Each year, the NDSU organization Blue Key Honor Society hosts two major events: the homecoming show and Bison Brevities. Both events showcase the talent of NDSU students, while also raising money for a good cause.
Bison Brevities, according to co-coordinator Kyle Blank, is “an annual talent show in the spring at NDSU hosted by Blue Key National Honor Society. It is a show consisting of acts performed by talented NDSU students combined with humor-filled skits between the acts!” This year marks the 62nd anniversary of the NDSU tradition.
Blue Key also chooses a charity to donate the proceeds to, this year selecting the organization African Soul, American Heart (ASAH) that assists orphans in South Sudan. Specifically, ASAH wants to “protect, educate and empower” the students part of their program.
The goal of the show was to raise $5,000, enough to send one of the orphans, a South Sudanese girl named Mary Akuot, to a year of school with full expenses paid.
“We selected this charity as it is based in Fargo, and does incredible work in the lives of young women, like Mary, in South Sudan,” Blank said of why they chose ASAH.
This year, Bison Brevities was held on Tuesday night in Festival Concert Hall. Talents from nine different students and student groups — in addition to the awkwardly funny skits in between, courtesy of Blue Key members — highlighted the event.
While the show was entitled “Inbrevables,” named after the popular 2004 animated movie “The Incredibles,” only the skits in between performers were really centered around the animated classic.
“Our group suggested many different themes incorporating ‘Bison Brevities’ to be voted upon, but when one member suggested ‘The InBREVables,’ we all knew that it was the one,” Blank explained. “It brought us all back to one of our favorite all-time Disney movies, while also being combined with the fun spirited annual Bison Brevities show. We knew it was perfect!”
The Inbrevables featured a variety of acts and actors, including John Eugene wowing the crowd with his suspenseful yo-yo tricks and some lovely serenades by students including Laina Nelson, Christina Krieger, Katie Payette, Kody Gerard and an entire group of students performing a cover of “Behind Your Beautiful.” Impressive juggler Sam Karschnia, voice impressionist Jon Bell-Clement and the Hip Hop Dance Team also took the stage, leading to one very entertaining night.
In between the acts, members of Blue Key played some memorable characters from “The Incredibles” movie, like Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Edna Mode and more.
At the end of the night, Christina Krieger and her act “Lucy and Luna” won the audience’s choice. The Hip Hop Team were voted best by the judges. And John Eugene was chosen for Blue Key’s award.
“It is a great way to not only support those in our NDSU community that will be performing but also to contribute to a phenomenal charity in our F-M community!” Blank commented.
If you didn’t get a chance to catch the event, visit the Facebook event for highlights and spotlights. And consider donating to ASAH.
The next big Blue Key event is a charity golf scramble, “Hacking for Haiti,” which will take place this at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 6. All the proceeds will benefit the charity Rebuilding Haiti in the wake of the Haiti hurricane.
For more information or to register, go to their Google sheet (found on ndsuspectrum.com).