Mike Johnson Adults Only Humor A small, shyly unassuming man walked onto the stage as the crowd rose to its feet with a standing ovation. His first lines were greeted with wild cheers and whistles. Adam Sandler, star of television and screen, was the headline performer at Mary Linn Performing Arts Center and from the audience ' s reactions, they got what they came for: wry humor and silly songs. Before Sandler took the stage, two other comedians warmed up the audience. Speech professor Jeff Przybylo presented material concerning his brother ' s band and Scooby Doo. Shaggy and Scooby were obviously on marijuana, Przybylo said. They exhibited the two classic signs: always hungry and constantly paranoid. Allen Covert went on stage next. He entertained the audience with bits on Maryville ' s weather and a questionable football strategy. Our high school football team was doing real well, Covert said. Our coach got turned in because he was having his wife blow the players. What must he have said? ' Honey, I love you and you are beautiful. The team is doing poorly. Would you mind performing oral sex? ' Covert said he liked to toy with real estate agents. I liked to go in and ask them questions like, ' That was a nice wall, Covert said. I liked the paint color and everything. If I got blood on it, would it wash off? ' or ' If someone was screaming in the basement, could the neighbors hear it? ' and by the way, ' Was that your home number? ' Covert, who performed only for the 9 p.m. show, said he did not know until the last minute that he was performing. Adam said, ' Are you doing anything this week? ' and I said ' No. ' He said, ' Let ' s go do comedy, ' Covert said. I enjoyed it a lot and it was wonderful to be here. Then, the wait was over. The man that fans had paid $16 a ticket for took the stage with jokes ranging from dating to impressions of his family to obscene material. His material also included a poem about Northwest. Northwest Missouri State University-oh, you had to study for your test-oh, the library was the best place-oh, or go to Molly ' s and get shitfaced-oh, Sandler said. Although Sandler boasted a budding film career with roles in Airheads and Steve Martin ' s Lifesavers, he did not feel the pressure to be the next Eddie Murphy. It was a whole different generation, Sandler said. People didn ' t put pressure on me to live up to them. Students thought he connected with the youthful crowd. I thought the show was great, Mike Bowling said. Since he was from our generation, he knew exactly what we thought was funny. Sandler put in an appearance at Molly ' s after the perfor- mance. He was very nice and down to earth, Cami Opp said. His fame didn ' t seem to affect him much. A nearly sold-out crowd reinforced Sandler ' s popularity with the college crowd. Although his act may have been dirty, the applause proved the audience had good clean fun. 26 • Entertainment

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A country and bluegrass mix gives Diamond Rio an award- winning sound. By Ruby Dittmer. Classic Country w, Sur- rounded by neon Ughtinif, hack-up Dana Williams entertains an almost- sold-out crowd. Diamond Rio was named Country Music ssaciation ' s Top Vocal Group in 1994. Photo hy Laura Riedcl. ith a rainbow of neon lights and a cloud of fog, Diamond Rio burst onto the stage singing, Mirror, Mirror. A country band with bluegrass and country roots. Diamond Rio first reached the music charts with their hit Meet in the Middle. The band was named Country Music Association ' s Top Vocal Group of the year in 1994. The crowd was hyped as the opening band put everyone in a country mood. Ricochet, from Omaha, Neb., had been together for a year and half, according to band member Eddie Kilgallon. We worked with Diamond Rio for two concerts, but hoped to work with them again, Kilgallon said. Anna McKenney believed Ricochet was an enjoyable opening act. They were pretty good, McKenny said. They were like other bands, but had a different approach to the way they played the songs. After Ricochet performed, the Mary Linn Performing Arts Center went black and Diamond Rio could faintly be seen walking onto the stage. Singing one of their first hits. Diamond Rio entertained a nearly sold-out crowd. The concert, originally scheduled to take place in the more spacious Lamkin Activity Center, was moved into MLPAC because of construction delays and slow ticket sales. I did not think that the concert should have been moved from Lamkin to Mary Linn because of the fact that many people ' s seats got changed for the worse, Angela Roush said. Promoting their new album Love a Little Stronger, Diamond Rio played a new single, Night is Fallen in My Heart. Diamond Rio also sang Norma Jean Riley, a song written by keyboard player, Dan Truman. In high school and college, when a guy liked a girl, he did things to impress her, Truman said. If he had seen her someplace with a dog, he might have bought a puppy, that was where I got the idea for this song. According to Marty Roe, Diamond Rio ' s lead singer, they did not choreograph their stage performance. It was all spontaneous if things happened and it was cool, we ended up doing it for about a year, Roe said. We did not do a lot of choreographing persay; we just tried when we performed to have fun with it. We just let it happen. Members of Diamond Rio said that they enjoyed per- forming in Maryville. It was a blast, Brian Prout, Diamond Rio drummer, said. What a great crowd. It was not often that we got a chance to have come to a place like this. It was a wonderful experience. Most students agreed with the band members. The concert was really fun because people were dancing around and just being wild, Jenni Nicholson said. The highlight of the concert for me was when they sang ' Love a Little Stronger. ' Neon lights and fog lit the stage as they entertained an almost sold-out crowd. With a country beat. Diamond Rio performed the hits that made them famous. Diamond Rio • 25

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Adam Sandler docs his Cajun Man character during his act. Sandler also treated the nearly sold-out crowd to an enter- taining rendition of why he came to Northwest with his Opera Man voice. Photo by Jon Britton. Allen Covert jokes about unethical high school football coaching practices. Covert, a college buddy of Adam Sandler, ivas not scheduled to open for either show. Photo by Jason Clarke. Adam Sandler entertains a packed crowd with the musical comedy act. Lunch Lady Land. Sandler was a regular on Saturday Night Live and also starred in the movie, Airheads. Photo by Jon Britton. Adam Sandler •27