A café full o’ laughs

The laughter of a full-capacity Night Owl Café rang loudly throughout the L.P. Young Student Center on Tuesday night, when the NOC held a Comedy Night. Between the plentiful hysterics, provided by stand-up comics Ahmed Bharoocha and Sean Sullivan, students enjoyed popcorn and soda. Even though chairs were packed close together students were still forced to stand up when seating ran out.

Bharoocha was the opening comic but Sullivan provided the most laughs as the Comedy Night’s headliner. Bharoocha, a native of Smithfield, R.I. and who has performed at the Great American Comedy Festival, delivered a set in which he skewered a variety of different topics, such as: college, his parents, foreigners, pets, his ex-girlfriend, Wizard of Oz, his inability to use technology and the Catholic Church.

His act was relatable to the audience because everyone could understand jokes made about humorous subjects. He has been performing around the northeast since 2004. In 2007, Bharoocha was the winner of the Catch a New Rising Star Competition. He graduated from URI, where he majored in Theater with a concentration in Acting, a fact he joked about continuously throughout the night.

Bharoocha’s jokes about birds being the worst pet gleaned some of the most laughter out of the audience, as well as how he stops a fan, claiming that he just tries to use his hand because he is inept at figuring out how to turn the device off.

Another joke that amused the audience was his description of his father’s Global Positioning System. Instead of letting the driver know when to turn a few miles before it actually comes up, the GPS instead lets the driver know when the turn has already been passed, he said.    

Upon mentioning his dislike of gay marriage, the crowd got uncomfortable, but Bharoocha seemlessly pulled the audience into his next joke saying, “I’m just going to skip this one” before talking about the mass and the traditional Catholic practice of Eucharist.

This particular joke elicited a large amount of applause and cheers from the crowd before he ended his monologue.

Bharoocha then introduced the headliner of the night, Sean Sullivan from Brockton, Mass. Sullivan debuted on Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham” this past summer. He began his career as a stand-up comic in 2003 and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he earned a degree in Theater. He spent four years as the director and head-writer of Active Ingredients, a sketch comedy troupe at UMass.
Sullivan has worked under Conan O’Brien in New York City and he continues to travel around New England, delivering his one of a kind stand-up comedy routines. He truly had the crowd laughing with his charming blend of self-deprecating jokes and cynical commentary.

Sullivan first poked fun at New Hampshire and its fireworks, claiming that people do not get excited when doors work properly, so why do people get excited when fireworks work the way they are designed? Following along with his introduction, Sullivan then joked about his name, his Irish heritage, Disney World, college, mini golf, his hometown of Brockton, gay marriage, his employment at the DMV, his disdain for his job, tattoos, his wife and his wedding.

Sullivan’s commentary on decriminalized marijuana, the ban on dog racing in Massachusetts and bad tattoos, particularly had the crowd doubled over in laughter. His material candidly touched upon some very controversial subjects, such as marijuana and gay marriage, which proved to be refreshing, uniquely honest and shocking at times.

Freshman Colleen Guckian said, “There were a lot of good parts,” in the show.

Sophomore Mariah Palmer gave another positive review of the show, as she too said that she enjoyed the night of comedy.

“The second comic was my favorite, definitely. The whole thing was really good,” Palmer said.

Sullivan left the stage to loud applause and cheers from the student audience. As the people filtered out of the NOC, they commented that they liked the show and were looking forward to attending the next Comedy Night.

Whitney Cyr can be contacted at wcyr@keeneequinox.com.