“I liked the butter joke—when he ate the butter,” explained Jack Dragoumanos ’26. As the hoard of students gathered around a group of seniors that managed to throw 295-pound Nick Fiumara ’26 into their inflatable bubble bath on the Chapel Lawn began to disperse, the voices of excited students during their final day of classes filled the Chapel.
Luke Travaligni ’24, school president, served as emcee for the morning and quickly introduced TJ Cannistraro ’24. Known on campus for his skill in theater and instrumental and vocal music, TJ’s subsequent performance did not disappoint. Max Cristiano ’28 elaborated, “It hit close to home…His courage inspired me.” He simultaneously sang and tickled the ivories to “Breakeven” by The Script. His incredible performance wowed the chapel, and a rousing standing ovation followed his flawless performance.
Brian Lee ’24 followed, claiming he could solve three Rubik’s Cubes in under one minute. Many in the crowd were doubtful, while others had faith in the Harvard-bound student. He succeeded with seconds to spare, rendering another standing ovation accompanied by whoops and hollers throughout the Chapel. “Honestly, I had complete faith in my friend…I think he made it come down to the last second on purpose. He has the skill, but he’s a showman at the end of the day,” explained Vince Mezzanotte ’25.
Sporcle is a website with tens of thousands of quiz games with titles ranging from “NBA Conference Finals Teams (2010s)” to “Order Up: Christian Ecumenical Councils.” Mike Powers ’24 aimed to complete “The Countries of The World Map Quiz”—designed to be completed in under fifteen minutes—in one-third of that time. With 197 countries, this adds up to slightly over 39 countries per minute. Mike easily surpassed the average success rate of 67%—132 countries—in successfully naming 196/197 on the map. The sole country he missed was the small West African nation of The Gambia. Nevertheless, kudos to Mike for naming 99.5% of the world’s nations in under five minutes.
Ben Dibattista ’24 and Alex Vittal ’24 followed up Mike’s intellectual masterpiece in a genuinely touching duo. Performing “All of Me” by John Legend, the athletes-turned-singers showed off their musical prowess to the whole school, pushing through technological difficulties and singing a Cappella.
James Mullowney ’24 finished off the morning with an unforgettable stand-up comedy routine. He started with a knock-knock joke:
“Knock knock.”
—“Who’s there?”
“Butter”
—“Butter who?”
“‘Butter’ not blink, or else you might miss this.”
James proceeded to devour an entire stick of butter in about ten seconds. For readers unfamiliar with the nutrition facts of an average stick of butter, it contains approximately 92 grams of fat, 651 milligrams of sodium, and 810 calories. When asked whether James’ performance displayed talent or disgust, Fitz Courtney ’26 responded, “Yes, it was [impressive], but it made me sick to my stomach.”
This year’s edition of the Senior Talent Show was truly unforgettable, and it will be challenging for the Class of 2025 to surpass the skills of this year’s graduates. Thank you to the entire Class of 2024 for ending your Belmont Hill career and Form VI year with a “bang.”
