The Sklar Brothers - Better Late Than Never
Ian Baltutis
Issue date: 10/18/04 Section: Entertainment
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Fifteen minutes to eight on Friday evening and Cheel Commons was already standing room only. Big name comedians, Randy and Jason Sklar, were scheduled to take the stage at eight. However, they had taken a wrong turn in the Adirondacks and were lost somewhere near Cranberry Lake. With an hour of driving left, CUB had to fill the stage with some form of entertainment to keep the crowds interested. Plan one: stick two students on stage to tell a few dirty jokes. That worked, for about five minutes. Fifty-five minutes left and what to do? Enter plan two: play the Red Sox game on the projection screen. Great idea, if it was not postponed due to weather. Plan three: comedy central playing Mad TV, which lasted all of ten minutes until, plan four: Blue Collar Comedy Tour, which filled the remaining time quite well and kept most of the crowd entertained. At nine, the brothers finally showed up and took the stage with enthusiastic cheers from everyone there.
Randy and Jason, twin brothers, born in St. Louis Missouri, were worth the wait. They got their start in high school, but finally hit it big after college when they moved to New York City. For two years they appeared in a number of venues until they made it into the national circuit. They have since appeared in a number of TV shows, movies and on late night talk shows. It took a sizeable amount of money to get them to venture all the way out here from their current residence in LA, but anyone who attended the show will tell you it was well worth it.
Their show, a rolling blast, of original comedy, accented the twins' ability to build off of each others comedy skill. They can seamlessly alternate punch lines and flow together stories in what has been called the first merging of rap and stand up comedy. It is a truly unique show that was well received. For the full hour that they were on stage the laughs did not stop. Each comedy bit was better then those before it. From cracks about New Hampshire, to college life, the Triangle of Shame, horse wheelies, strip club DJs, and chopper 4, their act covered a huge range of material. The grand finale of the show featured Randy and Jason singing, "The Devil went Down to Georgia," as the "original" draft of the song. Set to music, the bit required expert timing and resulted in what could be said to be a better rendition of the song than the final edited and critiqued version. The brothers left the stage with a standing ovation. While the Sklars may not return to the Clarkson campus anytime soon, their words and jokes will remain for a long time. The phrase that will live on the longest and could be said to be the most significant is undeniably, "Chopper Four!"