A “Kidz Bop” soundtrack echoed throughout Anne Simley Theater last Friday night as the Hamline University Merely Players’ (better known as HUMP) annual variety show, Last Call, began. About 35 people were in attendance and the energy was high as Mike Merino (‘15) took the stage as the show’s MC. The night then delved into hilarity with terrifying koala bear pictures, musical numbers, shirtless dancing and a humorous translation of Psy’s “Gangnam Style.”

Last Call is in its third year and is put on by HUMP, an organization chartered by HUSC and sanctioned by Hamline’s theater department. HUMP not only puts on Last Call, they also help provide subsidized theater tickets for students interested in seeing a variety of shows around the Twin Cities.

Jeff Rueter (‘15), president of HUMP and main producer of Last Call, pointed out that Last Call helps bring a close to each year’s theater performances.

“Last Call serves as an opportunity for the department’s majors, minors and participants to unwind after wrapping up the third show of the year,” Jeff said.

This year, the show contained a cold read where volunteers perform a piece without seeing the readings beforehand; a performance of “Bride’s Lament” from the musical “Drowsy Chaperone,” by theater major Grace Barnstead (‘18); some unintentionally comedic readings from different magazines and novels by the theater’s Prop Shop and a number of other silly, random and extremely amusing performances.

Rueter explained that there aren’t many restrictions on what the participants can perform.

“All acts are created, performed and enjoyed by students with no parameters on what they can throw in, as far as content is concerned,” he said.

Jacob Hooper (‘17), vice president of HUMP, believes that the lack of tight structure is what makes the show so enjoyable.

“Like I said, I have no clue what’s going to be happening,” Hooper said. “I’m excited for the thing that is going to surprise me.”

As well as the surprises and excitement on stage, there was also a lot of interaction off-stage, as the audience consisted of mainly theater majors. Many of the attendees knew each other, and this brought a friendly feel to the show and also some funny audience comments.

One audience member and performer of Psy’s “Gangnam Style” during the cold read, Jordan Clark (‘16), believed that this year’s show was a bit more humorous than the last.

“I went last year and this year there was [sic] more humorous types of performances,” Clark said. “Everything that happened tonight had a funny quality to it.”

The laughter continued throughout the night and seemed to elevate during Merino’s piano song about how acting is similar to masturbation. The humorous song was played with precision, and applause filled the theater after the performance was over.

Even though this piece seemed to garner a lot of attention, applause and cheers were heard throughout the show, as the group of attendees seemed to really appreciate and care about each other’s performances.

At the end of the night, after an interesting and random open mic, and after a humorous powerpoint shown by Yarrow Mead (‘17) that contained facts about a former theater major as well as severely frightening koala bear pictures, Merino took to the piano again. He performed a heartwarming, hilarious song on the piano and the night ended with laughter as friends that seemed more like a family smiled, cheered and applauded.

Last Call is performed once a year after the third show of the season is wrapped. To keep an eye on what many of the performers are working on, check out the Theater Arts page on Hamline’s website.