As we enter the final days of this year's SketchFest, let's take a walk down memory lane, all the way back to the heady times of the previous weekend: Last Saturday night, three members of Seattlest's collective entity assembled ourselves in a Voltron-like fashion for some comedy at the Capitol Hill Arts Center. We were there for the performances of two troupes, San Francisco's Prank the Dean and NYC's Elephant Larry.

Prank the Dean consists of three guys and a girl (the latter of which was deemed to be "really cute" by one member of Seattlest). We found them to be amusing, but by no means hysterical. The highlight of their set was Jesse Thorn's monologue as an elderly Southern Senator decrying the rampant spread of moral decay, directly attributed to the prevalence of baby marriage. We also enjoyed the final sketch featuring a church play of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" gone horribly awry, with a surprise twist ending and some delightfully vulgar use of a hot dog and a donut. Overall, Seattlest found Prank the Dean to be good, but not great. They hammed it up to a fault, and their wa-wa purposely lame sitcom schtick got old real fast.

Elephant Larry, however, was just the type of act we expect from Sketchfest---rambunctious, bold, and capital F funny. They opened their set with seamen (huh huh) engaged in a ruthless, trash-talking shanty competition, a la the rap battles in 8 Mile. Another great piece was a courtroom sketch in which one member of the troupe was on trial for writing far too many courtroom sketches---talk about meta to the exxxxxxtreme! Other highlights included a skit on a couple cavemen sampling alternative, non-meat food sources and a by-the-book French lesson (complete with improvised sneeze). Elephant Larry also closed strongly with an environmental rap that Jeff Solomon had written in junior high and updated for these modern times. But perhaps we're just complete suckers for some hardcore man-on-man freak dancing.

A few factors contributed to our preference of Elephant Larry over Prank the Dean: (1) All five members of Elephant Larry were hilarious---all five---whereas Prank the Dean had stronger and weaker players. Having a comedic mug helps. Just like an individual can have a face for radio, one can also have a face for comedy. Hint: These are often the same faces. (2) Elephant Larry had much stronger writing. It's vastly easier to get laughs when you've got a great premise than when your scenario is pretty lame from the get-go.

All that being said, Prank the Dean included a cast member (Jim Real) who totally looked like Jason Bateman, albeit a curly, towheaded Jason Bateman. We liked that. Meanwhile, Elephant Larry put the icing on the comedy cake with their excellent use of G.O.B.-esque illusions. With that in mind, all of us at Seattlest would like to remind you that season 3 of Arrested Development premieres at its new night and time, this Monday (9/19) at 8pm. Set yer TiVos.