Tthhheee Tttaaattttttooooo

A9 | Monday, April 11, 2005 The Bristol Press TTHHEE TTAATTTTOOOO BRISTOL PRESS MAKING A PERMANENT IMPRESSION SINCE 1994 VOLUME 11 No. 11 ‘Hollow Men’ fill Iraq War protesters feel lucky By STEVEN DUREL University senior involved with the world, many calling for a and food from various organi- The Tattoo the Progressive Student timetable for the removal of zations. The Tent People even a TV humor void Alliance. American troops from Iraq, a entertained local religious lead- Amidst the ocean of green Marching in front of the nation which now possesses its ers who stopped by to let the By STEFAN KOSKI hats and balloons of St. Capitol at noon, the demon- own multi-ethnic government protesters know that their The Tattoo Patrick’s Day in Hartford last strators chanted and carried and military. Many Coalition efforts were much appreciated. month, there were also banners signs condemning the invasion. countries, most notably Spain, Despite the overall sense of Ever since “Saturday Night Live” premiered on NBC in 1975, a and cries of discontent. Rallying together an hour have removed their forces from solidarity among the anniver- host of other sketch comedy shows have been launched with Gathering around the state later, the protesters denounced Iraq and others, like Italy and sary demonstrations, the pro- mixed success. The most notable of these include Fox’s “Mad TV” Capitol, dozens of dissatisfied the war, making reference to the Ukraine, have recently testers themselves seemed less and Canada’s “The Kids in the Hall.” protesters marked the second the more than 100,000 lives lost made requests to leave the area than optimistic about how the Comedy Central has introduced many of these sketch comedy anniversary of the invasion of in the past two years. They also within the next year. American invasion of Iraq will rivals, including the short-lived “Ben Stiller Show” and the now Iraq in the middle of cited the fact that Iraq pos- On the campus of the be remembered by history. very popular “Chappelle’s Show.” But Comedy Central is seeking Connecticut’s St. Patrick’s rev- sessed no weapons of mass University of Connecticut in “I think that people won’t to take the center stage of sketch comedy elry. destruction and criticized the Storrs, protesters decided to really remember the specifics again, this time with its new series “The “They deserve to say their Bush Administration’s foreign spend the entire week outside, of the Iraq War in the long Hollow Men,” which premiered last month. piece, too,” said the green-clad policy, calling it paranoid and sleeping in tents and rallying run,” Barnicle said. “People will “The Hollow Men” themselves consist of Derek MacDonald, age 41. delusional. together around a large “Peace probably forget that we went David Armand, Nick Tanner, Rupert Russell, “We were warmly welcomed The Hartford rallies were in Iraq” banner. about bringing democracy to and Sam Spedding. by the people of Hartford,” said not the only ones held that Like the Hartford protesters, Iraq in the absolute worst pos- OnOn All four are English born and, despite protester Tom Barnicle, 23, a weekend. There were anti-war the Tent People, as they became sible and [most] undemocratic what might be inferred by the occasional Central Connecticut State protests in major cities around known, were given free clothing way.” lowbrow humor of the show, are all profes- thethe sional actors and college grads of Cambridge, the University of London, and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. They are accomplished playwrights and tubetube occasional writers for such British newspa- Paying respects to Arthur Miller pers as The Guardian and The Observer. ture. The Great Gatsby, Animal was taking me longer then spoke to me. That was until I They’ve also worked as writers and By ZACH BROKENROPE The Tattoo Farm, 1984, and The Lord of usual to find the book that walked down the M aisle. actors on a number of different British TV the Flies had all been the fairy- Halfway through I felt it, that and radio shows. It is only now that they are Dear Mr. Miller, tales that tucked me into bed at sensation of adventure waiting starting to have a major American audience with their own I once read that the written night. I absorbed the written for me between the pages of a American television show. word can surpass all bound- word with enthusiasm, eager book. The show’s setup echoes that of “Kids in the Hall” – some of aries. Now, I don’t know if and wanting to understand the I pulled the book blindly the only obvious differences are the nationalities and the fact that that’s exactly true, but it is with world through the experiences from the shelf and glanced at there are only four of them, not five. Comedy Central’s website this frame of mind that I begin of others. the cover. “Death Of a (www.comedycentral.com) itself bills “The Hollow Men” as being this letter. I hope you’re able to The library had become my Salesman,” it read in large, gold “In the tradition of ‘Monty Python’ and ‘The Kids in the Hall’” and read this, Mr. Miller; wherever escape, my passageway into the letters. The book itself was as, “four guys who revel in the inappropriate, occasionally wear you are; whether it be the gold- real world; no matter how small and thin, yellowed by dresses and are redefining absurdity with their rapid-fire bits.” en gates of heaven or the fiery cliché that sounds, it’s true. years of sitting on the shelf. After having seen the show, this seems to be a fairly accurate pit of hell; or anything in One Saturday I wandered I had the rest of the after- description. Every skit in the show – each lasting several minutes between. the aisles of the library, my noon free, so I sat down right at most, 12 in all – involves lightening wit and completely unex- hands grazing the spines of the there and began the story. pected circumstances. books, some old and dusty, Within five minutes I was The four may be at their high school reunion, reminiscing about their covers brown with gold entranced, and finished the the good old days. Problem is that no one seems to remember any- lettering and yellowed pages; play during the next hour. one’s name from such days (with the exception of the guy who had Curtain call others new with pages crisp In that short time I was the reputation of being able to pee over 10 feet). Or they might be and unread. changed. The play taught me at a scientific convention where one of the esteemed colleagues My tradition was to walk more about real people and giving a presentation has taken all of his grant money and spent Arthur Miller through the aisles, touching the real life than any other work of it on a lavish vacation. The dialogue clips along at a brisk space, books until I had the feeling in Tattoo photo fiction could do. and wastes no time getting to the punchlines. 1915-2005 my heart that the book I was Playwright Arthur Miller In a way I believed the story While the material is occasionally risqué in a truly unapologetic touching was right; and was signs copies of his play was real and the characters fashion, it does not, like “Mad TV” before it, go over the line in perfect for me at that time. This “Broken Glass” at Atticus lived and breathed like I did. resorting to shock tactics to get a laugh. The humor is genuinely method had never proven Bookstore in New Haven in So for that I say thank you, clever and most often takes the viewer completely by surprise. I was not your average kid wrong and had taken me on March 1994. Miller, who Mr. Miller; thank you for show- “The Hollow Men” are also masters of irony and the twist end- growing up, Mr. Miller. By the numerous journeys of the imag- ing me reality, for showing me ing. None of the jokes or punchlines are predictable, and the mate- lived in Roxbury, Conn., died fifth grade I had read most of ination. Feb. 10 at the age of 89. life. rial is fresh in a way that keeps the audience’s attention. the classics of American litera- That particular Saturday it Zach Brokenrope A perfect example of this was a recent skit where three of the Hollow Men are in a space capsule revolving around the moon. By radio communication to Mission Control they manage to fake their own moon landing so that they can stay in their shuttle to drink beer and eat pizza. All is going well until one of them slips and mentions that A new view on Van Gogh’s life aliens have taken hold of their shuttle. NASA, not wanting to take any risks, aborts the mission and pushes a button that causes the By JULIA COCCA lum. capsule to self-destruct. An assistant then approaches the director The Tattoo As Theo vented his emotions, he looked back on the letters of of Mission Control (the fourth Hollow Man) and asks, “What are his brother and read what Vincent had written. we going to tell the media?” We’ve all heard the stories of Van Gogh, especially the famous But he did not play the role of Theo reading Vincent’s letters. Very calmly and nonchalantly, the director replies, “We’ll just ear tale.

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