FIRST REVIEW OF CH: LIVE

Welcome Week In Review
Young Comedians Bring In The Laughs
Photo Editor Grace Kendall

The College Humor Live Tour made its first stop at George Mason University on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Hosted by comedian Dan Levy, it was an evening of stand-up comedy and shameless trivia sponsored by Puma and collegehumor.com.

Approximately 400 students attended the show, according to Levy’s tour blog, and many stayed after to purchase CDs and chat with the performers after what had been a night filled with laughter.

Host Levy had a laidback persona and a quick mind that allowed him to throw out lines in casual conversation like, “I bring sexy back every time I walk through the door.” He jokingly described himself before the show as a triple threat – good looking, funny, and skilled at walking – and earned some of the biggest laughs of the night with his casually delivered but sharp-witted commentary.

Nikki Glaser, Dan Boulger, and Na’im Lynn also shared the stage during the night. Since the comedians were all in their twenties, they really knew how to connect with the audience; they breezily cracked jokes about skipping classes, dealing with freshmen hygiene and long distance relationships. These jokes were particularly well-received as the audience was comprised mostly of freshmen trying to settle into the college experience.

The comedians all had very different performance styles, but the variety kept the show interesting. Dan Boulger’s performance was low energy, but his nearly monotone voice won the crowd over as it delivered a series of clever one-liners. Nikki Glaser of Last Comic Standing fame wandered across the stage like a teenager, chatting with the audience about her drunk-dialing mother and making fun of poorly worded anti-abortion advertisements. Na’im Lynn rounded out the group, stepping into familiar territory with his jokes on relationships, particularly about how hard it is for guys to give gifts to their girlfriends and the woes of Valentine’s Day.

In addition to their usual bits, the comedians had challenged each other backstage to create new jokes to use in the show. While Boulger’s joke on Tofurkey and Levy’s crack on the jam band Phish didn’t go over too well, Glaser scored a fair amount of laughs with her commentary on David Beckham’s feminine nature.

The evening kept rolling with a ‘shameful trivia’ game that got the crowd involved, inviting a handful of students onstage to answer ridiculous pop culture questions on topics like the old TV show Saved By the Bell and the popular game Snood. While the students onstage weren’t familiar with the topics, members of the audience screamed out the answers and helped them win bags and jackets from Puma.

The show was a hit with students! It kept alive the Welcome Week comedy night tradition, and it was a great kickoff for the College Humor tour.