Silly antics and comedic original songs entertained a decent crowd on Friday, Sept. 26. As one of Monmouth University’s SHADOW program events, many freshman students attended to acquire an “O” for this week. Consisting of Paul Peglar and Ben McLain, Dakaboom utilizes their voices, a synthesizer, and a keyboard to create intricate beatboxes or comical mashups of actual songs.
The show, sponsored by the Student Activities Board (SAB), was full of fantastic vocal work as well as hilarious skits and banter between the two comedians. Peglar and McLain’s chemistry is an obvious reason for the show’s great success. The two mentioned being roommates for about seven years while being best friends for much longer. Although they live in two very different cities and states, the duo is still able to write new material and perform together.
In addition to Peglar’s beautiful vocal range, his talent stretches into piano playing. Peglar was the original piano player in the first season of the musical TV show “Glee.” Once this was mentioned to the crowd, many “Glee” fanatics cheered and shouted, “I knew I recognized him from somewhere!” Several songs performed by the duo utilized Peglar’s fantastic pianist capabilities, proving that his role in “Glee” was well-deserved.
McLain has made appearances on “General Hospital,” but he mostly spends his time with his electronic band located in Los Angeles. McLain’s acting ability was showcased during the performance throughout the skits onstage. The comedian’s reactions and involvement with the crowd created a believable and enjoyable experience for all.
Darius Jenkins, a sophomore member of SAB, mentioned, “Dakaboom is one of the events we brought from NACA last year, so this is their first time here at Monmouth University.” Dakaboom has offered their talent throughout many colleges around the nation, entertaining students when they need it the most.
The duo’s introductory piece took jabs at the other’s interesting characteristics while demonstrating their perfect chemistry in the most upbeat way. Peglar proved his astonishing falsetto vocals while covering the works of Jackson 5, a-ha, and several others. McLain impressed the crowd with his beatbox original while comically claiming, “I’m a bat!”
A following song included a silly collection of questions that the duo has received after shows in the past: “Who are your influences?” “Where do you normally work?” “Are you single?” All of which garnered humorous half-responses.
Another song boasted a hilarious chant about friendship and all the qualities that made them great friends, which effortlessly cued laughter from the audience. A perfect play on words made the next piece a crowd favorite. Peglar’s solo performance twisted girls’ names into seemingly romantic phrases. “You’re the girl I’d like to pick: Rose!” Peglar’s clever wordplay continued into another composition that he called “Cheesy Love Song.” This song switched out certain words with similar sounding cheese names. Yet again, the crowd gave positive feedback of the adorable lyrics.
The duo engaged the crowd numerous times, asking for answers throughout skits, and even singling out a girl in the crowd by creating an uncomfortable yet hilarious song purely about her name.
With many more songs sprinkled between the aforementioned ones, Dakaboom ended their hour-long performance with “50 Theme Songs Under 5 Minutes.” The original mashup consisted of exactly what the title stated: 50 popular theme songs to TV shows including “Saved By The Bell,” “Smurfs,” “The Flintstones,” “Animaniacs,” “Happy Days,” “Friends,” “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and many, many more.
At the end of the performance, Dakaboom received overwhelming applause and feedback. Many students stayed after the show to mingle more with the duo, as well as ask any questions that Dakaboom themselves didn’t answer. The duo was more than happy to communicate with the starry-eyed students.
Emerald Umstead, a freshman, commented, “It was definitely a cute performance and they were very fun to watch. I’m glad I came.”
Dakaboom’s unique mix of music and comedy is refreshing and inviting. It’s a modern yet exciting take on an age-old activity of making people laugh. Jenkins closed his statement with, “It was an awesome show. They put on the best performance they could and have attracted a lot of people. It was really good!” Dakaboom is absolutely a fresh comedic force on the scene.
PHOTO COURTESY of Dyamond Rodriguez
