By VANESSA LANGDON
Staff Writer
And
KATIE KLIMACEK
Opinion Editor
—
On Wednesday, Oct. 8, Saint Joseph Hall was overflowing with students waiting to see Jessimae Peluso, of MTV’s Girl Code fame, and her opener comedian Andrew Williams.
At 8 p.m. the doors of the auditorium opened, and once everyone had been seated, SEB member Carly Weller stepped out to introduce Williams.
The comedians each had an hour-long set, and then stayed to take photos with any students hoping to meet them. There was quite a turnout for the event, so much so that Saint Joe’s reached fire code capacity.
“It was crazy, there were a ton of people. Everyone wanted to come,” said sophomore Rebecca Moyer, SEB’s musical entertainment chair. Maria Hartz, the trips chair for SEB, was similarly excited. “It was awesome. I have never seen so many people come out for a comedian.”
Williams, a Massachusettsbased comedian, has been opening for Peluso on the East coast for a year.
“I was booked with her in a club and we became friends,” he said.
Williams has been performing stand-up comedy for four years, with his journey beginning at an open mic night through a small comedy club. Williams called that first experience amazing.
“It went really well. I felt confident right from the beginning.”
Williams is an openly gay man and his material reflects that. At one point he joked, “You can also tell from my accent that I’m a raging homosexual.”
Williams gets prepared for a show by listening to hip-hop artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Nicki Minaj. “It has to be hard core rap,” he said.
His love of artists like Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. came out in his set. Williams said he considered being a rapper, one of his potential names was ‘Gay-Z’-“it would really work because I have 99 problems and literally a bitch ain’t one.”
Once Williams finished his set- the subject matter of which ranged from coupons to dating- it was time for the headliner to take the stage. When Peluso came out, she brought a handful of hangers and plastic spoons to hand out to audience.
“I was told never come to a party empty handed,” she exclaimed to a great deal of laughter.
During her set she touched on topics such as sex, being a girl, growing up and dating. In between her jokes she would interact with the audience, talking to them and commenting on their reactions.
“In stand-up, you can be more vulnerable about personal stuff, and for longer,” said Peluso on the nature of her set.
Peluso’s mother, Nancy Juliano, attended the event. She lives in Syracuse and has been to many of her daughter’s shows. She said she loves seeing her daughter on stage, doing what she loves.
Juliano recently attended her daughter’s shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago, but this was her first time seeing Peluso do a college show.
“Her material is different at a comedy club, [she’s] rowdier there,” Juliano remarked.
Juliano is supportive of her daughter but said she cringed a little bit at certain jokes. “I like the material. That’s who she is,” she conceded.
Peluso was a funny as a child. According to her mother, “[Jessimae was] always doing goofy things to make people laugh.”
Peluso has an arguably raw comedic style, making fun of her hometown of Syracuse, New York, her acne as a teen, and being a child of divorced parents.
“I enjoyed it; I like how real she is. After a stressful semester it’s nice to sit down and have a good laugh,” said Alyssa Palmer, a sophomore at Saint Rose.
Peluso ended the evening saying, “If anyone has a dream, do it! Don’t let money be your end goal.”
While Williams’ favorite type of shows are tiny rooms where he can experiemnt and try out new material, he was impressed with the Saint Rose crowd.
“I thought you guys were amazing; very open minded, very diverse. The energy was good, one of the best shows I’ve had in a while. The energy in this room was amazing.”
Freshmen Kevin Wood said he thoroughly enjoyed the show, and is now interested in joining SEB.
“I thought it was amazing; Saint Rose pulled it off really well. It was my first event and definitely won’t be my last.”
