NEW HAVEN–Joker’s Wild, a local downtown New Haven comedy club was host to a group of recently transferred students as well as incoming freshman from the University of New Haven on Saturday, Jan. 24. Joker’s was featuring two comics Saturday: Darren Rivell, a Connecticut local and winner of the state’s own Last Comic Standing competitions and headliner Jeff Norris, a long-time comedian, television and film actor. Jeff Norris has had roles in Saturday Night Live, Law and Order and My Super Ex-Girlfriend. He is also a regular guest on the popular morning radio show, Opie and Anthony.
The club, a small, intimate establishment, has been in business for ten years and had its share of famous acts perform on its stage such as Lisa Lampanelli, Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence. The setup is that of a restaurant and offers appetizers as well as drinks from medium to high prices. Appetizers range from Fried Calamari, Coconut Shrimp and their own “Blues Brothers Lump Meat Crab Cakes Supreme” to regular buffalo wings, potato skins and quesadillas.
New UNH students were bussed to the club in an effort to get them to socialize with other new students. Bradley Parcella, a 21-year-old Business Administration major from Hamden, Conn. was a supervising Orientation Leader for the outing. “This is a great program because it gives kids something to do,” he stated.
New and transfer students moved onto campus on Thursday, Jan. 22, giving them an orientation period before other students returned for classes.
“Orientation is different in the summer and has more people involved so we make sure that these new spring semester students get the opportunity to meet other newcomers to UNH,” said Parcella.
Not only transfer and new incoming freshman attended the show at Joker’s Wild. The students who had taken advantage of the university’s freshman semester abroad program had spent their first semester at Roehampton University in London, England. Both Sarah Haupt, a UNH freshman and Criminal Justice major from Bristol, Conn., and Alyssa Rolerson, a Business Management major and also a freshman, attended their first semester in England and just moved onto the UNH campus for the first time.
“The classes [at Roehampton University] are a lot different,” said Haupt. “It was really informal, no homework and no tests.”
Both Rolerson and Haupt commented that they were glad that they went to the show and enjoyed it very much.
“We wanted to meet new people; we have been on campus since Thursday and been in a practically empty dorm,” said Haupt.
Joker’s Wild is located at 232 Wooster Street in downtown New Haven and has several acts in the coming weeks including: David Martin on Jan. 29, Dave Reilly on Jan. 30, Charlie Murphy on Jan. 31, Walt Willey on Feb. 21, and “Open Mic Night” every Wednesday night.
