Comedian Jeffrey Jay will be performing a comedy routine at 7 p.m. Friday at the 7th Street Underground.

The show will be free and open to the public.

As a transgender comedian, Jay will use comedy to tell his story of transition.

Lauren King, the University Board Spotlight Coordinator, said she is looking forward to seeing and hosting Jay’s show.

“I think it’s a really good idea to have somebody of the LGBT community come,” King said. “It brings more of a liberalness. It shows that we’re progressing as a culture in general just being able to support someone who’s different, who’s transgender. I think that’s going to be fun.”

Following Jay’s performance will be a 30-minute question & answer in which attendees will be given the opportunity to ask Jay questions about his life and transition.

Tess McArthy, the University Board Human Potential Coordinator, said she thinks the Q&A will be really interesting.

“Students don’t have to be afraid to ask the question that’s really boggling their mind about going through transitions,” McArthy said. “It’s not just for students who may think about going through a transition later in life. It could also be really informative to people who are just curious, and feed those curiosities a little bit.”

As well as doing comedy acts and skits, Jay travels to different schools and colleges to offer education about transgender issues and ally training.

McArthy said the University Board has been looking at bringing Jeffrey Jay to campus since last semester.

“We just think that Jeffrey Jay is going to be someone that students can learn a lot from,” McArthy said. “Also, he’s a very funny guy, so it’s not going to be boring or anything. It’s fun learning.”

As for attendance, McArthy said she thinks the show could see a larger attendance than some previous similar events.

“We are bringing in a different demographic that we don’t normally bring in for our comedy events,” McArthy said. “You get the demographics of kids who come to our comedy events all the time, and you get the demographic of kids who are interested in learning more about transgender experiences and pride in general.”

King said attendees can expect a lot of laughs and jokes from the first half of the performance, while the second half will be more intimate and informative.

“He does a set about how he lost his virginity and things like that,” King said. “Then they can also expect a real sit-down, intimate group moment where he explains what he had to go through, like his parents and how they took it, and how he navigates through society being transgender.”

Mercury Bowen can be reached at 581-2812 or mjbowen@eiu.edu.