The show will have some new and old skits mixed in to entertain viewers.

By Mark Wilson

The Daily Iowan

It all started in the back of a pickup truck in the rain. A mere 14 years after this less-than-humble birth, No Shame Theatre has been founded in cities all around the country. On Friday, UI students are invited to attend their semester review, The Best of No Shame.

A sort of Cliff Notes version of No Shame, the show will consist of the 20 best skits, songs and monologues from the semester and summer, selected by the five board members of the theater and announced at last week's show.

Not only is the material considered the best, it will be presented in the best order. Generally, the show is the victim of the last-minute submissions that are placed in a fairly random order. But with acts that are pre-planned, the board could vary different kinds of pieces so the show would hold no dry spots.

"The pace should be nice," said Neil Campbell, a member of No Shame. "There is a good, healthy blend of songs, monologues, and sketches."

A sketch Campbell will participate in is entitled "S'ghetti Meets Balls."

"It's kind of horrifying but it's funny," he said. "It's good, shocking fun."

Newcomer Alyssa Bowman will open the show -- walking proof that the board members have not merely chosen all their own skits to rerun. She was the writer of "You Never Forget an Elephant."

"It's about a couple of guys who are talking. They talk about book reviews and herpes," she said.

Is such an idea a result of genius?

Her method: "I just write random things and hope they will be funny."

Musician and writer Jamal River will perform "This Is The Way We Rock The Fun House of Cool." The skit is "kind of an exercise in testing the audience's patience," he said. "Sometimes, I like to do something intentionally repetitive that grates on the audience's nerves." He is excited about the show because he thinks this semester's Best of will be better than past those in the past.

Other acts will include the classic No Shame band -- Nozebone the Band. The members formed around a common talent: They don't play any instruments. Even though they take their writing and playing seriously, Campbell admits they really aren't that good.

What has been good this semester is show attendance -- shows have been sold out weekly to this once-cult event.

"We're not even sure how it happened," Campbell said, "I'd like to think it's the level of writing and performing."

So, before the upcoming finals week, students have the opportunity to lay off drinking, err, studying and instead attend the highly comical, innovative and just plain weird The Best of No Shame.

The theater sits better than a pickup.

DI reporter Mark Wilson may be reached at:

mjw1982@aol.com