For my secret task I was prompted to host a “slideshow night with friends with crazy topics.” I knew I needed to recruit some of the silliest people I know, so I looked to Westmont alumni Isa Hunter-Quintero, Sadie Evans, Zachary Kessler, and Jonah Martinez to join me in this ridiculous evening of tasteful TED talks.
It went about as great as you’d expect from a group of ex-Westmont theatre students. Lots of laughter, but also lots of procrastination. Some of us (Zach) only completed our slides mere minutes before presenting. Others (Jonah) presented a speech they were preparing for their public speaking class at West Valley.
Zach
To the surprise of none of us, Zach recapped the entire plot of a Resident Evil game, being Resident Evil 5. Somehow he managed to do this entirely from memory with little to no supplemental sources. We learned about the convoluted zombie story that culminated in a helicopter flying within a volcano. Truly inspirational. Additionally, Jonah was spoiled by the plot of the game as he had just begun his venture into the franchise. Below is an image of Zach addressing the 67 serum. I kid you not.
Jonah
Beginning his speech by shotgunning an entire carbonated drink over the span of… two minutes…Jonah paired the idea of typical “party teen” behavior with other examples of young people rebelling in society. It was a well-written speech that we wished him the best of luck on (again, it was literally a class assignment). I was concerned by the fact that the shotgunning of the drink took up a third of his speech, and burps took up another third. But he did his part for presentation night, so I salute him.
Isa
Complete with music and visuals, Isa introduced us to her ideal Hunger Games lineup for the highest level of pure entertainment. Staff included President Jennifer Coolidge, Host Fetty Wap, and Gamemaker Nathan Fielder of Valley Fair mall. These games also take place at Valley Fair (an ideal battleground). Frontrunners include Mr Peabody from District 3, Ethel Cain from District 7, the Kratt brothers from District 11, and Gerard Way and his eyeliner from District 12. An all-around all-star lineup that surely will lend itself well to a wonderful celebration of Panem.
Sadie
Next, Sadie revealed to the rest of us which Jordan Fischer meme best represented our essence. Jonah received an overly edited clip of Fischer as Orpheus in Hadestown. Zach’s face was overlaid upon an iconic dance tiktok from Fischer’s account (yo I’m live on twitch.)! Isa was represented by Fischer performing a Fortnite emote, and finally, I was given a tiktok promoting Fischer’s run in Dear Evan Hansen. A revolutionary actor implemented perfectly within our friend group. Sadie also presented us with wonderful drag queen renditions of ourselves with appearances and names on her slides. A real honor!
Logan
Lastly, I presented my plan for the LMCU (Logan Mendelson Cinematic Universe). Taking inspiration from my childhood comic books and drawings, I adapted my “Team Ultra Awesome” comic to a hypothetical film, including backstories for each of my friends. The first phase of the LMCU includes backstories for my character Screensaver, Jonah as Tai-Chi Master (featuring Peter Chen, our actual Tai-Chi Master), Zach as Man of Ashes (a nod to his interest in Evil Dead), Sadie as a rebooted adaptation of She-Rah (Netflix cancelled the original what the heck), and Isa as The Fox (nod to her spirit animal). They all team up in a final Avengers-esque film!
This secret task was super fun, and ultimately my takeaway is that you should never take public speaking seriously and just have fun. Well, that’s not entirely true. But I think lowering the stakes and putting trust in your audience to just let loose with you is really valuable. I learned more about my friends and got to share laughs with them. I’ll probably try this again in the future!