Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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Andre Kelley, a student comedian, acts as master of ceremonies during the beginning of the show. (Photo by John LaBarge) Michael A. Smith, comedian from St. Louis, opens Comedy Invasion at Bushwacker ' s. (Photo by John LaBarge)

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homecoming and has sponsored them since, said Chet Peters, former Blue Key adviser. After brainstorming for a theme for Homecoming ' 86, Blue Key chose Purple Pride, a K-State Tradition. We felt that it reflected the spirit of the college, said Carey Avery, senior in bakery science and member of Blue Key. The Homecoming activities included Body Building and Yell Like Hell contests. The Pant the Chant competition was staged during the annual bonfire. The parade through downtown Manhattan and Aggieville was cancelled due to bad weather. As a result, the floats were displayed and judged outside KSU stadium. Homecoming festivities were completed when the winners of spirit competitions and the two new University ambassadors were announced at halftime of the football game. The 1986 Ambassadors were Jada Allerheiligan, junior in jour- nalism and mass and Mark Buyle, junior in marketing. After totaling the points from the contests, the overall winning team of Delta Delta Delta Alpha Tau Omega was awarded the Donna Rosenhagen, right, cheers with Lee Ann Wells during homecoming activities in the Union Courtyard. (Photo by Andy Nelson) Doug Stone, Chris Bowman and Mark Gros slap the floor during the Body building competition segment of Homecoming. These men are members of the Sigma Nu fraternity and were participating in the competition with the Kappa Alpha Thetas. (Photo by Andy Nelson) All-University Spirit Award. The winners of the greek float competition tied, Pi Beta Phi Phi Delta Theta and Delta Delta Delta Alpha Tau Omega. Marlatt Boyd earned first place for the residence halls. K-State still has the tradition of homecoming and it is still a big part of the University, said Joleen Hill, 1962 K-State graduate. The tradition may continue but some things have changed since 1915. In the fall of 1932, 10 women were nominated by the sororities as candidates for the first homecoming queen. Dissatisfaction with the traditional queen surfaced in 1972 when a male homecoming queen candidate was nominated by a residence hall. In 1973, Blue Key and Mortar Board chose couples to represent each of three major eras of K-State history.. No royalty or couples were chosen in 1975 or 1976. In 1977, a new tradition began when the student body elected two K-State Ambassadors for the first time. The ambassadors have had the responsibility of representing the students to alumni and friends of the university. Blue Key adviser David Mugler, associate dean and director of resident instruction, said, A lot of students still get fired up for homecoming. There is great enthusiam, and the level of enthusiasm may be correlated to the extent of involvement. 27

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by Marta Montgomery It was a Monday night in Manhattan — the beginning of a new week. Everyone knew they had things to do projects to work on, tests to study for, and reading to catch up on. In spite of this, students looked for other ways to spend their Monday nights. One popular diversion for students as well as residents of Manhattan was Comedy Invasion, performed at a private club in Aggieville. Comedy Invasion, a weekly event, began in October 1985. Comedy night is every Monday night, no matter what. We even did the show on Labor Day, said Rich Kreftewith, manager of the establishment. He said a good crowd turned up every week. Comedy Invasion was a hit from the very start. People immediately loved it, he said. There were some comedy nights when the club was at capacity with over 400 people. Doug Ferari of San Francisco attracted a crowd of approximately 400 people on the night of the first year anniversary of comedy night. The average Comedy Invasion crowd was between 250 and 275 paying customers, Kreftewith said. Kreftewith employed an agent who booked the acts for the club. He counted on the agent to deliver quality comedians, and he said he had been pleased. Most of the acts were not local with many from New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston. Manhattan falls into a spot on what is the 1-70 Tour. Comedians running through this tour perform in the local club before continuing on to Comedy Invasions in Lawrence, Columbia, Mo. and St. Joseph, Mo. Some repeat comedians had a loyal following in Manhattan and their name drew a larger crowd, Kreftewith said. Kreftewith said the club tried to stay on a three-month rotation of performers. With this schedule, people who enjoyed seeing favorites like Rich Jenny of New York, and Doug Ferari of San Francisco, had the to see them more than once, but they also could see new acts between the repeats. People who attended comedy night had various reasons for being there. Charlie Gray, a former K-State student and current resident of Manhattan, said he went there practically every week. I like it because it really is funny, and I like to see the people, he said. Sharla Soukup, sophomore in special education, and Sarah Kovs, sophomore in elementary education, had never been to the Comedy Invasion before. Soukup said the reason they finally tried it was especially to see this guy (Doug Ferari). She said they had seen him on Late Night with David Letterman and they knew he was really funny. To some students, Monday night was a time to relax in order to prepare for the coming week. I have a busy week ahead of me and Comedy Invasion is a good way to relieve some of the tension before the hectic part of the week begins, said Sally Bender, senior in Spanish. Kreftewith said he was really glad they took a chance on comedy night. At first it seemed like a longshot, but he said it was paying off because people like comedy night as an innovative idea. He saw Comedy Invasion as a huge success, and said that as far as he could see, it would continue to get bigger. J.J. Ramirez puts on his own version of the Dating Game. Jim Alvey, Pete Vieyra and Charles Speas answer questions from Ann Woodward. (Photo by John LaBarge) Comedy Night 29