Introducing Our Own Comedian: Jose Cagigal

Name: Jose Cagigal
Year: 4^th year
Major: Arts and Humanities (with a focus on Film and Drama)
Favorite Comedian: Jim Carrey
 
Drama and the theatre might be just a form of art to some, but to Jose Cagigal, it’s a way of life.  Jose, now a fourth year student here at UCI, is one of the few people majoring in Arts and Humanities on campus. With a focus in Film and Drama, he is planning on pursuing a path in the entertainment industry, ideally as a comedian.  Throughout his four years, he has starred in various drama productions and workshops and has even joined the Live Nude People, a comedy troupe at UCI.

Jose wasn’t initially on the path that he is on now. He entered UCI with a different mindset and through his experiences during his first two years of college, he found that he wanted to pursue a career in comedy and changed his path accordingly.  Warned by many that it’s hard to succeed in his chosen industry, Jose justifies his decision by saying that there’s  “always that uncertainty that you won’t make any money with a Drama major, but then you see that a degree is just a paper.”

Upon entering college, Jose started attending performances by the Live Nude People, which has been around at UCI for around ten years. Live Nude People is a comedy troupe that offers free shows every other Friday. It’s functions similarly to the show “Whose Line is it Anyway” in the sense that it is improv. In all of the Live Nude People performances, three teams compete with each other and engage in comedic games. At the end, the audience chooses the winning team. Every year, they dedicate their performance to making fun of all of the drama productions that have been produced in the previous school year.    
 
From then on, Jose knew that he wanted to join the improv group. He knew that this was meant for him. So, he auditioned, and the third time was a charm. Cagigal, who now serves as the captain of the Live Nude People, admitted that making it on to the team was his proudest moment “because when I came to school it was the first cool thing I saw.”

Aside from the Live Nude People, Jose has been apart of a few drama productions as well as workshops, which are run by students. Jose was recently part of the cast of “The Crucible,” in which he played Herrick. When asked about the feeling he experiences being on stage, Cagigal said, “It’s the best; it’s exhilarating in a way that you don’t find in regular life! You get to experience a wider range of emotions than you do on a day-to-day basis.” He describes acting as “freedom” and an “adrenaline rush” and compares his favorite moment (right before you set foot on the stage) to being on “a diving board right before you jump in the pool.”

After college, Cagigal plans to work his way from the bottom and “keep auditioning” for comedy troupes in LA. To get a taste of the comedic genius of Cagigal and his troupe, be on the lookout for their upcoming performances, and become a fan on facebook!