Stand-up extravaganza comes to Higherground
Five students will take part in a national contest, starting at theAcme Comedy Club in Minneapolis
Nathan Knox
Issue date: 3/5/09 Section: Campus News
LOL!
A rap about being a white kid to the tune of "My Humps," and a rant on the game "Bop It" being a creation of the devil, did it. Stories about kids loving free T-shirts and showing up to church awkwardly late did it. And an anecdote on working at Eau Claire's lowest voter-ranked grocery store did it. All jokes, told by the students themselves, made their peers laugh out loud.
Last night at Higherground, RooftopComedy.com brought the National College Comedy Competition to the UW-Eau Claire campus. Students shared the stage with the Minneapolis up-and-comer comedian, Erik Allen, who emceed the event. The idea - create a March Madness of comedy where the students not only vote for a winner, but also compete.
Jennifer Corbett, the representative and planner of the competition, said this is the second year Rooftop has been to Eau Claire for the event and plans on returning in the future.
"It's a lot of fun going around seeing students do this, but I hear this campus is a 'do everything last minute' sort of campus, so we'll see how many people register," Corbett said the afternoon before the competition.
Even though chairs were scarce in Higherground, only five students were brave enough to test their comedic skills on the crowd.
After Allen kicked the night off, juniors Sam Pfeifer, Ben Smithart and David Buonauro, and freshmen Blaise Thompson and Jay Birkholz performed their routines for the crowd.
While Buonauro, Smithart, Pfeifer and Birkholz said they have had some experience in stand-up comedy, and with Smithart and Buonauro performing in last year's competition, Thompson said it was his first time performing. He added that his friend, Birkholz, only talked him into doing it the day before.
"I was scared out of my mind, but it was fun. It was definitely worth doing," Thompson said, "even though I was regretting signing up because I was sick to my stomach thinking about doing it. I only had 24 hours."
The five students now make up the team representing the Eau Claire campus. With the first series out of the way, the newly formed team is scheduled to move on to compete against its first rival, the University of Minnesota.
Eau Claire students can support their friends and classmates on March 30 at the Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis. After the show, attendees will vote for a winner who will then go on to the next round. If Eau Claire can make it to the Funniest Four, they'll win a trip to Aspen, Colo., to perform at the Rooftop Comedy Festival over the summer.
The five said they aren't ready for the next round in Minneapolis, but they're excited and encourage all Eau Claire students to make the drive to show support for their campus on March 30.
A rap about being a white kid to the tune of "My Humps," and a rant on the game "Bop It" being a creation of the devil, did it. Stories about kids loving free T-shirts and showing up to church awkwardly late did it. And an anecdote on working at Eau Claire's lowest voter-ranked grocery store did it. All jokes, told by the students themselves, made their peers laugh out loud.
Last night at Higherground, RooftopComedy.com brought the National College Comedy Competition to the UW-Eau Claire campus. Students shared the stage with the Minneapolis up-and-comer comedian, Erik Allen, who emceed the event. The idea - create a March Madness of comedy where the students not only vote for a winner, but also compete.
Jennifer Corbett, the representative and planner of the competition, said this is the second year Rooftop has been to Eau Claire for the event and plans on returning in the future.
"It's a lot of fun going around seeing students do this, but I hear this campus is a 'do everything last minute' sort of campus, so we'll see how many people register," Corbett said the afternoon before the competition.
Even though chairs were scarce in Higherground, only five students were brave enough to test their comedic skills on the crowd.
After Allen kicked the night off, juniors Sam Pfeifer, Ben Smithart and David Buonauro, and freshmen Blaise Thompson and Jay Birkholz performed their routines for the crowd.
While Buonauro, Smithart, Pfeifer and Birkholz said they have had some experience in stand-up comedy, and with Smithart and Buonauro performing in last year's competition, Thompson said it was his first time performing. He added that his friend, Birkholz, only talked him into doing it the day before.
"I was scared out of my mind, but it was fun. It was definitely worth doing," Thompson said, "even though I was regretting signing up because I was sick to my stomach thinking about doing it. I only had 24 hours."
The five students now make up the team representing the Eau Claire campus. With the first series out of the way, the newly formed team is scheduled to move on to compete against its first rival, the University of Minnesota.
Eau Claire students can support their friends and classmates on March 30 at the Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis. After the show, attendees will vote for a winner who will then go on to the next round. If Eau Claire can make it to the Funniest Four, they'll win a trip to Aspen, Colo., to perform at the Rooftop Comedy Festival over the summer.
The five said they aren't ready for the next round in Minneapolis, but they're excited and encourage all Eau Claire students to make the drive to show support for their campus on March 30.
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