Inside Joke adds Moneta to mockery

Do you constantly comb your inbox, awaiting Larry Moneta's latest inane e-mail and the pleasant befuddlement it will undoubtedly incite?

If so, then Inside Joke's upcoming show, The Curious Case of Larry Moneta, is sure to satisfy. As the title suggests, the performance is partially inspired by the Vice President of Student Affairs' constant e-mail updates on the perils of undergraduate life.

The show, featuring all-new and self-described "short and snappy" sketch comedy, is sure to appeal to the group's existing fans. In keeping with past shows, most pieces are commentaries on the trivialities of quotidian life, all filtered through the lens of boundary-testing humor.

Yet while previous shows have been criticized for subjecting certain aspects of Duke's community-notably the greek system-to an unfair amount of mockery, The Curious Case spreads its censure more widely.

"I think it has its place," senior Kelsey Koenig said of greek-baiting humor. "But if you have like seven skits, then it seems kind of unwarranted because it feels like you're picking on someone."

In contrast, the upcoming show marks a refreshing return to the ever-mockable mainstays of sex, drugs and the Internet. In general, the jokes are more commentaries of common student experiences than parodies of certain groups. For example, one skit details the oft-understated awkwardness of oral sex, and in another, the group explores what uselessly brilliant technology Google will come up with next.

"We just make fun of everybody!" Koenig said. Added sophomore Graham Sharpe, "We're equal opportunity a-holes."

Overall, however, the show reveals a more genuinely charitable heart. All proceeds will be donated to the Aalok S. Modi Global Health Fund, which provides grants for undergraduate global health projects. The organization was established in memory of Modi, who passed away last year and would have been a senior this year.