Men of Honor won 2013’s Mock Rock, taking home the first place trophy and purple tee shirts on Friday night. Chicken Poc won second place, and p0cK3t L!k3 !Tz H@wT took third.
This year’s Mock Rock, which required wristbands for entry, saw many faculty and staff surprises, a variety of Justin Timerblake music and various storylines. Students commented that the show ran more smoothly than in previous years.
“A lot of the teams seemed more organized. I like how they incorporated a lot of the professors with the routines … And the hosts were great,” said Trevor Ashley, a sophomore elementary education major.
Crowds Kill Time
Approximately 630 students wound past the Gym up to the Common Grounds’ seating area by 5:30 p.m. — two hours before the doors would open. Students crowded under umbrellas and Easy-Ups, played football and Frisbee and chatted with friends. An estimated 90 alumni and parents were lined up by Biola’s Fitness Center around the same time.
Doors opened at 7:18 p.m. to a slow stream of people trickling into the Gym, ready to attend the 1990s-themed Mock Rock.
HOSTS ENTERTAIN
Hosts and cinema and media arts majors sophomore JJ Carroll and junior Joseph Garrett entertained Mock Rock attendees throughout the night with 1990s trivia — including questions about Tupac and “Boy Meets World.”
FACULTY CAMEOS SURPRISE
They also did a striking impersonation of Erik Thoennes, a biblical studies professor, and Dean of Spiritual Development Todd Picket, until the real Thoennes and Pickett chased them off the stage with croquet mallets.
Students were impressed across the board by the performances.
“I thought it was the best one I’ve ever been too, actually. I loved the emcees, they were hysterical. I loved all of the Biola inside jokes, I felt like there were more of them this year,” said junior accounting Margaret Nale.
ALPHERSON: A YEAR OF BIOLA TRADITIONS
Alpherson kicked off Mock Rock with Alpha East senator, sophomore Nikki Garcia and Emerson Hall senator, sophomore Evan McGee acting as Student Orientation Services leaders. Their performance followed a love story that began during the game Savage Women at the annual SOS beach trip and followed through other Biola traditions — Nationball, Catch Me If You Can and, of course, Mock Rock. The couple — an Alpha girl and Emerson guy — endured many hardships but had the quintessential happy ending, a wedding.
BROPOC: A WRITER’S JOURNEY
There was more than one happy couple this year — the next group, Bro Poc, also ended their performance with a wedding. In their skit, a writer struggled to finish a story.
The skit was loaded with pop culture references from the past year, including Gangnam Style, Harlem Shake, the zombie apocalypse and Pitch Perfect. Math professor Matthew Weathers also made a surprise appearance. In the end, the writer made his book about a love story.
SOS: JUMANJI THROUGH THE JUNGLE
The SOS group centered their performance around the game Jumanji, in which the three game-playing SOS members fought plants, monkeys, lions and panthers to steal a totem, or tiki torch, away from the game host. Their number ended with the players’ victory.
TOO POC: CLUBS FAIR AND A MIDTERM
Too Poc portrayed the pressure of choosing a club to participate in at clubs fair while needing to take a midterm. The main actor fought through the fair to get to his class, interacting with clubs from the Honorable Biola Cheese Society to the Star Wars Club. After the last club — “Fight Club?” — resulted in an all-out brawl between the clubs, the student showed up late to his midterm late, receiving detention. In an ironic twist, his midterm was cancelled so students could attend the clubs fair.
MEN OF HONOR: PHANTOM OF BIOLA
Next, Men of Honor played out their own version of Phantom of the Opera set throughout the Biola school year. Though the girl liked another guy, the phantom eventually plucked up the courage to call her and sing Soulja Boy’s “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” at Horton Hall’s spring Mosaic Masquerade event. The phantom finally won the heart of the girl, and the performance ended with a black light illuminating dancers dressed in white, spelling out “MOH” with their bodies — parodying the Pixar logo.
Erik Thoennes continued the trend of faculty cameos, surprising the audience during Men of Honor’s performance. His daughters Caroline and Paige joined him on stage.
“It was fun. It was my first Mock Rock where I participated and I got to do it with my kids, which made it really fun. Men of Honor was a blast to work with and it was a great first Mock Rock to participate in,” he said.
BIG BANG THEORY: “A NERD’S DREAM"
Big Bang Theory fulfilled Pickett’s promise of “a nerd’s dream.” Their fight between good and evil featured characters from Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Tron and Stars Wars. Frodo eventually triumphed.
CHICKEN POC: GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, BIOLA-STYLE
Following Big Bang Theory, Chicken Poc spoofed the television show Gilligan’s Island with characters including a hipster, a stereotypical Orange County girl and a “ring by spring” couple. After being shipwrecked on an island while on their way to a chapel retreat, the castaways performed choreographed defense techniques from Biola’s Rape and Aggression Defense System class and resurrected celebrities including Elvis Presley and Amelia Earhart. They also fought off cannibalistic savages and dealt with a stolen raft. Finally, Pickett rescues the castaways in the Soaring Eagle food truck.
p0cK3t L!k3 !Tz H@wT: HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA
Finally, p0cK3t L!k3 !Tz H@wT helped students relive high school with their performance. The main actor had to navigate the nerds, jocks, cheerleaders and gothic cliques with the help of the wise old janitor. After scoring the winning touchdown at a football game and beating the mean jock at a dance-off, the star won the affections of the prettiest girl in the school.
FACULTY AND STAFF STEAL THE SHOW
As the judges deliberated on the top four Mock Rock teams, Carroll and Garrett announced that Associated Students had a special performance. With “I Want It That Way” streaming, a white curtain fell, and several faculty and staff members emerged dancing. Chris Grace, Danny Paschall, Jonathan Lunde, Timothy Muehlhoff, Matthew Williams and Matthew Hooper’s dance had the audience standing and cheering, singing along with One Direction’s song, “You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful.”
The staff cameos and the faculty’s final dance number stole the show.
“I just really appreciate a school that can have their staff be involved and be actively involved and excited about it,” Alexa Gosda, a freshman kinesiology major, said.
JUDGING INCLUDES STUDENTS’ OPINION
This year, the judges selected their top four picks — Chicken Poc, p0cK3t L!k3 !Tz H@wT, Big Bang Theory and Men of Honor. The audience was given two minutes to text in their votes for their favorite performance.
Men of Honor rushed the stage as Carroll announced their win. The team was made up of about 30 undergraduate men and 10 women from Men of Honor’s sister floors, explained Robyn Nakamura, sophomore sociology major and Men of Honor actress.
“There’s 10 girls, so if you can imagine, that can be hard at times, but it was so much fun and we honestly weren’t expecting to win,” Nakamura said. “We worked really hard for it … It’s really exciting.”
