Comedic Quartet Lifts Spirits

By CLAIRE COPPS

“What a fantastic array of white people are here…Happy first day of Black History Month!”

Such was the welcome Comedian Baron Vaughn gave in Great Hall February 1.

As the kickoff to the Spring Comedy Series, Baron Vaughn, along with three other acts, entertained the crowd for the evening.

Starting off the show was Watt Smith, a comedian in the Amateur Comedy Series hosted by Giant Productions. Following him were two comedians traveling with Baron Vaughn, Alessandro Minoli and Meg Cupernall.

Baron and Meg are old friends and Alessandro was met randomly at open mics and on the street. This was their first venue together.
Starting the show talking about everyday topics, Smith turned to the ever popular subject of gasoline.

When describing the meter plummeting to empty, he said “It’s like the car is filled up on Red Bull and has a false sense of energy. You asked what happened last night and it’s like ‘I don’t know I was on the F.’”

Alessandro Minoli, a native Italian, mentioned the popular game Sudoku. In his opinion, “it should have a label that says Warning: your time on this planet is limited.”

Describing her Thanksgiving dinner this year, Meg Cupernall explained she had a Turducken, which is a duck inside a chicken inside a turkey. Or, “A sign of the Apocalypse…an aeronautical tri-special beast! Walmart shoppers rejoice!”

After three opening acts, Baron Vaughn took the stage. Covering topics from Lionel Richie songs, to getting old, to cereal, he made the crowd roar with laughter.

He even danced and had a crowd sing-a-long. It all went along with his most used phrase of the evening “Let’s get a little weirder.”

Baron described the problems with many things, such as the saying “Have a safe flight.” His response: “I…don’t really have control over that. I’ll try not to die.”

Vaughn then briefly discussed his favorite things.

“I really like Googling hate groups. Especially this month. My favorite part of the KKK website, besides the poetry, is the membership page where it says ‘not an equal opportunity group.’ Who doesn’t know that?! Who is the black guy that keeps showing up for the party?”

On the topic of cell phones, Vaughn had lots to say. “I love how it’s normal to get the number of someone you never intend to call” he said, “How many numbers do you have in your phone? Four, five hundred? And you probably call four or five?”

After everyone in the crowd exploded with applause, he said “It’s like you’re saying ‘this is how many people have seen my face.’”

A little further into the show, Baron continued about problems with cell phones.

He explained the frequent problem of leaving your phone at home or forgetting to charge it.

“You come home to eighty voicemails from one person, like an emotional theater. It’s like I rented the DVD for the series ‘Crazy’ and watched the whole thing.”

His one liners were also a huge hit. “Ever had a day so bad you think man… I really should’ve sent those chain letters.”

Vaughn, a former theater major at Boston University, said his career started by “entertaining my lunch table in high school. Honestly.”

After writing jokes all his life and getting trained in stage performance, Vaughn said that standup was the perfect job for him.
Cupernall, Minoli, and Vaughn all had advice for anyone that wants to get into the area of comedy. Cupernall simply said “Watch a lot of comedy. Learn.”

Minoli said “Do things that bring you the most pleasure, not other people.”

Vaughn thought for several moments, then said “Be personal, be vulnerable…. And think a lot about the difference between a sense of humor and a sense of funny.

A sense of funny is what makes other people laugh.” March 27 and April 3 are the dates of the next two shows scheduled. Be on the look out for posters.