'Poonster Crashes Pudding Show

Club Night at the Hasty Pudding Theatricals show is known for being rowdy and slightly out of control. But Wednesday night, B.J. Novak '01 took the joking one step farther.

Rather than remaining in the audience with the other final club members and dates, Novak, who was attending the show "Fangs for the Memories" with other members of the Harvard Lampoon, the semi-secret Sorrento Square organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine, decided to one-up the "usual heckling" by dressing in drag and joining the show.

Novak donned a wedding dress, a wig and lipstick, and snuck on stage during the show, hoping to join the plot by adding himself as a character. He made it on stage and delivered his lines before being ushered off.

"It was all in good fun," Novak said. "So I figured I'd do it again, and it would be even funnier."

Later in the show, he snuck on stage again, and made it all the way to center stage.

This time, however, the mood wasn't as jolly. According to Novak, Michael S. Roiff '01, vice president of the Pudding cast, tackled him, putting him in a headlock.

"When I walked off stage and the Lampoon cheered, I realized I couldn't move my neck," Novak said.

As a result, Novak's night ended in a trip to UHS, where he was told to come back during regular hours.

As of yesterday morning, however, Novak said he woke up "feeling much better."

Novak said he'd like to settle the matter creatively.

"I think we should solve this the only way I know how--beer pong at the Delphic," he said. "That's, as far as I know, how gentleman's disputes are resolved at Harvard."

Roiff, on behalf of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, declined to comment on the incident.