Lake Elmo Campus Shakes Things Up with Retro Talent Show

The Lake Elmo/Woodbury campus took things back to the ‘80s Aug. 18 by encouraging students to dress up as their favorite ‘80s icon and participate in the RasMash-UP XXII open mic/talent show. 

The quarterly event features everything from students performing karate demonstrations and musical performances to poetry reading, comedy acts and dog tricks.  

“The coolest talent that I ever saw was a guy breaking a brick with his head … it was incredible,” said Brian Sager, a current student and learning center tutor at the Lake Elmo/Woodbury campus.

The quarterly open mic/talent show was created by instructor Erik Ritter, and is now carried on by Sager, who doubles as the Ryan Seacrest-like emcee of the event.

“[Erik] wanted to give students the opportunity to mix with staff and peers in a creative way,” Sager said. “It helps to build community on campus. I got involved with it during my very first quarter on campus. I loved the idea of the students getting the opportunity to express themselves in such a positive way.”

Rasmussen alumna Mary Jo Laster is Sager’s co-host of the event.

“She and I are always brainstorming ways to make the show even more spectacular,” Sager said. “To date, there have been 22 consecutive RasMash-UP events. I took over as the host at RasMash-UP 2014.”

Don’t worry, if you missed this last talent show, you can always attend—or participate in—next quarter’s event. The event usually happens around the seventh or eighth week of the quarter; look for announcements on campus advertising the event.

And don’t worry if you’re anticipating a bout of stage fright.

“The best advice I can give to someone with a case of stage fright is not to worry, we all put our pants on one leg at a time,” Sager said. “It’s all in good fun and no one is grading or critiquing you. The RasMash-UP is an event with no judgments and a welcoming atmosphere.”