(Photo courtesy of: The Today Show) “The Comedy Club is looking to bring confidence to new comedians.”
Nate Coady
Connector Staff
The Comedy Club is one of the newer clubs here at UMass Lowell. They’re a small group, but they’re doing what they love. While the club hasn’t completely taken off yet, they’ve already hosted three events at Fox Commons. Students might remember these stand-up comedy nights, which featured comedians from the New England area.
Co-President Chris Brady, a junior, looks back on the club’s creation, “I have to do something at this college. Something worthwhile, you know? And then I found out through my RA that this other guy, Sean… wanted to do the same thing, so I went for it,” he said. He is referring to senior Sean Delson, the other Co-President. Brady says he does most of the scheduling and booking. “Sean works his [butt] off,” he says.
Because of its recent creation, the club meets at irregular times, spontaneously. As Brady says, “We kind of all know each other pretty well… Sean will hit me up, I’ll spread the word around.” It’s nonchalant, but they like making each other laugh, so the current members make time for it. The club is planning to start holding regular meetings at the end of the week, but “not too late so that way people can still do their Thursday and Friday activities,” Brady says.
Right now when they meet, the club will discuss the success, as well as the shortcomings, of their past stand-up events. “Typically… we’ll talk about our last show… when something goes well, we’ll try and replicate it.” Of course, just like any club, they also have to learn from their mistakes. Especially during these early stages.
Brady says, “[o]ur second show… we oversold and underdelivered… I told my class to pull through to this and they just left. So that was kind of awkward.” It is important to note that as Brady reflects on this event, it is with humility and a sarcastic tone that definitely indicates he can see the irony.
“So from that, we learned: there’s an art form in simplicity. If you can get some comedians and they’re funny, and you… feel like a college audience would relate to them, That’s all you need. You don’t need any bells and whistles,” Brady says.
Regarding their next event, the club is searching for more student participation. Mike Onwukwe, the club’s secretary says, “[w]e’re even thinking about adding students… there’s a lot of funny kids on campus.”
Learning what jokes work and which don’t is a vital component of stand-up comedy, so the club welcomes anyone who is willing to get up on stage and try their hand at making people laugh. Brady says, “We’re trying to get student comedians. So what we really want right now is funny people from campus who are confident enough… [t]o get up on stage and low-key embarrass themselves for our entertainment.”
In addition to more stand-up comedy events, the club intends to hold a talent show in the future. Anyone interested in joining can email Christopher_Brady3@student.uml.edu or Michael_Onwukwe@student.uml.edu for more information. Brady provided some motivation for anyone who’s on the fence. He says, “What do you have to lose? Don’t be a weirdo. Get up on stage. I don’t care. Do it!”
