From Harry Potter spoofs and Monty Python adaptations to actors in red clown noses, Penn State's version of the international day of humor entertained a crowd yesterday in the Forum.

Red Nose Day is an event organized by The Three Broomsticks, Penn State's Harry Potter club. The "semi-holiday" is celebrated every two years, predominantly in the United Kingdom by Comic Relief U.K., a group promoting awareness of world poverty.

All proceeds raised from the event went to Comic Relief U.K., specifically supporting poverty in Africa.

The author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, is a strong advocate of Comic Relief U.K., actively voicing her support through charity work for the organization. Rowling's support is part of the reason The Three Broomsticks takes such interest in hosting Red Nose Day. This was the second annual Red Nose Day at Penn State.

The group teamed up with the Monty Python Society, the Society for Creative Anachronism and Penn State's Belly Dancing Troupe Parlak Kizlar, or "Sparkling Girls," to plan the event.

The groups collectively performed dozens of original skits that varied from "Hogwarts 300" to a spoof on Nittany Notes where a girl demanded the notes to a course entitled "Intro to Autoerotic Asphyxiation." The Society for Creative Anachronism even had a full-armored fight that left the crowd cheering.

"I loved how they had the ability to mock Harry Potter," Matt Stein (sophomore-mathematics) said. "I can't even begin to go into all the innuendo they had going on."

The girls of Parlak Kizlar were a hit as well, getting audience members up on stage to learn how to belly dance.

The show concluded with a Harry Potter date auction where book characters Cho Chang, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter were auctioned to an enthusiastic crowd.

The highest bidder won a date with the character for dinner at the Allen Street Grill, 100. W. College Ave. Bidding was high and competitive, Harry Potter himself going for $55 dollars.

"The show was as much of a success as we'd hoped for," said The Three Broomsticks President Megan Depew (senior-English).

Depew was auctioned off as Hermione Granger.

The club members said they didn't even anticipate to auction off the character Dumbledore, but crowd enthusiasm prompted the idea.