Inside a Kansas University film studio on a recent night, Alphonso Hutton, an extremely tall KU freshman from Denver, was wearing a fake beard, a stovepipe hat, a Michael Jordan jersey and a fake gold chain with a dollar-sign pendant.

“I’m just Lincoln — a somewhat urban Lincoln,” Hutton explained.

He was dressed for a comedy sketch in which the former president and other historical figures — Napoleon, a velociraptor — are brought to the modern era by a time machine to help a KU student fight a group of ninjas.

“We get to clothesline ’em,” Hutton said. “It’s going to be fun.”

This is the world of “Foghat Live,” a student-produced comedy show that began airing last month on KUJH-TV, Sunflower Broadband Channel 32. The show’s creator, 19-year-old Olathe sophomore Dan Ryckert, uses the campus as a playground for skits and surrealist pranks such as filming a student in a shark costume sprinting through lectures in Budig Hall. The show’s first episode ended with the shark and Josef Stalin frolicking on playground equipment at Stouffer Place Apartments, KU’s family-housing complex.

‘Keep it stupid’

Ryckert’s creative philosophy — shaped by his fondness for video games, Conan O’Brien and “The Simpsons” — could be summed up in three words: “Keep it stupid.” In his view, the world has too many highbrow student films.

“Something like, you know, filming a roll of paper towels for 20 minutes and saying it’s about poverty? Oh my God, I hate that crap,” he said. “We’ve got dummies getting thrown in front of cars. We’ve got pies in the face, like, every dumb cliche you could have. But we know it’s stupid.”

On a recent night of filming at Oldfather Studios, Ryckert wore a wispy white beard and a wizard robe. He may not always look the part, but he is a serious filmmaker.

He’s been making films since junior high and winning awards for some of them. His credits include a short film last year that included funk legend George Clinton as a cast member.

“He makes films the way other students go to parties,” said Matt Jacobson, assistant professor of theater and film, who was at the filming session giving Ryckert tips about how to use a sound stage for special effects. “I’m really foreseeing great things from him.”

Other KUJH offerings

“Foghat Live,” which airs at 10 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, isn’t the only student-produced entertainment show these days on KUJH. Other offerings include “Out of Focus,” which spotlights local filmmakers, and “Evil Kansas,” a serial about a group of on-campus crime fighters.

But Ryckert said he hoped his show would fill a niche for students who love comedy. He said he wanted students to talk about it 10 years from now.

“We want this to feel like KU’s show,” he said.

Ryckert decided during the winter break, after reading a tell-all book about “Saturday Night Live,” that he wanted to make a living doing sketch comedy.

He chose the name “Foghat Live” out of the blue, after an album by the 1970s band. To keep people guessing, he made it a matter of principle that the show would include no additional references to the band and would never be produced live.

Dorm dramatics

“Foghat Live” airs at 10 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays on KUJH, Sunflower Broadband Channel 32.

He writes material for the show with brainstorming help from fellow McCollum Hall seventh-floor residents Ben Coldham and Brian Baird, both freshmen. The three star in many of the sketches, along with a cast of dorm-dwelling amateur actors.

Ryckert said that people have started coming up to him and his friends at parties saying they recognize them from the show. KUJH’s general manager, Gary Hawke, said he didn’t have any ratings information that would measure the show’s popularity, but that it was a hit among a group of students who screened it.

KU basketball star Wayne Simien, whom Ryckert flagged down one day outside Target, 3201 Iowa, introduced the first episode. The next episode, due to come out later this year, will be introduced by Steve Perry, former lead singer of the band Journey, who visited campus last week.