The Etownian Online
Jackson and Ryan: Dynamic comedy duo
By Carleen Pallante
More than 600 students, alumni, family, faculty and staff concluded Saturday's homecoming activities with an evening of laughter. Special guests Victoria Jackson and Marc Ryan came to Leffler Chapel and Performance Center on Oct. 20. Southern jokes, celebrity impersonations and a ukulele had the crowd exploding with laughter for almost two hours.
The show started off with a performance by comedian Marc Ryan. Ryan has been featured on Comedy Central and the UPN network. Ryan's Louisiana accent added spark to his routine. He joked about real life in the South, growing up in a trailer park called "Ocean View," ironically 800 miles away from the ocean, and eating crawfish. He talked about relationships and how annoying it is when a girl says, "I don't care" when asked where she wants to go.
Ryan used stereotypes about the South, men and women to make the audience laugh. His routine kept the audience's attention with its relate able topics. Junior Ali Pursley commented, "I liked the first guy-maybe it was the whole southern thing but he was a good laugh."
Dressed in a layered skirt with ruffled shorts underneath, Victoria Jackson came out from the curtain with her blonde curly hair fluffed on top of her head and a ukulele in her hand. Referencing the men's soccer victory over Wilkes, she announced, "Blue Jays won!" and the excitement of the room rose. Jackson started out singing and playing the ukulele to several ëpoemsí she wrote including
"Mustache," "Gymnast," and "Life of a Rock". To show off her gymnastic skills, she did a handstand while reciting her poem "Gymnast." Even though her words were fast and furious she stayed balanced for about a minute on her hands. The rest of her performance was made up of other poems performed on her ukulele, several impressions of famous celebrities, blonde jokes and stories about her husband Paul, a Miami police officer. For Jackson's celebrity impressions she put on wigs and imitated characters such as Fran Drescher, Jewel, Brittany Spears and Calista Flockhart. Jackson also used her experience of traveling to Elizabethtown to make jokes. She told her mom, "I'm afraid I'm going to die! [on the plane]" Her mom misinterpreted and said, "Don't worry they'll love you [on stage]."At the end of her performance, Jackson took time for the audience to ask questions. When asked if she missed Saturday Night Live she replied, "I miss the paycheck and the adrenaline." Jackson explained that she did not like how competitive it was to get her skit on the show. When asked her favorite skit she said, "I'm not a Bimbo." She also was asked how she liked working with Weird Al. She replied, "He's a great guy." Jackson also played in several movies including "Baby Boomer," "Casual Sex," and "Strip Mall." Freshman Allen Churchman, who met Ryan after the show and got his hat autographed said, "Both (comedians) were worth both the time and money. I would love to go see them again." Students were pleased at the different attitudes of
the two performers. Junior Sara Krupka said, "It was funny and I liked both of them. They had different styles, but I kind of liked [Ryan] better." Students also seemed to like hearing jokes from someone from a different part of the country. Junior Greg Nolan said, "He did more stand-up while Jackson did
more skits. He told more jokes towards guys while Jackson did more jokes for the ladies. They combined to do a great job."
By Carleen Pallante
More than 600 students, alumni, family, faculty and staff concluded Saturday's homecoming activities with an evening of laughter. Special guests Victoria Jackson and Marc Ryan came to Leffler Chapel and Performance Center on Oct. 20. Southern jokes, celebrity impersonations and a ukulele had the crowd exploding with laughter for almost two hours.
The show started off with a performance by comedian Marc Ryan. Ryan has been featured on Comedy Central and the UPN network. Ryan's Louisiana accent added spark to his routine. He joked about real life in the South, growing up in a trailer park called "Ocean View," ironically 800 miles away from the ocean, and eating crawfish. He talked about relationships and how annoying it is when a girl says, "I don't care" when asked where she wants to go.
Ryan used stereotypes about the South, men and women to make the audience laugh. His routine kept the audience's attention with its relate able topics. Junior Ali Pursley commented, "I liked the first guy-maybe it was the whole southern thing but he was a good laugh."
Dressed in a layered skirt with ruffled shorts underneath, Victoria Jackson came out from the curtain with her blonde curly hair fluffed on top of her head and a ukulele in her hand. Referencing the men's soccer victory over Wilkes, she announced, "Blue Jays won!" and the excitement of the room rose. Jackson started out singing and playing the ukulele to several ëpoemsí she wrote including
"Mustache," "Gymnast," and "Life of a Rock". To show off her gymnastic skills, she did a handstand while reciting her poem "Gymnast." Even though her words were fast and furious she stayed balanced for about a minute on her hands. The rest of her performance was made up of other poems performed on her ukulele, several impressions of famous celebrities, blonde jokes and stories about her husband Paul, a Miami police officer. For Jackson's celebrity impressions she put on wigs and imitated characters such as Fran Drescher, Jewel, Brittany Spears and Calista Flockhart. Jackson also used her experience of traveling to Elizabethtown to make jokes. She told her mom, "I'm afraid I'm going to die! [on the plane]" Her mom misinterpreted and said, "Don't worry they'll love you [on stage]."At the end of her performance, Jackson took time for the audience to ask questions. When asked if she missed Saturday Night Live she replied, "I miss the paycheck and the adrenaline." Jackson explained that she did not like how competitive it was to get her skit on the show. When asked her favorite skit she said, "I'm not a Bimbo." She also was asked how she liked working with Weird Al. She replied, "He's a great guy." Jackson also played in several movies including "Baby Boomer," "Casual Sex," and "Strip Mall." Freshman Allen Churchman, who met Ryan after the show and got his hat autographed said, "Both (comedians) were worth both the time and money. I would love to go see them again." Students were pleased at the different attitudes of
the two performers. Junior Sara Krupka said, "It was funny and I liked both of them. They had different styles, but I kind of liked [Ryan] better." Students also seemed to like hearing jokes from someone from a different part of the country. Junior Greg Nolan said, "He did more stand-up while Jackson did
more skits. He told more jokes towards guys while Jackson did more jokes for the ladies. They combined to do a great job."