Live from PaliHi, It’s Friday Night!

By MATTHEW MEYER | Reporter

Gilbert Hall transformed into a comedy incubator last Tuesday as some 30 Palisades Charter High School students prepared for this month’s production of the school’s sketch comedy show, Friday Night Live (FNL).

The show mirrors the familiar format of the long-running sketch titan “Saturday Night Live,” complete with a political “cold open” at the top, digital shorts, musical guests and plenty of original comedy sketches, penned and performed by FNL club members.

At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, a student walked across the front of Gilbert Hall, dropping stack after stack of scripts to the stage with a satisfying thump. By the time the last stack fell to the floor, pages of original comedy content stretched the entire width of the stage. The writing team had a prolific summer.

Now the club had to wade through the scripts and determine which ones would make it into the show. The students performed this task with glee, reading each one aloud in an extended table-read. Hoots of laughter and occasional applause breaks accompanied the read-through, as the scripts covered an impressive range of subject matter and styles, from simple parodies of PaliHi to borderline surreal comedy.

Drama instructor Nancy Fracchiolla held court at the front of the room, allowing the fun to unfold but guiding the discussion and briefly reflecting on each script before moving on to the next. Fracchiolla (“Ms. Fracc” to students) helped launch FNL four years ago. In that time, she says the productions—about four each year—have taught students valuable lessons about the creative process.

“They’re so focused and committed,” Fracchiolla told the Palisadian-Post. “It takes so much to have an idea, actually put it on a page and then bring it to life on stage.” The teacher added that FNL helps students learn to support one another as an ensemble, but also to accept critique. At the end of the session, she made writers promise to keep working on their craft, even if their sketches weren’t accepted this time.

All told, it will take as many as 50 or 60 students to bring the performance to life, with roles in the show ranging far beyond writing and acting. Students will serve as hair, makeup and costume assistants, work on props and set design, and help produce video content for digital shorts.

Llewyn St. John first worked on FNL as a tech crewmember during sophomore year. Now he and fellow senior Max Vaupen—who later joined at St. John’s urging—serve as club presidents and head writers. The duo told the Post that running the shows has taught them to balance critique and encouragement.

“We have to figure out what needs to change, how [scripts] can be improved,” Vaupen said. At the same time, “we always encourage people to keep writing,” St. John added. “We’re not paying these people—they’re doing it because it’s fun.”

The next FNL performance will actually (due to scheduling issues) be held on a Thursday—Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in Gilbert Hall. And don’t worry, they’re way ahead of you on the “Thursday Night Live” jokes.