By ELIZABETH LIU
Staff Writer
The College of Saint Rose Student Events Board, the Crate of Apes Comedy Club, and Identity Club presented a night of comedy on Thursday, March 14, with special guest comedians: Samuel Morrison and Ashley Gavin. The event itself took place in the auditorium of Saint Joseph Hall at The College of Saint Rose. The event had a turn out of fifty people. The show’s doors opened at 7 p.m and started officially at 7:30 p.m.
Gavin and Morrison are friends that work together and are currently performing at various colleges and venues across the country. Morrison is a current touring comedy artist that performs in various venues in New York City. Ashley Gavin, according to her website, has performed in several festivals, Hulu, Fox, and other media platforms. Both of their material have theme of life as a member of the LGBTQ community, but have material that everyone of any background can relate too.
Sophomore Music Education student, Asa Bastar is a frequent attendee of Saint Rose Student Event Board events.
“I decided to come out because I heard from my friend that the two comedians present were gay. I wanted to come out to support members of my community.”
Student Events Board Representative and current Saint Rose graduate student Kris Kirkpatrick was excited for the main event: guest stars Gavin and Morrison.
“The Saint Rose Students Events Board met both Gavin and Morrison at an event that we attended in Florida and that’s where we saw them,” Kirkpatrick said. “I thought they were amazing individuals and did amazing work, which is why we actually invited them to the College of Saint Rose.”
When guests first arrived, a Student Event Board representative had Saint Rose students sign in. After the students signed in, they were given one free raffle ticket. The raffle baskets included: a Lush basket with a value of $150, VIP Identity Drag Show tickets provided by Identity, and a Yogibo chair. The winners were announced at the end of the show.
The night started out with the Crate of Apes Comedy Club. Senior Communications Major and Events Coordinator on the Executive Board Mackenzie Wright opened the show by introducing the group.
“Hello, we are the Crate of Apes comedy club here on campus. We have two comedy games for you tonight, and we are very excited to be here!” said Wright.
The club performed comedy without a script and often requested for prompts from audience participation. The first game was more or less an unscripted debate, with the members role playing different roles other than themselves. The club took about fifteen-twenty minute set before guest comedian, Ashley Gavin took the stage.
Gavin dove right into her improvised content. What stood out about Gavin was that she had a variety of topics to discuss, but the main point of her show was what life is like as a lesbian in today’s world. She called out a few audience members, but made a joke out of it.
“Guys, you know that I have a script to follow, right?” Gavin said, causing the audience to laugh with her. She discussed her experience with past partner with whom she had a six year intimate relationship with, politics, online dating, and her personal life as a female lesbian. Gavin did have notes with her on stage to ensure that she met the time stamp that she was required to follow and for ideas.
Gavin made natural segways from talking about her personal experience and to bringing up Islamophobia, which she said, “wasn’t cool”.
Gavin wasn’t expecting to go over her set time set by the event organizers.
“Is it okay if I go over my time by like, a minute and a half?” Gavin asked the Student Events Board. The audience nodded in agreement.
“Morrison and I work together, so if I get extra time, so does he. Is that cool?” The Student Events Board agreed.
After a skit about lesbian parenting, Samuel Morrison was next to take the stage. His material was predominately about life as a closeted young gay male in high school and experiences coming out. Morrison’s format was more of storytelling than improvised skits. He often mentioned Seth Rogan and his life at home with his father, plus his experience as a man that wasn’t outwardly gay in a high school setting.
“I did it dad, I became a straight person!” Morrison shouted, when reflecting upon bringing a straight female to his household during his childhood, while kicking one foot into the air.
“Ashley Gavin and I were friends before we worked together,” Morrison said when asked about his background work in the comedy field. “I’ve performed at other colleges before as well.”
After the end of the show, the raffle winners were announced by the Student Events Board. The show ended at 8:30 p.m.
Contract artist with the Crate of Apes Comedy Club, and current University at Albany student Aaron Striano reflected on the turnout of the event. “This is a typical turnout for Crate of Apes Comedy club,” Striano said. “But it was definitely a fun collaboration!”
Events Coordinator for Crate of Apes Mackenzie Wright said, “There were definitely two different types of comedy tonight from what we as a club usually perform, but I personally really enjoyed the guest performers and thought that the night went really well!”
