By Stephanie Eng, News Correspondent
In an unexpected surprise opening of the annual Homecoming comedian show, Sarah Silverman made an announcement that she would perform, but that Nick Swardson, the other headliner of the evening, was violently sick at his hotel. The show went on, but with a few new talents.
As part of Homecoming 2012, the Student Alumni Association (SAA) and Council for University Programing (CUP) honored tradition by sponsoring this year’s comedy show Oct. 11 in Matthews Arena.
The show featured a Northeastern student, James Huessy of WRBB Radio, Juston McKinney of Comedy Central, and Sarah Silverman, who Rolling Stone described as “the most outrageously funny woman alive.”
While the audience was initially disappointed not to see the quadruaple threat comedian, actor, writer and producer Swardson, CUP and SAA announced that tickets from the night’s show will be good for when Swardson returns for a later show.
Huessy took the stage in his hipster glasses and skinny jeans. He began with classic regional humor about the differences between Vermont and Boston (“Here there are girls. In Vermont, there are none”), and continued to cover topics such as those eccentric French Canadians, practical jokes, the middle school D.A.R.E. program and his expectations of high school as a place with free drugs and a “weed wizard.”
His bouncy, wiry energy and self-professed awkwardness were endearing.
“A lot of it was ‘I’m socially awkward,’ but we’re all socially awkward,” James Griffin, a fourth year international affairs major said. “I wish he did more Northeastern jokes, because there was a lot of opportunity there.”
Those who appreciated Huessy’s wry performance can listen for his show on WRBB Thursdays from 4 to 5 p.m.
The man of the night Juston McKinney saved the show by filling in for Nick Swardson on extremely short notice. He had the look of a seasoned stand-up comic, with the classic uniform of a zip-up hoodie, t-shirt and jeans.
“Juston McKinney was great. I love local New England people, especially performers, because there’s always this touch of familiarity. I had seen some of his stuff on Comedy Central and liked it, so I was excited to see that he was the replacement for Nick Swardson,” Griffin said.
McKinney also poked fun at strange name spellings like his own ‘Juston’ for ‘Justin.’ He touched on the subject of the disparity between generations caused by technology, particularly by the iPhone. Mistaking ‘lol’ for ‘lots of love,” he talks about sending his ‘lols’ inappropriately: “Sorry to hear about your dad, lol.” In a sea of alcoholic-dad quips, questioning of Obama’s birthplace and hypothetical murderer/rapist hookups, one joke in particular stood out. “There’s no STD like a K-I-D,” McKinney stated in an unexpected moment of light-hearted perspicacity.
In contrast to McKinney’s gruff exterior, Sarah Silverman’s double ponytails and jean shorts provided a ruse of innocence. However, almost every other word that came out of her mouth was controversial.
“Personally I thought she just said really shocking things that weren’t necessarily funny. I’d love to hang out with her because she’s quirky and weird, but I didn’t really like her as a stand-up comedian,” freshman Mila Deych said.
A few addressed issues were vaginal deodorant, the miracle of life, “petting” Obama, messing with little kids, reasons for being a Democrat and the importance of rescuing “human puppies,” (her term for orphans waiting to be adopted).
Well known for film, television, stand-up and online videos, Silverman is an Emmy winner who has been on Comedy Central and “Saturday Night Live.” Her dramatic voice-lowering, syncopated comedic timing and animated facial expressions had the audience gasping for breath. She made a lot of jokes about her inherited religion, stating that she was “Jewish, like a human sneeze.” Silverman often stopped in the middle of her jokes to talk to herself and say, “You’re right Sarah, that’s a good point.”
Silverman said her chipper attitude helped her as she was undaunted by hecklers.
“The kid next to my friends and me was the night’s sole heckler,” Griffin said. “And he just yelled, ‘I love Sarah Silverman’ loudly. She said it was the first heckle of the night and that the audience was really sweet and nice if the first heckle was a positive one.”
Even when she said dirty words on purpose to get the sign language translator to sign them, her questionable boundaries were offset by her cute personality.
“She says really bad stuff but does it in an approachable way, so you know she’s not serious. You never know what to expect when she’s telling a joke,” said Julia Boudreau, a freshman psychology major. “Her bit with the ASL translator was really funny because it was a complete surprise to the audience and she managed to bring the humor without being cruel or mean about it.”
