About Wacky Hijinks Sketch Comedy
AMERICA 20XX features both current members and alumni of Wacky Hijinks, Rutgers University's oldest (and most redundantly named) sketch comedy troupe. Since the mid-90's, Wacky Hijinks has performed student-written sketch comedy at its annual spring revue. The sketches of Wacky Hijinks are also a staple of RU Onstage, an annual showcase of the arts at Rutgers hosted by The State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ.
Wacky Hijinks prides itself on its willingness to mix the highbrow and the unapologetically lowbrow. Past Hijinks sketches have set the collected works of Thomas Hobbes to Norse death metal and critiqued the constitutional monarchy of Candyland.
The cast of Wacky Hijinks are selected from members of the College Avenue Players (CAP), Rutgers University's proudest no-budget theater organization.
Samantha Ahearn - Commerce Clauzu/Girl Scout/Various
In addition to her sketch work with Wacky Hijinks, Samantha Ahearn has participated in SCREAM Theater (Rutgers) and Reflections, a volunteer improvisational group based out of the Bergen County Division of Youth and Family Services.
Samantha is a Philosophy major and English minor at Rutgers. Her long term career goal with that degree is to live in a box and question random passers-by about its true existence as a material object rather than merely as a concept.
Jon Bershad - Constitution
Jon Bershad is an undergraduate at Rutgers majoring in Theater Arts. While at Rutgers he has appeared in such productions as A Midsummer Nights Dream (Lysander), Hair (Berger), and Reefer Madness (Happy Teen #4).
Jon recently co-wrote Zipperface!!?!: The Hobo Musical for CAP's Spring 2008 season and appears in Grindhouse Pictures' upcoming horror film Sorrow Hill (Man Who Chases Pretty Girls Around With A Knife).
Gregory Bing - Red State-Blue State
Gregory Bing is a writer and actor based out of New Brunswick, New Jersey. As this fact suggests, his career has been long and illustrious.
In addition to his work with AMERICA 20XX and Wacky Hijinks, Greg will soon appear in two upcoming independent films, Strife and Pawn's Gambit for Black Eclipse. Greg has also cameoed as a "Bouncer" at The Olive Branch in New Brunswick, a community stalwart once distinguished as Playboy.com's "College Bar of the Month."
Matthew Herron - iDol
As a fan of both politics and science fiction, Matthew Herron is very excited to bring Extreme Political Sci-Fi to the masses. Although Matt is not a member of Wacky Hijinks, he was hand-picked for his incredible ability to make it to the performance dates.
Matt has previously made it to the performance dates of such plays as The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (abridged), Reefer Madness and Zipperface!!?!: The Hobo Musical with CAP; The Diary of Anne Frank with The Everett Theater; and films such as The Moral of the Story with Temple University Film and Rumblestrip with S&M Productions. Matt would like to thank Cyriaque and the rest of the cast for welcoming him into their extremely confusing family.
Cyriaque Lamar - Writer/Director/Super Eagle
Although America 20XX marks Cyriaque Lamar's debut work with FringeNYC, he has contributed to several comedy endeavors in the NJ/NY metro. As a member of the sketch troupe The Diversity Club, Cyriaque has performed at Juvie Hall in the Gene Frankel Theatre, RiFiFi, Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction and The People's Improv Theater.
Cyriaque is a semi-regular contributor to Cracked.com, the internet's fastest growing humor website. He holds an M.A. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University - it's a memento from the Shadow Moses incident.
Justin Restivo - TBA
Justin Restivo has appeared on The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Leave it to Beaver, a Taiwanese Sprite commercial directed by the guy who did Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" video and the Merrill Lynch industrial film, Time to Save.
On stage, he has appeared in Touch (George Street Playhouse), Jane Eyre (Papermill Playhouse), Doctor Faustus (NY Fringe), The Gay Divorce, Fuddy Meers, Absurd Person Singular, This is Our Youth, Promises, Promises, Cabaret, Stage Door, Brigadoon, Oliver!, and Carousel.
Dave Rothstadt - The Man with a Name / Mr. Bingo the Time Traveling Homosexual
Dave Rothstadt is a senior at Rutgers, where he has performed in such productions as Mr. Marmalade (Mr. Marmalade), Don't Drink the Water (Axel Magee) and Beyond Therapy (Bob). In Spring 2008, Dave had the opportunity to co-write, co-direct, and perform in Zipperface!!?!: The Hobo Musical.
In addition to his theater work, Dave finds time to play high-speed folk tunes under the guise of Half Brother.