Rocca speaks to filled room

Mo Rocca, a comedian and contributor to Comedy Central's satirical news show, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, led an entertaining discussion of news, the media, and his own job at the Daily Show as part of the Spring Fling Lecture Series in a packed Barnum 008 last Thursday.

"You're just applauding my pants," Rocca told the audience who greeted him with a large round of applause as he took the stage. Rocca began by discussing current events, presenting his first "What's Hot and What's Not" list since the fall of Baghdad, including a "thumbs down on human shielding."

The comedian also showed his journalistic side, addressing reality television, a topic he covers for NBC's Today Show. He shared with the audience his thoughts about a reality show entitled "Man vs. Beast," which pits human contestants against animals in accomplishing the same tasks. "If a man can eat more hotdogs than a grizzly bear, then what's the point of grizzly bears?"

On a more serious note, Rocca reminded the audience that more people voted in the American Idol finals than voted in the midterm election.

In Rocca's opinion, the decline in the use of traditional news sources such as print and television media is "immeasurable," since many people have begun to use the Internet as their primary news source. He also feels that it is impossible for a media outlet to be completely unbiased.

Displaying some homemade arts and crafts made from duct tape and sheeting that the United States government had advised Americans to purchase, Rocca requested a volunteer to answer some questions about the history of the University. Blaine Lay, a freshman costumed in Rocca's trademark suspenders and bow tie, was "volunteered" to join Rocca on the stage.

After correctly (with some help of the audience) spelling the first name of an original Tufts trustee, Phineas T. Barnum, and being quizzed on the last name of the founder of the University, Charles Tufts, Lay was given a handmade potholder with the letter "T" on it.

The audience also got a chance to see clips of Rocca's work on the Daily Show. Videos showed Rocca's trademark style: rooting out terrorism on a college campus (the subversive Al-Umni association), discovering the hidden dangers of cheerleading, and allowing his microphone to come too close to an interviewee.

During the question and answer period, freshman Mike Carolan asked Rocca which Daily Show staff member would win in a bare-knuckled boxing tournament. Rocca's answer was, of course, himself, explaining that he had taken a boxing course before. Rocca also told the audience that he would like to appear on Sabado Gigante, the flagship variety show of the Spanish-language television network Univision.

During the presentation, Rocca offered the audience anecdotes about his life, augmented with slides that depicted his life story. At age 11, he visited Alcatraz with his parents, decided that "prisoners are different," and that he wanted to be different as well.

Rocca graduated from Harvard, where he participated in the world-famous Hasty Pudding Theatricals. After graduating, he acted in kabuki theater in Japan, was a roller-skating waiter in Washington DC, and produced the PBS children's show Wishbone while simultaneously editing Perfect 10, an adult magazine. He then decided to fuel his passion for visiting the birthplaces and gravesites of the lesser known Presidents of the United States, like Grover Cleveland and William McKinley.

The event, sponsored by Lecture Series, drew an audience that filled Barnum 008 over its capacity, forcing some to sit in the aisles. Despite the uncomfortable accommodations, most of the audience stayed and enjoyed the event. "It's awesome that Lecture Series can bring such high caliber people to speak or do standup comedy for us," freshman attendee Aaron Held said.