Morgan McGrew | Staff Writer
The Academic Cultural Event Series (ACES) goes Hollywood this Sunday as campus talk show Randomonium, hosted by Buena Vista University (BVU) seniors Zach Schmidt and Chelsey Goetz, celebrates its final episode on the Anderson Auditorium stage on May 1.
Randomonium is a biweekly talk show created by Schmidt and Goetz. The digital media majors kickstarted their show their sophomore year, on September 30, 2013. The University Cable Network (UCN) production has run for five seasons on channel 3. The final episode will be the show’s 30th.
The talk show has seen a number of fun moments over the years, including a marshmallow-eating contest and a game of egg roulette. Schmidt and Goetz have even lit a gummy bear on fire and played with a litter of kittens while hosting the show.
Co-creator and host, Schmidt envisioned a grand finale for the talk show from the beginning.
“I wanted to have a big sha-bang,” Schmidt said. “I knew at one point in our lives we were going to do an Anderson show.”
Schmidt and Goetz approached Associate Dean of Faculty Dr. Peter Steinfeld, who oversees the ACES program, earlier this month about offering Randomonium’s final episode as an event in the ACES lineup. With UCN Studios advisor, Professor Jerry Johnson backing up their request, Steinfeld agreed.
“Anytime students put the time and energy into something that could be a benefit to other students…I don’t see why not making that an ACES event,” Steinfeld said.
The Anderson finale is set to include a number of exciting segments, including a live performance by BVU alum band Hold for Swank, a game of charades with President Fred Moore and other BVU administration, interviews with various BVU students, and much more.
From the beginning, Randomonium was tagged as a “professionally unprofessional” talk show by its creators. Schmidt and Goetz initially came to Johnson with an idea for a show that was unique and adaptive. The two sought out to create a show that had the flexibility to change in content from episode to episode–hence the name Randomonium.
Johnson has advised Schmidt and Goetz in the creation of the show throughout the years, witnessing the two growing along with the show.
“I think their confidence level has really increased, and that has trickled itself into the production,” Johnson said.
Randomonium has provided creators Schmidt and Goetz with great opportunities. Through doing the show, Goetz has had an abundance of experience in live television, including equipment set-up, script writing, and hosting. Schmidt was able to land a number of internships because of his work on Randomonium.
Schmidt and Goetz hope that Randomonium lives on at BVU, inspiring future students to start up shows of their own. The two also plan on having the show live on outside of BVU. After graduation, they would like to continue the show online.
“I’ve always joked about the idea of us of turning it into a YouTube series,” Schmidt said. “It’d really kinda be like a family vlog, giving us a fun little hobby.”
Randomonium’s final episode will take place on Sunday, May 1, in Anderson Auditorium as an ACES event from 7:45—9:00 pm.
