The comics who took to the stage Tuesday night all agreed that it was a thrill to finally perform at Northwestern — “home of SPAC and the Norris Center Bookstore.”
In the first A&O Productions comedy show of the year, the three-man comedy group Stella took the stage along with stand-up comic Eugene Mirman, who opened the show in the Ryan Family Auditorium at the Technological Institute. David Wain of Stella said they came to NU to “party, party and fucking party.”
Apparently, so did the audience.
When Wain, Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, stars of Stella and of the movie “Wet Hot American Summer,” walked onto the stage the audience erupted in applause and shouts of “I want you inside me.”
“I love Michael Showalter a lot, so it was glorious to see him on stage,” said Communication freshman Carly Ciarrocchi, who was screaming throughout the show.
Dressed in black suits, the seemingly serious trio broke out into crude sketches and sexual humor.
The three comics bickered like little boys throughout the show, throwing fits about griddle cakes, their friendship and women.
“I am crumbling on the inside,” Black said. “I’m like coffee cake except instead of my crumble being on the outside, mine’s on the inside.”
Harkening back to their improvisational roots, the comics played a game called “object transformation.” Taking an audience member’s white purse, they transformed it into a beard to become Santa Claus, a ringing bell, a phone and, finally, a target for gobs of ketchup and mustard.
“It’s a Philadelphia cheesesteak. A Philadelphia cheesesteak,” Wain shouted.
They made references about their crotches at every moment possible and about sleeping with Black’s grandmother.
“The show made me want to call my grandma,” joked Communication junior Adam Alcabes.
Stella also threw in a little political humor among the jokes about female and male anatomies.
“Hey Osama, if you hate America so much why don’t you leave it,” Black said.
Black wondered why Americans couldn’t all just get along.
“We have red states and blue states,” Black said. “Why can’t we have purple states? Then all would be gay. Prince would really like that.”
The audience laughed the loudest during a Stella video that showed them trying impress a co-op board in hopes of buying a Chicago apartment. The three broke out into an ’80s dance and ballerina-inspired routine with skunk tails poking out of their suits.
Many audience members said they preferred the opening act’s video about a secret agent man and mocking the anti-drug ads aimed at teenagers.
“I was more impressed with Eugene,” said Weinberg senior Robert Meyer. “He was awesome.”
Some students, who said they loved “Wet Hot American Summer,” said they had built up and expected a little too much out of the show. But overall it was enjoyable, they said.
“It was a great time,” Alcabes said. “It made me pee my pants.”
Reach Kendra Marr at [email protected].
