From Nalgene bottles, academic integrity, and evil librarians, 2017 Lagniappe Potpourri’s “Not What You Think” did an amazing job of entertaining the audience with humorous jokes that only New Trier students would understand. From Nalgene bottles, academic integrity, and evil librarians, 2017 Lagniappe Potpourri’s “Not What You Think” did an amazing job of entertaining the audience with humorous jokes that only New Trier students would understand.

This year’s title “Not What You Think” came from the show’s theme of school conspiracy stories. The first scene was called “Can You BS Your Way Through a Quiz?” In this laughter-provoking scene, the setting of the classroom transforms into a game show.

Regarding the academic hacks we students create with our bare hands out of pure desperation and defeat, the scene revealed the lazy strategies that run through a student’s brain during a quiz that they are not prepared for.

This made the whole first scene a relatable moment for us students (knowing that every single one of us has experienced this).

Furthermore, the show continues on with more relatable school moments like the “Word Problem” scene.

This comedic scene expressed the thoughts that go through our minds when having to solve a math word problem about instances that would never occur in real life (for instance, finding the angle of elevation from the subject to a nearby tree).

Co-director and senior Teddy Fischer said that “‘Word Problem’ is probably my favorite scene because it’s pretty relatable and overall, a good hyperbole.”

Alongside seniors Elena Cata and Teddy Fischer, senior Jacob Imber shared the responsibilities the co-directors held and what they did to make the show such a successful one. “We each directed about a third of the show and worked with the cast to block scenes, create characters, and analyze the script,” said Imber.

“I also helped lead the writing process with Ms. Simons and a few other board members because there was no official head writer this year. We ran writing staff meetings, compiled the script, and continued editing the scenes throughout the rehearsal process to make sure that the jokes were funny,” said Imber.

“The main thing that I feel like the audience doesn’t know is the amount of work that goes into the making of Lagniappe. We started working on it in April and all throughout the summer as well. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without everyone, including technical management, stage management, stage crew and simply everyone that participated in creating this show” said Fischer.

Not only did the show provide the audience with catchy songs and comedic scenes, it also bombarded students with hilarious one-liners that brought tears to your eyes, like when senior Frankie Nayman exposed the mysterious conspiracy of Linda Yonke never really leaving.

Not to mention, the dance number was phenomenal. Not only were the song choices fire, but everyone’s dancing skills were “popping”.

It was fun to watch and looked extremely fun to do.

I heard many voices and murmurs around me saying the dancers “killed it” during the whole number.

Some students complained that there was no intermission in this year’s show.

This was not a problem due to boredom but because many didn’t want to miss the band number that performed during the time in which intermission normally takes place.

However, those that didn’t mind and stayed to watch the band number lucked out due to the phenomenal musical act that they provided.

Moreover, it is not a stretch to say that senior Jack Maitra knocked his drum solo out of the park. In fact, he got a standing ovation on Tuesday, the opening night of the show.

Overall, Lagniappe this year did not disappoint. The combined efforts of the actors, stage crew, and musicians made for a stellar performance.