Comedy Tour Proves ‘We Can Make You Laugh’
Cal students tried to keep a straight face while comedians did their best to make them laugh.
By Chris Orient - For the Cal Times
On September 16, the “We Can Make You Laugh” Comedy Tour held a performance in the Natali Student Center. It was one of the many activities sponsored by SAB. It drew a number of students and had them laughing for the entire two hour event.
“We Can Make You Laugh” Comedy Tour is almost exclusively a college show. It spent most of last year touring 37 states, performing to countless students and young people.
The current line-up of comedians consists of Jimmy Meritt, Joe Anderson, and Ryan Seal. Each performer puts their own spin on the show and the offer of three comics means that there is something for everyone. The main feature of this tour is where a contestant’s ability to keep a straight face is truly tested.
In the style of a game show, audience members are selected from the audience via a raffle drawing. The selected contestant comes on stage and must survive two minutes of various comedic styling’s without laughing. If they weather the storm, they are awarded $25 cash as well as a “Make Me Laugh” t-shirt.
Jimmy Meritt was first up and brought his unique outlook on relatable subjects to get the crowd going. His energetic style was a good start to the show and an excellent introduction to the tour for those who may have never seen it before.
Joe Anderson followed and serenaded the audience with his guitar and a few hilarious songs. He also gave the audience his own musings on life, as well as his various impersonations.
After the two featured acts and a few other comedy routines, the show got to the main act: “We Can Make You Laugh” Game Show.
The idea is to sit through two minutes of comedy by one of the performers without laughing. If the contestant survives, he or she wins the cash. There are three judges who have buzzers to click if the contestant laughs. Each comedian too turns trying to make various audience members crack a smile as well as combining their talents to try and raise a laugh. One by one, students went up and came away a few dollars richer.
There were a number of skits including; an E.T. impression, Star Wars impressions, and Led Zeppelin acappella group. Anderson also sang an R/B styled song to one contestant and Merritt tried to get a laugh by having “story time” with another. Seal generated the biggest laugh from the crowd with his impression of E.T., however the contestant didn’t waiver at all.
“We Can Make You Laugh” Comedy Tour is not your typical show. It has different parts and different comedic styles that will tickle anyone’s funny bone. Even though the performers left with their pockets a little lighter, everyone walked away with a smile on their face.