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Above The Law’s Inaugural Law Revue Contest 2009
(Dis)Honorable Mentions

Monday, April 13, 2009 6:00 PM - By Above the Law

Law Revue Video Contest.jpgEarlier this month, we asked for submissions for Above the Law’s first annual Law Revue Video contest. The nominees came pouring in from across the country.

Your faithful ATL editors / judges spent hours — or was it days? — reviewing the many submissions. We’ve learned that there is a lot of creative talent hidden away in law libraries. We’ve also learned that “pitch” is a precious and rare commodity, vital to prevent blood from streaming out of your audience’s ears.

We’ve selected six finalists for you to enjoy. We’ll ask you to vote for the best of them, to determine the winner of ATL’s first ever Law Revue contest — in our next post.

First, we’ll subject you to the suffering give you a taste of the entire range of submissions, with some of the best (and worst) of those that didn’t make the top six. Join the ATL editors in an exploration of everything that is beautiful and oh-so-terrible when law students take comedy into their own hands — after the jump.

UVA and NYU were particularly strong contenders in the Law Revue Contest. You’ll be hearing and seeing more from them in the finalist post, but they also had a few “losers” worth mentioning. UVA gave us a hilarious world without a constitution and law school as a small plaintiff’s firm.

And NYU brought us a Lost parody: Lawst.

Kash: Unfortunately, it’s nine minutes long and as confusing as an episode of Lost.

Elie: After about five minutes, I understood how Jack and Juliet felt when Locke blew up the submarine.

Lat: This was Lost on me, since I don’t watch the show. But the boy in the gray t-shirt is cute!

The My New Haircut video inspired the most parodies at Law Revues this year. We suggest you watch that video if you haven’t already, in order to understand what we’ve been through.

That’s the original. Apparently, many (many, many) law students thought they could do better. One such submission made it to the finals. The others? Check out Columbia’s version, My New Bluebook, for the best of the rest.

Our judges say:

Kash: BU did it better.

Elie: First Gray Davis, and now this.

Lat: Despite one great performance — by an LLM, or a Morningside Heights cab driver — this didn’t quite make the cut.

(Apologies if you’re offended by our channeling of the ATL commenters. Now it’s our turn to be offensive, rude, and hypercritical. Oh, and…. FIRST!)

George Washington law students had a lot of ideas. There was even an open shout-out to Above the Law in the school’s To Catch a Gunner sketch. While none of their submissions made the finals, GW had a lot of good concepts. GW had great foreplay, but flaccid punchlines. Sketches should make you laugh, not weep softly about how terrible law school is.

At least it was clear what George Washington law students were going for. What Can You Do With A JD From Hofstra just left our judges confused:

Kash: It’s terrible. But I think they made it terrible on purpose.

Elie: Is it that they couldn’t afford a piano, or they’ve just never heard of one?

Lat: I actually kinda like it; there is a pathos to it that is simply hilarious. Very clever to botch the punchline by having the broom handle visible before the big reveal.

Production values matter. Jobless Lawyers from the University of Alabama might have made the finals, if not for the embarrassing failure to dub out Beyonce.

Although they had their own troubles covering Beyonce, Northwestern law students brought some very high production values to the table in a different number: Weapon of Choice of Law. This slick video brought everything except the funny, according to the judges:

Elie: Maybe we can team up for a Chippendales dance off?

Kash: Lat and I were on the same page on this one. The Northwestern student is a hottie, but he’s not as good a dancer as Christopher Walken in the original.

It’s not that we’re against dancing. Check out Race Relations from LSU.

Kash: I’m uncomfortable commenting on this one.

Elie: How did they find the only three black guys in Louisiana that can’t dance?

Speaking of racially inflammatory submissions, 24 Hour Take Home from Cardozo was both funny and terrible.

Kash: We appreciate the shout-out to our “well-respected legal tabloid.” But this video still felt like a full hour.

Elie: Look, there’s an Asian guy. Hahahahaha. And he’s cool with us making fun of him. Hahahaha. Even the Dean is in on the joke. Hilarious! (“This racism is killing me inside.”)

Lat: Even a good-natured star turn by Dean Judy Mender couldn’t save this one. Also — is that Bernie Madoff?

Finally, another one from Cardozo. Lots of people thought Drunk Legal History was funny. The judges? Not so much.

Elie: When you’re not drunk, drunk people are really annoying.

Lat: Good concept, but could have used better production values.

Kash: I learned something. But I didn’t laugh.

Check back later this week for the finals, when we will ask you to crown the best law revue video!

Earlier: The First Annual Law Revue Video Contest

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Posted in: Contests, Law Revue, Law Revue Video Contest, Law Schools

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