The yearly event of “Saturday Night Logansport,” which started in 1991, returned to McHale Performing Arts Center on Feb. 25. SNL is a fundraiser event for the Logansport High School Drama Department and is a complete student-produced production. There were four directors of SNL this year: junior Sam Fultz, junior Finley Gay, senior Jenna Gross, and senior Gracie Kitchell. 

The theme of this year was “SNL: On Air,” meaning skits within the production were based on various popular television shows. Skits such as “Finding Bigfoot,” “Looker Batman,” “Judge Judy,” and “Van Down By The River” evolved from this. Most scripts started off from their respective names or television shows. “Van Down By The River” often has been performed for SNL over the years with iconic characters such as Matt Foley, taken from the original SNL.

The process building up to what comedy is isn’t always easy. As the phrase commonly goes, comedy is subjective. Cast members had to work together to find something everyone in the audience would enjoy and could relate to. In SNL, you have to try to give the audience in one way or another, enjoyment. With a mix of many different minds and ideas, the night was a success, laughing ran through the house.

One of the largest skits of the night would be the return of “Looker Batman.” In the video “Dark Teacher Returns,” The audience sees history teacher, Bryan Looker dressed as Batman. This skit was performed for the fourth time over the years of SNL. Previously it was a project between him and his son, Logansport High School alumni Garrett Looker.

“I originally thought my days of galavanting around the halls of Logansport High School were over when Garrett graduated in 2015,” Bryan said. “Garrett grew up watching the Christopher Nolan trilogy with me, and after he saw ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ he knew I had to be Batman. For several weeks of his sophomore year, he allowed me to get my first SNL appearance in 2013. I would then reprise that role his junior and senior year.”

Practices started in January, beginning with ideas for the theme of the show. This year, being “On Air” involved taking ideas from television shows and movies, then writing scripts. There were parodies of shows suggested like “The Sopranos” becoming “The Altos,” or the Barman series being parodied with this year’s skit, “Dark Teacher Returns.”

“The concept was super fun, and we implemented new technology that really made the show special,” junior Elijah Bault said. “In between each scene transition, I had the idea of having ads to break up the dead time, and so all the cast worked to add ads. It made the show feel so much quicker, and the entertainment never stopped.”

Many teachers made an appearance throughout the show, which added more humor to students. Obviously, there was Bryan Looker as Batman. In addition, both choir teachers Tim and Susan Cahalan had a segment based on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” newly titled “Keeping Up With the Cahalans.” English teacher Grace Scott was featured in “Carpool Karaoke” and “Dark Teacher Returns.” Math teacher Michael Grenard portrayed the Penguin in “Dark Teacher Returns,” and three science teachers were featured in a “Breaking Bad” parody, “Breaking Brittle.” Andrew Beaver portrayed Walter White, Tucker McCord portrayed Jesse Pinkman, and a cameo of Kathleen Davis was included.

Many laughs were shared on the night of SNL, and many considered this year to be one of the best. The time put into the show is what made the effort worthwhile. For a month, the cast worked hard almost every Monday and Wednesday to make a show that many enjoyed and will remember as a cherished memory.

“The show definitely had some issues in the making,” Fultz said. “I think it became most difficult when the stress started to build up that came with the paranoia of the show not being ready. Towards the end, however, everyone pulled it together and I believe it was one of the best SNLs Logansport High School has performed in recent years.”