Whole Lot of Hullabaloo: A Twenty-First Century Campus Phantasmagoria

It’s Fall 2011, and Troy Thomas, a sophomore at Central Ohio University, is living a normal college life with his best friend, Ian Mueller, a top lacrosse player. One night, however, Troy’s best friend arrives at an off-campus costume party dressed as a Miami Vice character in controversial fashion. All is normal until Ian receives an e-mail from the university administration, revealing that unbeknownst to Ian and Troy, a fellow student became greatly offended, and is threatening to take the incident to the local media. A whole slew of shenanigans ensue as Troy tries to make sense of not only his friend’s actions, but that of the reactions and behavior of the college community and other local residents in the Columbus, OH area.

Soon, Troy, along with the university administration and students, is dealing with militants, a popular preacher from the east side of Columbus, and a recently hired pioneering professor, among other characters with their own agendas. During this chaos, Troy tries to discover who he is in a community gripped by social strife and finds out whether friendship will wither amid such division.

Darkly satirical, but touched with a nostalgia for 80s and early 90s pop culture, a tragic situation turns into a resounding comedic affirmation of individuality. Though inspired by twentieth century writers such as Kingsley Amis, Anthony Powell, and Evelyn Waugh, it’s a twenty-first century piece of modern Americana.

2021 Finalist of the National Indie Excellence Awards (Comedy).