Two or three years ago, a group of students did the unthinkable by making Eastern president Lou Hencken the butt of a joke.

Lunchbox Voodoo, a sketch comedy group at Eastern, said everyone in the room held in their laughter and was uncertain how Hencken would react.

But one person made sure the room knew how he felt: Lou.

“He’s got an incredible sense of humor,” said Mike Denofrio, a senior technology education and theater major.

Denofrio is also the president of the group that made Hencken laugh.

He represented Lunchbox Voodoo at the third annual Pantherpalooza on Wednesday, but didn’t opt for the traditional route.

Pantherpalooza

Many of the approximately 75 Recognized Student Organizations that showed up came with carefully constructed posters, signs, flyers, stickers and smiling peppy representatives ready to educate passersby about their club.

But not Lunchbox Voodoo.

Denofrio sat back in his folding chair, sunglasses hiding his eyes, wearing cutoffs and flip-flops.

A navy blue bandana held back his long curly hair. The only paraphernalia representing his group was his bright pink T-shirt with tiny letters, LBV, in the corner.

The table for LBV was scattered with condoms, liquid personal lubricant, finger condoms and an economy-size bag of generic candy, framing a hand-written “Lunchbox Voodoo” sign on notebook paper.

Lunchbox-palooza

Each year, Lunchbox Voodoo has been at Pantherpalooza. The event is usually around their audition time, but most people just grab the candy and keep walking by, Denofrio said.

Group auditions are on Monday at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Students will be asked to read through a few scripts, but can also bring their own work.

“We’re not real hard on people,” Denofrio said.

In auditions, the group is looking for people that would work well with the rest of the group.

Confidence plays a big part, Denofrio said.

People have walked out of LBV shows, usually because of religious humor. The group once did a skit on “The Last Supper,” which caused two people to storm out.

“It’s comedy,” Denofrio said. “If it’s there, we’re gonna make fun of it.”

The sign hanging from the table was on white poster board, written in a plain skinny marker: “We’re like SNL. but still funny.”

Lunchbox Voodoo formed in 2001, and Denofrio is one of the original members.

They started performing in residence halls and were picked up by the University Board about a year later. The group has been performing ever since.

Denofrio has been at Eastern for seven years, still as an undergrad, but has had 8 years of schooling.

Denofrio started as a technology education major at a community college, then added a theater minor. That eventually turned into a theater major.

With two completely different majors, he’s spending double the average time in college.

The 24-year-old, from Wauconda, wanted to be a teacher. After eight years and two majors, Denofrio said he might finally graduate in May, but will go back home to just work and repay some of his college loans.

Lunchbox Voodoo performs two or three times each month, usually at 7th Street Underground.

For a UB-sponsored show, LBV makes around $100. But for a show in a residence hall they only charge about $30.

The group practices once a week, but adds another practice the week of a show.

They usually do a show with Hello Dali, Eastern’s improv comedy group, once each year.

In years past, students thought the funnymen didn’t like each other. Two semesters ago the groups did a West Side Story-themed skit, playing off that impression.

“Right now, there really can’t be (competition,)” he said. “It’s two different kinds of comedy.”

Denofrio’s favorite humor is dirty – he said it’s downright “disgusting.”

But he’s proud of his large collection of dirty joke books.

Cory Vogt was a member of LBV for a semester her freshman year and ran across the club’s table.

Now that she’s a senior theater major, she said she misses the laughs she gave up to focus on theater.

“It’s so much fun,” she said. “Who doesn’t have fun doing comedy? The audience really appreciates good comedy.”

Lunchbox Voodoo’s updated schedule can be found on Facebook.com in the group, “Lunchbox Voodoo cast and fans on Facebook.”

Political party-palooza

Set-up for Pantherpalooza included placing the College Democrats and EIU Republicans at neighboring tables.

“We’re all in the same business, we’re just competitors,” said Justin Sinner, vice president of EIU Republicans and senior political science major. “We all have the same interests.”

The two campus political groups exchanged jokes and some friendly teasing as well.

“No matter what your voice, we want to find someone to help you,” said Travis Bounds, president of College Democrats and senior political science major.

The location also gave each group a close-up look at their competitors.

“We share a lot of the same ideas,” said Chris Kromphardt, a sophomore political science major.

Having the two groups next to each other is a good contrast, said Chris Sodergren-Baar, the College Democrats vice president and senior political science major.

Sodergren-Barr said most students don’t care about politics, which is one of the reasons for the groups to pair up every now and then.

“The main focus is to get students active (in politics),” he said.

Sharece Davis, a senior computer information systems major, receives information from sophomore dietetics major Shanon Ramsey about the Organization for Peer Education on Nutrion at the Patherpalooza. OPEN had a table at the Recognized Student Organizatio

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