On Friday night, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) brought comedian Monroe Martin to campus to put on a stand-up show in The Barn. Martin is a comedian based out of New York City and has appeared on

Last Comic Standing

. He came up to campus with his friend and opener Reggie Conquest, who works for Fuse TV and has written for

Impractical Jokers

. CAB brings notable comedians to campus all the time, as recent acts have included SNL cast-member Pete Davidson last February and alumna Caroline Kriedberg ’17.

After the show, I talked with Deirdre Schutzman ’20, the CAB Comedy Coordinator. “I thought they put on a great, energetic show. They were professional and warm,” Schutzman said of the comedians. Schutzman found Martin the way the Comedy Coordinator usually finds comedians — by watching tapes of their routines and emailing agents. Martin was a dynamic and approachable performer. Martin brought Conquest as his opener, and the two worked together incredibly

well. During their individual performances, they would even incorporate each other in the set and talk to the other off stage. This energy continued through to the end of the show, when they took to the stage together to talk about their first dates.

Schutzman organized the event, turning the Barn into an ambient comedy venue. Conquest began the show in a buoyant mood and got huge laughs from the audience. He used anecdotes from jobs that he has had (and lost) in the past and joked a lot about the difference in experience between himself and the student audience. He, as well as Martin, used the audience a lot in their acts. The crowd loved it, shouting out responses about Hamilton, and getting heckled from the stage. This type of engagement is a benefit of an intimate venue like the Barn.

When Martin took the stage, the crowd was warmed up and ready to laugh. I really appreciated both of their performances because they were so casual and seemed unscripted. They had material prepared, but they were willing to improvise and deviate from the plan to incorporate humor into what was going on around us.

Throughout the performance, people would sneak into the upstairs balcony in the Barn, and each time they would say “Oh, hello new person!” and ask how they were doing. At one point, someone came stomping down the stairs on their way to the Farm Party in the Annex, and Monroe called out a random person as being the mystery stomper. The person, who also seemed to be on their way to the Annex, joined in on the bit and dramatically tip toed out.

Overall it was an awesome set, with great performances by both Conquest and Martin.