In this week’s issue of the Voice, I had the chance to talk to quite a few former Georgetown comedians. Unfortunately, we didn’t have space for all of their quotes in the article, so here are a few of the extras:

Alison Becker (COL ’99) on the advantages of being a comedian at Georgetown:

“Because the comedy vibe at Georgetown was so under the radar of the administration, we did whatever we wanted. It was student-run, and that’s how comedy should be: without rules. And Georgetown gave me something that few other schools could have: the chance to create with genuinely intelligent people. You can’t be an idiot and be a good comedian. You have to play to the height of your intelligence. And I am thankful that my fellow improv players challenged me intellectually and comedically. “

Mike Birbiglia (COL ’00) on benefiting from Georgetown’s erudite culture and bureaucratic red-tape:

“The upside of Georgetown is that I was surrounded by people from all different fields. government, language, science. so in some ways, I feel like I benefited by osmosis, and it gave me a slightly more balanced view of the world.”

“When I was at Georgetown, I resented the administration and bureaucracy of the performing arts, but when I have distance from it I can see that they really have more of a long view and that yes, it was a struggle to get something up and running on campus but that actually there ought to be a struggle of some kind, because the struggle students will face when they leave Georgetown is far more arduous.”

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There are elegant townhouses aplenty in Georgetown, but have you ever wondered who exactly our influential neighbors residing in the multimillion dollar abodes are?

Lucky for you, this week’s issue of The Georgetowner features a two-page spread (above) showing where some of the most important and influential Georgetown residents live. Though the map is a bit hard to read, the list of VIPs is quite impressive, consisting mostly of politicians, influential journalists, and other Washington heavyweights.

John Kerry and Teresa Hines and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd show up on N Street, while Senator Arlen Spector and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appear down near K Street. Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn, two former Washington Post editors, live on 30th Street, just a block away from famous Watergate journalist and author Bob Woodward.

The wide world of sports is represented, too—Paul Tagliabue, former NFL commissioner (and current chair of Georgetown’s Board of Directors), and Mark and Judy Lerner, owners of the Washington Nationals, live in Hillandale and by the waterfront, respectively. The rest of the list is rounded off by a mixture of television and print journalists, White House advisors, and philanthropists.

It’s a wonderful politically powerful day in the neighborhood!

If you’re unemployed, like 9.1 % of the American workforce, or bankrupt, like General Motors, it may be hard to convince yourself to fork over $12.99 at Best Buy or iTunes for a CD. Recognizing that cash-strapped music fans are probably going to pirate their work anyway, more artists are releasing their work for free, hoping to earn goodwill and concert ticket sales instead of cash.

In the hopes that this recession-friendly distribution method will continue, Vox has decided to keep track of the year’s free releases as they come along. Remember, if you enjoy their music, be sure to patronize these artists by attending their show when they roll through whatever town you’re in.

Dark Night of the Soul by Sparklehorse

Featuring nine different guest artists (ranging from Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips to James Mercer of the Shins) and production from Danger Mouse, the visionary behind Gorillaz’s Demon Days and the trippy hip-hop-soul of Gnarls Barkley, Dark Night of the Soul is a moody blend of pensive ballads and bluesy melodies that might top indie or alt-rock charts, but it isn’t technically being released at all.

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“Who wants to sex Mutombo?”

After an 18-year career spanning over 1000 games, former Georgetown star center Dikembe Mutombo has announced his retirement from basketball. After injuring his right knee in the first quarter of his Houston Rockets’ first-round playoff loss against the Portland Trailblazers, the 7’2” Congo native said he wouldn’t attempt a comeback.

An All-American in his 1991 senior season at Georgetown, Mutombo went on to become an eight-time NBA All-Star and four-time Defensive Player of the Year, holding second place on the NBA’s all-time blocks list with 3,289. At 42, he was the league’s oldest player. “I wanted to go out with my head up, no regrets,” he told ESPN.

T-Painful

Despite his dominance of the Top-40 singles chart, the famously auto-tuned T-Pain delivered an underwhelming performance at Saturday night’s concert in McDonough. This year’s iteration of the annual GPB Spring Concert disappointment was marked by a lackluster set of seemingly lip-synched dance songs played to a less-than-capacity crowd (Update: According to GPB Concert Chair Danny Fortin, tickets were sold out and the reason the crowd was so intimate was they had to stay under the University’s fire code limit of 2,500).

Opening acts Tay Dizm and Sophia Fresh (both signed to T-Pain’s own Nappy Boy label) attempted to warm up the crowd with high-energy dance beats, but were met with impatient indifference or confusion by the crowd. Sophia Fresh’s act didn’t seem to connect with the majority in attendance; when she yelled, in an effort to elicit some noise out of the almost comatose crowd, “how many men out there have been with a lady from the hood?” it was awkwardly silent. Tay Dizm’s dreadlocked appearance led to some confusion as to whether he was actually T-Pain, as drunken bros chanted “T-Pain” at him while he performed an on-stage striptease, slowly removing his shirt, gyrating to the music and exposing his diamond-grilled grin.

Tay Dizm left the stage around 10:20, leaving DJ Lil’ Boy a full 40 minutes to bide everyone’s time until T-Pain arrived. The energy in the gymnasium got a quick boost when Lil’ Boy began playing dance songs people actually knew, but he was unable to keep it going for long, and eventually people settled into restlessness as the minutes dragged on.

The main event, after the jump!

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