Laughter escapes Eastern’s ‘dungeon’
Comedian John Mulaney entertained the crowd in the 7th Street Underground of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Friday by telling jokes students could relate to, and switching from scripted jokes to improv jokes.
“I liked him a lot, and he was interactive with the crowd,” said Chelsie Young, sophomore psychology major.
Before Mulaney took the stage, Joe Munde, a comedian traveling with Mulaney, opened for him.
“Not all the crowds are as welcoming as at this school, some even stay silent when they don’t agree with the issues we approach,” Munde said.
He was talking about issues such as homosexuality, and his Jewish heritage, which the audience seemed to enjoy.
Mulaney’s jokes were something students could relate to.
He joked about his educational career in high school and as an English major in college -making fun of the students in the audience who have the “useless” major.
Drug abuse, and social networking websites such as Facebook.com were among the topics.
Old Main was a part of Mulaney’s interactive performance, where he asked the students if they “ever got so high they thought they were the king” of the castle.
As a part of his improvised bit, Mulaney skimmed through The Daily Eastern News and compared Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s haircut to a 7-year-old’s haircut.
“He was really, really funny,” said Lenze Davis, sophomore premed major. “The material he spoke about was great.”
The comedian complimented the school for having 7th Street Underground is a great location for comedians.
“The ceiling is very low, and the atmosphere is great,” Mulaney said.
But when the comedian got wind of Bill Nye The Science Guy coming to Eastern, and that he would be performing in the Grand Ballroom of the union, Mulaney responded that he was worth only so much to be put in the “medieval dungeon.”
Mulaney is currently on a tour and has visited seven other schools previous to Eastern Illinois University.
“Out of all the schools we’ve visited, this was the most awesome show we’ve done,” Mulaney said.
Eun-yong Park can be reached at 581-7942 or at epark@eiu.edu.
Laughter escapes Eastern’s ‘dungeon’
Comedian John Mulaney performed Friday night at 7th Street Underground in the basement of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Mulaney was on “Best Week ever” on VH1. (Karla Browning
