Last Friday, Oct. 9, Scripps Live Arts (SLA) held its opening show of the semester in Clark Hall Living Room at Scripps College. SLA is a club that promotes all types of live art—from concerts to stand-up comedy to poetry recitals. Among the student performers featured were comedian Ellie McElvain SC ’14, poet Jessi Warren SC ‘14, musician Olivia Buntaine SC ’15 and poet Alex Washburn SC ‘15.
“The show was a great success. We had surprisingly a lot of people coming in and cheering for their friends,” said Caitlin Sweeney SC ’13, co-leader of SLA.
Buntaine, who recently self-released her second folk album, Living in Abandoned Homes, performed a few songs on her ukulele and mandolin.
“Music is a huge commitment in my life,” Buntaine said.
Buntaine, who worked in a recording studio in Boston to produce her albums, is an American Studies major and will hold her opening show at the Motley Coffeehouse at Scripps on Nov. 8.
Among the many displays of live arts, Washburn recited a witty, comical poem about falling in love all over again.
“My best friend encouraged me to go to SLA,” Washburn said. “I think I might do it again.”
McElvain, president of 5C Late Night Stand-Up Comedy, displayed her charm by performing her own comedy show. McElvain strives to find her own voice during improvisation.
“It’s all about improvisation,” McElvain said. “I tried to impersonate Lana Del Ray in her ‘Video Game’ music video. It was hilarious. I love performance, writing, and acting. But ‘to be a comedian, you have to be a little delusional;’ it’s my favorite quote from the movie Sleepwalk with Me. I don’t want comedy to be trajectory. It should come naturally.”
SLA plans performances almost every month, and many of them feature bands from L.A. The next SLA event will be Nov. 8 at the Motley in collaboration with KSPC. Bay Area-based singer-songwriter Katie Clover will perform, with Buntaine opening.
“It’s easy to get involved if you want to perform,” said Sweeney. “Just send us an e-mail—it’s that simple.”
For more information, contact the club at scrippslivearts@gmail.com.