Late one night earlier this semester, at around 4:00 a.m., Marcie Hughes sat awake in her dorm room, up to her typical shenanigans. Suddenly, she was struck with an idea. She pulled out her laptop, opened a new document and furiously typed her ideas, which then revealed itself to be a kind of vision for a new comedy show.
Asbury students have heard of different comedy sketches around campus, like the “You’ll Figure It Out” sitcom from the 2023 spring semester and the well-known Friday Night Live, or FNL, but the new and upcoming media-based sketch comedy called “Bottom of the Barrel (We couldn’t get any lower)” is emerging on campus. It will be a broadcasted comedy, filmed on and off campus and then posted to YouTube–all entirely student-based and run. “Bottom of the Barrel” will draw inspiration from shows like “Studio C” and “Key & Peele,” and will be produced in a television or film style, though with no live audience.
Cast auditions were held last Thursday and Friday, April 11 and 12. As the main cast is selected for this coming fall semester, Hughes emphasized that it would be possible for those not in the main cast to be featured in individual sketches. “Our biggest goal is to get as many people in the community involved as possible,” said Hughes. “We just love to connect with other people and we want to get people from everywhere, not just Media Communication students.”
Another student involved, Stone Thompson, claimed that this show will provide “a new edge” to comedy on campus. As an entirely student-led sketch comedy, the heads of the show, like Hughes, Thompson and four other students, plan to expand past the limits of what comedy has been like at Asbury until this point.
“For all of us heads, we wanted to see what we could do with creating a show outside of being a Media Comm. class or Asbury club,” explained Hughes. “We wanted to replicate what we could do from the point of view of ‘It’s the real world,’ and how we can get things going while still being in university.”
As it is not associated with Asbury University, the comedy’s current issue is funding. They will be drawing their funding from GoFundMe and “the kindness of others,” according to Hughes. The heads all decided that their sketches would not require payment to watch; the laughs will be free on YouTube.
They are currently in the process of raising funds and interest across campus and even hosted a promotional event after chapel at the end of March. They stood outside Hughes Auditorium and the cafeteria and handed out free drinks like Sprite, Ale-8 and Hawaiian Punch. Marcie Hughes and Riley Friend were at the center–wearing neon posters on their chests and backs that advertised different positions and QR codes for social media and applications.
Though the excitement is rising on campus this semester, the crew is looking forward to next semester when they will be able to set things into action. “It’s kicking off next semester, so we’re really ramping up for it right now,” Thompson said. “Hopefully by the time next semester starts, we’re pumping out some sketches pretty quickly after we get started.”
Further questions can be sent to their email, @bottomofthebarrel007@gmail.com, or through Instagram Direct Messenger, @bottomofthebarrelcomedy. The entire crew is excited for the campus interest and the direction the sketch comedy is going in.