By SAMANTHA HIGGINS &
ASHLEY WEMMELL
STAFF WRITERs
[email protected]

On Tuesday April 21, eight University of New Haven students had the courage to get up on a small stage in the front of the Alumni Lounge and have their chance to be a stand-up comic.

There was a lot on the line; the room was packed with friends and other competitors, strangers and supporters of the opponents, but they were all there to impress the three judges with their ability to make the entire crowd laugh.

Each comic had a maximum of 15 minutes on stage and were being judged in four categories: originality, use of time, stage presence and overall performance. If they succeeded in impressing the judges they would win the chance to be the opening act for comedian Dave Coulier during Spring Weekend.

First to take the stage was recently elected 2015-2016 USGA President James Kielar. He got the crowd laughing pretty fast with his example of how much power a person holds when they have a microphone in their hand and ended his performance by using that power as a Public Service Announcement to have everyone who thinks they are a bad driver raise their hand so others could take note.

Winner Brian Read had the crowd laughing almost the full 15 minutes. He shared personal stories about his time pet sitting his uncle’s dog and nights he’s spent with his friends. He interacted with the audience and made no attempt to hide his “cheat sheet” of jokes he had to keep him on track. He was honest and his personality came through in his performance so the audience really connected with him as a student on the same level as they are.

Second place went to Antonio Bonano, who shared personal stories that were all so funny that the audience never stopped laughing. He shared his view on nursery rhymes and Humpty Dumpty in relation to his life experience as an ending joke that left the audience in stitches. He won a $50 Amazon gift card for his performance.

Other participants were highly energized: some were first timers on stage, others who participated in stand-up comedy for fun regularly. Students of all different years and majors took part. Each participant had the audience laughing about something. Jokes were made about school, dating, dorm life, history, childhood, friends, doctors’ offices, bathrooms and a lot of stories were shared.