Major: Undecided showcases new comedic talent in tonight's Braker performance

    Bombs, injuries and "Independence Day" (1996) are only a few of the subjects to be explored and thoroughly ridiculed by Tufts' only sketch comedy troupe, Major: Undecided, in tonight's performance, entitled "Pls Don't Use Candles."
    The group's first show of the year, it is a special opportunity to showcase the talent of new members. "Especially with this show, we try to get a lot of people involved, including a lot of people who have never done sketch comedy before," said senior Rachel Chervin, the troupe's president.
    According to Chervin, the eight sketches on display tonight were selected from a pool of about 20 possibilities, all written and proposed by group members. "These sketches involve a lot of new actors and writers," Chervin said. She added that this is the first year in which the young group is without a single one of its founding members.
    Sticking with a proven formula, many of the tonight's skits center on colorful, verbose characters in ordinary situations, or on ordinary people caught in amusingly improbable predicaments. Two prime examples are "Self-Defense School," in which an instructor teaches students how to defend themselves against a group of Bolivian Tree People, and "Independence Day," in which a man is wired to a bomb set to explode if he stops repeating Bill Pullman's epic speech from the movie.
    "The idea combines our tremendous love of sketches involving bombs and sci-fi movie quotes," said senior Patrick Wilson, the group's artistic director and the co-writer of "Independence Day."  Though these two basic elements are especially popular among members of the group, the real humor lies in the absurd scenario and the ensuing argument about movies, which really gets heated when "The Dark Knight" (2008) is thrown into the mix.
    The show will take place tonight at 7:30 p.m. and again at 9 p.m. in Braker 001,  where the group once held all of its performances before moving on to larger spaces for its more important performances. "I like this setting," Chervin said. "It's almost better; everyone can see the front, and it's a more intimate setting for the action and facial expressions."
    Admission to tonight's performances is free.