April 20, 2005

Comedian’s unusual humor appeals to students

Grace Northern
Contributing Writer

Comedian Dane Cook performed Thursday at the Cintas Center. Cook, along with three opening act comedians, Jay Davis, Gary Gulman and Robert Kelly, performed at Xavier as part of their nationwide tour, “Tourgasm.”

Approximately 2,025 tickets were sold.

About 1,000 of the tickets were sold to the general public and the other 1,025 tickets were purchased by Xavier students.

Cook’s performance was sponsored and organized by the Student Activities Council Special Events Committee.

“The show went really well. It was nice to see a different, large -scale event appeal to the Xavier students other than a concert. Overall, I think it was greatly accepted by the Xavier students,” said Student Activities Council member, freshman Kailin Borton.

Cook has a 14-year career in stand-up comedy and has earned recognition from sources such as Rolling Stone Magazine, who named Cook their “Hot Comic.”

He has a released CD/DVD album and is currently working to release another DVD.

For Thursday’s performance, film crews were present at the Cintas Center, shooting what could be possible material for his new DVD.

“Xavier, specifically the staff and crew of the Cintas Center, made a great effort to increase the quality of the show in areas such as light and sound. This effort strengthens the chance for Xavier to appear in Dane Cook’s DVD,” said Junior Student Activities Council Member and Special Events Committee Chair, Collin Brum.

Although Cook was the headliner of the evening, the three opening comedians all had impressive standup performances.

Each comedian is working the stand-up circuit and Gulman is most popularly known for his appearance on the NBC television show, “Last Comic Standing.”
“The opening comedians were a nice addition to the show. It’s always nice when you can expose students to the headliner as well as some up-and-coming performers. It’s a nice package deal,” said Brum.

All of the comedians’ joke materials were quite explicit and had adult humor behind many of the punch lines.

Aware of the type of jokes to expect, the Student Activities Council had to seek approval of the talent prior to the show in order to bring Cook to campus.
“Before the Student Activities Council can bring any talent to campus Luther Smith, Assistant Vice President of Student life, has to sample and approve the material,” said Brum.

Besides seeking administrative approval, the Student Activities Council also took measures prior to the show, warning ticket holders of the type of jokes and language that would be expected during the comedian’s performance.

“We took a lot of precautions regarding the content of the show. We wanted people to know what kind of content they would be exposed to,” said Borton.

For example, we hung posters warning of the explicit content and offered refunds prior to the show for anyone who no longer wanted to attend.”

These precautions seemed to do the job as the entire show ran smoothly.

After the show, students even had the opportunity to meet Cook in a special meet and greet event.

“The meet and greet was a great success. Dane signed anything from monopoly boards to shoes. The line of students to meet Dane took about two-and-a-half hours to go through,” said Borton.

Cook’s performance marks the fourth large-scale event organized by the Student Activates Council and its Special Events Committee.

“Our events have covered many genres such as country, alternative, rap, and now a comedian,” said Brum.

“We are working to reach a wide variety of Xavier students.”

Based on the success of this event, the Student Activities Council will possibly look to bring more comedians in the future.

“I hope more comedians will come to Xavier. It’s nice to have something different than a concert. I personally enjoyed it and I hope other people liked it as much,” said Borton.