Flyby's Review of the Yale Bulldog Roast

As a senior and a former LS1b student, I was both intrigued and excited to finally witness the Yale Bulldog Roast. I will admit from the get-go that I did in fact think that the entire two hours would be filled with Andrew Berry making school-appropriate snarky comments on the Yalies, which I wasn’t particularly opposed to, but a little curious about how one could have that much to say about a school located in New Haven. Upon my arrival, I was incredibly pleasantly surprised to see there was a jam-packed program of student performances in addition to Berry, who was to headline the actual roast session. Was the trek to Sanders Theatre rainy and cold? Yes. Did I have piles of work to finish before the big game? Also yes. But hey, nothing warms the soul quite like some quality roasts — except maybe actually finishing my assignments, which, spoiler alert, did not happen.

The ~punctual~ marching band! By Annette Kim

The Marching Band

To kick off the event, they started right at 7 p.m. At a school where Harvard time is a little too normalized (I’m speaking my truth), it was refreshing that the band was so punctual. I’ve never really had the opportunity to watch a marching band perform due to the lack of school spirit in my high school, so I didn’t really know what to expect. The heavy brass and percussion, the grandeur movements, and the continuous melody filled my pset-hardened heart with a school spirit I had not felt before. I just really wish there was a program because I didn’t recognize the songs :( The cherry on top was when they started singing — multitasking kings and queens.

Side note: After the wonderful marching band performance, they finally played the spiel about locating the nearest exit in case of an emergency… but what if there was an emergency before then?

THUD wins the award for excellence in Home Depot buckets. By Annette Kim

THUD

I don’t think I’d ever heard of The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers (THUD) before but they quickly became my favorite performance of the night. Not only did they prove the versatility of a Home Depot bucket, but also they genuinely produced the most coordinated and elaborate drumming performance I’ve ever seen. It was honestly heartwarming because it felt like the group was genuinely there to have fun and share their passion for percussion. I went in expecting to hate on the Yalies and came out a THUD fan.

POV: you think you know all the Harvard school songs but then they pull out 'Yo-Ho'... By Annette Kim

The Radcliffe Choral Society and The Harvard Glee Club

As a former chorus kid, I was very partial to this joint effort between the Radcliffe Choral Society and The Harvard Glee Club to culture the rest of us who, I’m willing to bet, did not know Harvard had so many school songs. The altos KILLED IT. As a fellow alto, I was proud to hear y’all loud and clear. My only wish was that they showed the lyrics on screen so that we could’ve showed up and showed out at the game.

AADT repping the enemy, or just being better at wearing blue than them? By Annette Kim

AADT

As always, AADT ate. LOVED the performance, no notes, literally on my knees because they are so hot — I can only hope that one day I will have the level of coordination to be able to dance like that. My one confusion, however, was the color of the outfits. I couldn’t help but notice that they were repping the opps? Perhaps it was an unintentional fashion statement or a way to express good sportsmanship. Either way, I can forgive them due to their jaw-dropping moves.

HCSUCS and their trusty cardboard cutout. By Annette Kim

HCSUCS

I, for one, am a big fan of both stand-up comedy and the acronym HCSUCS. I thought the Rick cardboard cutout was a nice touch. I also appreciated the level of prep that went into each of the sets. To the comedian who stood up their Yale interviewer… You are so brave, and I wish to have that confidence one day. Perhaps I will finally have the guts to stand up one of my lectures.

Andrew Berry had to wrestle a bit with the projection before his impeccable slideshow. By Annette Kim

Andrew Berry

Now, the star of the show was really Berry’s roast. Despite initial technical difficulties (I was convinced it was part of the bit and Berry was going to announce, “Now you know what it’s like to sit through a Yale lecture”), Berry pulled out his incredibly well-put-together slideshow (cue flashbacks to LS1b). Not only was his set actually really informative (i.e., we beat Yale in basically every aspect: inbreeding in bulldogs, college rankings, projected income), but Berry also aired out all of Yale’s dirty laundry. The fact that Yalies treat their laundry machines like toilets made me feel a little better about one of our own traditions. If I’m being honest, I came into this with high hopes but low expectations, and my socks were kinda knocked off.

If you have never been to the Yale Bulldog Roast, I highly recommend going at least once if you have the chance (crying in senior). Albeit, I think most of the audience were freshmen, it was a cool way to see student performances and a great way to get into the school spirit. I know the game has passed, but Harvard-Yale really extends beyond a football game. It’s a mindset and a lifestyle. We’ll get ’em next year (knock on wood), and maybe the win is the enemies we made along the way.