Students demonstrate the 'Art of Kissing' in the Commons

As the eight participants walked on stage before Tuesday night's the Art of Kissing, William Cane had one piece of advice for them.

"Don't forgot to drink lots of water," he said.

Campus Activities Board (CAB) hosted the event. "I got to know about the show through NACA," said CAB special events chair Julie Brau. The National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) named Cane Lecture Entertainer of the Year in 2001.

Cane, a former English professor at Boston College, published his book "Art of Kissing" in 1991. The show has appeared at over 400 schools across the country. The show has been translated into 19 foreign languages, and Cane was featured on "Today", "CBS This Morning" and "The View" to talk about his research.

About 150 students filled the Pier in the Tyler Haynes Commons to see the show at 9 p.m.

"I was surprised by how many people showed up because it seemed like not that many people took fliers when we were tabling," said junior Suzy Lee, CAB co- publicity chair and a performer in the show.

Eight people partnered in four pairs to demonstrate Cane's research on kissing. Two pairs were friends and two pairs were dating.

Jessie Barford said she had teased boyfriend, Colby Abrahamoff, that she had been going to sign them up to make him mad, but then he had actually signed them up, and the joke was on her.

Friends Alex Holcombe and Ryan Soos said they had not signed up for the event but had a friend who had signed them up without asking.

The one-hour show included kisses such as the lip-o-suction, the neck kiss, the dentist fantasy kiss, the French kiss, the vacuum kiss and the ear kiss. During the kisses, Cane comically pretended to be the thoughts of what the girl or guy were thinking.

"I'm curious to see what it's like to make out with someone on a stage that is not in a lodge," Soos said before the show.

Alyssa Shema, member of CAB, said this had been the third time CAB hosted Cane in the past four years. CAB tried planning a different event last year but chose to do "The Art of Kissing" again because it was popular in the past.

"I think my favorite part of the show was the candy kiss," Lee said, "I found his description of it to be funny." During the candy kiss the students fought each other for a mint.

This version corrects the names of the participants in the photo gallery.

Contact reporters Eunice Brumskine and Madeline Small at eunice.brumskine@richmond.edu and madeline.small@richmond.edu.