-Jessica Ridgway
The Adult Swim Carnival was on campus Tuesday night, and despite the rainy weather the turnout was incredible. Adult Swim, a cable network that appears at night on the Cartoon Network channel, has been touring universities across the nation to host this free carnival.
Earlier that day, I overheard one student describe the carnival as “a huge Adult Swim advertisement.” But, even if that was the motivating idea behind the carnival, it did not deter students and community locals from enduring the rain and checking out what Adult Swim had to offer.
The carnival was located on University Street between 15th and 18th Avenue, and it wasn’t hard to miss. From 13th Avenue you could see the huge inflated entryway, the flashing fluorescent lights, and “Adult Swim” emblazoned above the stage.
The carnival lacked the whimsical additions normally found at carnivals (like a merry-go-round and cotton candy), but it had it’s own Adult Swim flair with quirky game booths that only this crafty cable network could create.
A typical shooting booth became a Segway shooting booth. Toilet bowls acted as the holes for the beanbag toss. And, my personal favorite, the “Smack Up My Uvula” booth, where competitors climbed their way up a rope ladder to smack the uvula of an inflated, four-eyed cat. Dan Erickson, a senior, was one of the few victors to make it across the shaky ladder—he won a free laptop case and the pride of hitting a cat uvula.
Aside from the weather, the only other downside to the carnival was its cramped capacity. By 9 p.m. long lines had formed to each of the booths, forming a standstill crowd right in the middle. Many people were frustrated and confused because the lines became a maze of people without any indication or direction of where they led or how to get out.
All in all, however, the carnival was a success and everyone that participated was guaranteed to win a prize—as long as you had the patience for it.
Wow. Wish I could have gone.