The Late Night Players brought their comedy skits and improv maneuvers to the Carl Sandburg Auditorium Tuesday and made about 100 students and faculty laugh at the campus they call home.

Beginning with an introduction of the members and segueing in to a short skit about the newly re-elected President Bush, the troupe poked fun at social issues, who’s tallest in the group and NIU’s campus.

“Do you know how weird it sounds to say ‘gargoyle of Altgeld‘ if you don’t go here?” said member Seth D. Michaels during a knock-knock joke bit about NIU.

The troupe also asked the crowd what there is to do in DeKalb that didn’t involve drinking and pointed out the cow manure smell.

The group tailors each of its college shows around the school where they are performing and pokes fun at the general area.

“I heard barbed wire was invented here,” member Zach Sherwin said. “Man, I love that movie. Pam Anderson is so hot!”

“We had been getting feedback from the students that they wanted a comedy show to come, though, and a free one at that,” CAB member Tiffany Gonzales said. “We had Second City here last year and that went over really well, so we decided to try these guys.”

Sherwin asked how many students knew the alma mater song. After one raised her hand, Sherwin went on to tell the crowd he had rewritten the song with phrases found on the NIU Web site.

“How do you put yourself in the best possible position,” Sherwin sang and then added “690 liquor and drug violations in 2003.”

The group closed out the night with “the grocery store song,” which involved Sherwin juggling oranges while two members dressed up as a banana and a tampon danced around the stage.

Despite the fact that CAB was expecting between 500 and 700 people to show up, Sherwin was happy that about 100 showed up to laugh.

“As long as we have interested, happy people show up, it’s great,” he said.

“We all met in college and performed together around campus,” said Sherwin. “After graduation, we just decided to keep the show going and tour.”

“Ideas just come to us,” Michaels said. “You can’t just say a joke and be done with it. It’s like a joke on top of a joke on top of another joke. We are really competitive when it comes to comedy.”