A word from Mateo Burtch ’82:
I’ve been emceeing the talent show at Reunions practically since the days when Reed College was still the Chutney Institute of Biblical Errata, originally located in Freetown, Sierra Leone. I come back year after year for a simple reason: because I enjoy it so much, even if one year I was heavily lacerated during a demonstration on how to anger bees. Over the years we’ve had some great times and great performances. Abraham Lincoln, for example, got his start in show business here with a little something he called “The Second Inaugural Address.” Karl Marx wrote all of chapter three of Das Kapital live on our circular stage. The Wright Brothers invented the airplane during a warm-up, while Muhammad Ali bested an unsuspecting George Foreman with a vicious right uppercut during an all-heavyweight performance of The Mikado in 1974.
Okay, I’m kidding, of course. The Reedfayre Talent Show is, as Lincoln put it, by Reedies, of Reedies, and for Reedies (and their friends and families). We’ve had Reedies telling stories, singing songs, reciting poetry, cracking jokes, playing music singly and in groups, juggling, acting, dancing—pretty much any human activity you can name that doesn’t involve sponges, hamsters, and fire extinguishers, and those are probably on their way. Some of the acts have crushed it like a boss right from the start, while a few others have wobbled gamely through their specialties, but all of them have received a warm response from a friendly and enthusiastic audience. Whether you’re a timorous wee beastie or a slab of well-cooked showbiz ham, I encourage you to sign up (first for Reedfayre, then for the talent show proper, once you arrive on campus!) and show off your talents—weird, wonderful, or both.
Or come just to see the hidden gifts of your fellow Reedies (or even late-model “Reedites”!). It’s a great time. Fire extinguishers not provided.
