The Aztec Union Student Board hosted its first stand up Comedy Night of the year on Oct. 16 in the student union.
Comedian Hannah Einbinder from Los Angeles started off the night by poking fun at San Diego State’s Greek life culture and what the “coolest” fraternity on campus may be. It was noticeably a little difficult to work the crowd in an outside setting, but Einbinder gave the audience some laughs with her amusing personality.
Theatre freshman Ann-Marie Thorton agreed that next time, the show should be held indoors, but she was still impressed with the comedy acts.
“It was really good,” Thorton said. “I think audience energy was low, and that it really affected the show, but I think that they are actually really talented comedians.”
Thorton especially loved Einbinder’s personality and believed her show would work better with a more energetic audience.
The second act following Einbender was Simon Gibson, another Los Angeles-based comedian. Gibson was loud and lively, quickly instructing that people not get up and leave his show just to get the free pizza, or his career will actually be over.
Once the pizza arrived, he stood in line and did some crowd work interviewing the line of students who were waiting to eat.
Gibson interacted heavily with the crowd and did impressions of Sinatra singing the “Mission Impossible” theme song as well as those for “Jurassic Park” and “Star Wars.” He finished off his show promoting his Instagram handle and promising a follow back and a story shoutout (within the next four years).
Gibson loves the spotlight and talked about how it is one of his favorite parts about being a stand up comedian.
“I think being the complete center of attention is appealing,” Gibson said. “I’m an actor as well, and I like that for the opposite reason because you’re a part of a team.”
For anyone looking to join the comedy world, Gibson recommends writing every idea down on a piece of paper before it is forgotten. He also emphasized practicing everyday to be able to talk and connect with audiences better, such as going to open mics.
Math sophomore Amanda Chavez thought Gibson’s pizza spiel was funny because every college student loves anything that is free. Chavez enjoys comedy and thought the show was pretty entertaining for her and her friends.
“I think comedy is really uplifting and it is a good escape during midterm season right now, so it’s a good time to have this event too,” Chavez said.
SDSU’s very own improv team, Iota Eta Pi, took the stage after Gibson and performed a speed dating skit to finish off the last half of the night. The team also garnered lots of laughs from the crowd.
Although audience energy was lacking at times, stand up Comedy Night was a great distraction from the stress of midterms and free pizza is one thing that nobody can complain about.
