Not many students can say they have wrestled a stuffed squirrel while participating in their contracted independent organization, but for Hoos News writer Stephanie Boutsicaris, it was all in a day's work.
The Hoos News Show is the University's only student-produced satirical news show. Modeled after cable programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Hoos News aims to make students laugh by bringing them local and national news in a humorous manner. So antics like Boutsicaris's wrestling match are fairly standard.
The main portion of the show is geared toward what Executive Producer Rachel Goldberg calls the "headlines" segment. This segment is put together through weekly meetings during which all the Hoos News writers bring in headlines they believe have humorous potential. As this is the more rehearsed portion of the show, there are fewer opportunities for spontaneous comedy, but Boutsicaris believes the practiced humor is just as important.
"It's easier to get the ones with a punch in the headlines," she said.
Still, Goldberg said some of the show's most memorable moments have come from their unscripted segments. In fact, Boutsicaris's own tangle with the most feared furry rodent on Grounds came in a correspondence piece called "Squirrel Watch." While the segment's reporter "hunted" squirrels all day and showcased the many ways they menace students, crew members like Boutsicaris played the victims of these various attacks.
In describing his own favorite correspondence pieces, Co-Producer Craig Schwartz said, "A lot of them are really satirical too. There was a 'Cribs' episode based around the Kellogg dorm when it first came out."
The Hoos News Crew has also had the chance to interview its fair share of celebrities in recent years. Among its most notable interviewees are Tim Meadows, Matthew Broderick, Kal Penn, Tim Gunn, Craig Robinson, Tatyana Ali and Will Shortz, editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Goldberg said reporters are often surprised by how these celebrities act during the interviews, noting Meadows and Robinson, who plays Darryl in "The Office," in particular.
"When Craig Robinson from 'The Office' came to U.Va. and they interviewed him, he created a theme song for Hoos News mid-interview" Schwartz said. Goldberg added that he "got really into it" and even came up with a dance to go with the song.
Meadows, by contrast, did not show his comedic background on camera. "Tim Meadows was really surprisingly serious, which was weird," Goldberg said.
In some cases the people who have given the most somber interviews with the show have ended up providing Hoos News with some of their most hyperbolic comedy.
Goldberg recalled the show's interview with Brother Micah, the ultra-conservative Christian missionary best known for shouting inflammatory comments in the Amphitheater in 2008.
"It was hilarious because he took [the interview] completely seriously," Goldberg said. "We had a list of people and we asked him if they were going to hell or not. And they're all going to hell."
When asked if the group's brand of satire has ever generated any harsh critics or complaints, Goldberg said, "The people who would be upset by it don't watch it. If they ever do, we're in trouble."
Schwartz agreed, and said the critical comedy show is in a unique position. "We're kind of an anomaly right now because we're making fun of the University and we're being funded by the University," he said.
So far, though, the show has not had to face any attempts to censor its humor.
"It's kind of an underground thing, but that's how we like it," Boutsicaris said.
The latest episode of the Hoos News Show gives a tour of the Academical Village and provides a step-by-step guide on the proper methods for streaking the Lawn.
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