Katelyn Freil
The Starbucks at the Student Union was filled Tuesday evening with students eager to see the post-modern vaudeville duo Dakaboom.
Dakaboom, comprised of Ben McLain and Paul Peglar, mixes comedy and music to entertain audiences.
The event was sponsored by the Residence Hall Programming Board (RHPB). Emily Sherwood, the president of RHPB said that she first saw Dakaboom at the regional programming conference where they emceed the event.
“We felt like they were a great mix of music and comedy,” Sherwood said.
According to the duo’s website, McLain has made appearances on “General Hospital” and has performed on “The Sing Off,” NBC’s a cappella competition, with vocal band Sonos. Peglar is an actor and musician, appearing as the original piano player during the first season of Fox’s “Glee.”
Dakaboom performed a variety of songs Tuesday night, including a song answering frequently asked questions about McLain and Peglar and Peglar’s cheesy love song:
“Before you, things were worse, but now they’re cheddar.”
They also performed 50 TV theme songs in under five minutes, a video of which was posted on YouTube last November by Dakaboom now has over 38,000 views. The performance includes snippets of TV theme songs ranging from “Happy Days” and “Gilligan’s Island” to “Family Guy” and “Friends.”
Between the songs were humorous tales and banter between McLain and Peglar. At one point during the show, Peglar said that he had been made fun of as a kid.
“Imagine going through grade school and middle school with the initials ‘PP,’” he said.
McLain responded by saying, “You must have been pissed.” Sherwood said that reactions from students were very positive.
“Students seemed to have loved Dakaboom and their unconventional, quirky style,” Sherwood said. “They definitely made people laugh and I speak from experience when I say their show was interactive.”
Sherwood was taken up on stage early in the show by McLain and was sung to, an event which she described as delightfully terrifying.
“We just loved having them both here, and they were so much fun to work with,” she said. “Dakaboom gave us an amazing show that we hope will draw more people to our events.”