Nicole Byer, Alice Wetterlund and Kevin Barnett walked into Alumni Hall…and it was amazing. In case you live under a rock and haven’t heard, thanks to Penn State SPA, these comedians brought their stand-up to the HUB last night. Each of them performed his or her LOL-worthy set, and then they came together for a one-of-a-kind Q&A session. I’ll give you a hint: If you weren’t there, you missed out.
Nicole set the tone for the evening with her personal cracks at herself, as always, complaints about Pennsylvania and by putting unsuspecting students on the spot in a way that only she can. This made for some laugh-worthy improvisation with the audience and it was as funny as you are thinking right now. She was definitely blunt and real, in the best way, to say the least.
Next to the stage was Alice and, yes, she is just as witty and humorous as any Girl Code fan would expect. She brought an even more personal touch to her purrfect performance through her feminist views, love of cats, and fear of our campus and the amount of people here. But really, what more could you want?
The headliner, Kevin Barnett, took personal to a whole new level. He began his set with a rant about our beloved College Diner’s macaroni and cheese, which is apparently terrible, but the chicken fingers were okay, and he seems to regret not getting their famous stickies, of course. From there, he made some “lifelong” friends in the audience and expressed his love for video games and sandwiches. His set had a slightly more serious overall tone with topics like racism and homophobia in today’s society, but his jokes about how silly it all is were hilarious and true.
What do you get when you put three hysterical comics together for a Q&A session? The best question and answer session ever, duh! There were some pretty off-the-wall questions asked by students and some equally entertaining answers thrown right back. One of the best moments, however, was when a student asked, “When would you say was the best moment in your career so far?” Nicole’s moment involved none other than the fabulous Tina Fey. When she was working on the set of 30 Rock Tina Fey laughed really hard at her improvising on set. I think that would make my life, too! Alice once kicked someone out of the audience during her set, and he actually cried. She still feels pretty proud of that moment and she totally should because that’s awesome. Kevin, like Nicole, cherishes a moment with someone he admires. He was opening for Dave Chapelle and Chapelle commented on how funny his set was then, of course, blew him away. If you’re anything like me, you love moments like these. Hearing stories of inspiration, admiration and success are the best.
The moral of this article is if you ever have the chance to see Girl Code or Guy Code cast members live – GO! They are some of the most down-to-earth people and, to me, that’s where the true talent is.