Weston Barker
The following is a transcribed interview between Weston Barker and the Cornell Review.
Hi Weston, could you please introduce yourself?
I am the founding president of the Midnight Comedy Troupe, a dark sketch comedy group. I am also the current treasurer of Cornell ACLU, treasurer of Cornell Republicans, treasurer of Logos [The Undergraduate Philosophy Journal and Club] and assistant editor as well. I am a brother in Kappa Alpha Pi [a pre-law professional fraternity]. I am from Chapel Hill NC and major in philosophy and government.
Could you tell me more about your dark sketch comedy group?
We were founded last year and we do a brand of humor called dark sketch comedy. We are similar to SNL [Saturday Night Live] and Monty Python with a dark twist. With dark material, we usually engage with taboo subject matter and use comedy to both joke on issues usually not joked about and to investigate philosophical and sociopolitical issues
Which taboo subject matters?
The first sketch was about a suicide hotline mixed up with the number of funeral home. It explored the issue of what matters more, your livelihood or life of stranger? We also have themes ranging from existential philosophical issues to more sort of modern life issues such as hazing, #adoptnotshop and others
Why did you make this group?
Why we started is on campus comedy nowadays is generally blue comedy, which is collegiate and sex based, dick jokes and graphic sexual humor, in a time with mental health concerns and hate crimes we need to use comedy to shed light on important issues and taboo subject matters.
So are you saying your comedy group is superior?
No, every comedy group adds value: what matters is whether people are laughing at shows and entertained. Our group is not superior, we are looking to both entertain and enlighten engage in issues on a more fundamental level and take care of the material so that they don’t just laugh they think.
How does your comedy fit with other hobbies?
My time is split into two categories: activism such as ACLU and republicans, as well as the Presidential Task Force for the Regulation of Speech and Harassment. I try to be make a difference. My other activities are focused on my intellectual curiosity such as Logos where I look at philosophical issues and dark sketch comedy where instead of creation of material I review it
Thanks for sharing a part of your life with our readers, is there anything else you would like to share?
I think that above all, in all of my pursuits I am seeking the truth and I find truth in comedy, in politics and government and when i look at my major truth in livelihood, and at the end of the day I want to live truthfully.
The next show date for the Midnight Comedy Troupe is on November 30th, 2018 at 11:59PM in Risley Theater.
