You may have been out celebrating the end of midterms, but one University student was having the best week ever. Comedians from the popular VH1 show came to the Union Theater on Saturday as part of “Best Week Ever Live,” a touring version of the show put on by the Union Program Council Pop Culture Committee. Stephan Taylor, communication studies senior and chair of the Pop Culture Committee, said he wanted to bring the tour to the University because he wanted to do something “really big and really fun.” The program began with standup comedy routines by the four panelists – Pete Holmes, Chuck Nice, Laurie Kilmartin and Mike Britt. They commented on everything from Southern hospitality and the University’s mascot to heckling the audience members’ majors. “You’re an advertising major, that’s interesting,” Kilmartin said to an audience member. “So you want to sell ads to people. That’s real cool. I want people to buy things they don’t need. I’ve wanted that ever since I was a little girl. And now my dream will come true.” Nice told the audience now that the school has the No. 1 football team, the school should be No. 1 in partying again. “You need to step your game up,” Nice said. “The two have to go together.” Britt was surprised that the University kept a live tiger on campus. “Some schools have mascots like the badgers,” Britt said. “I would kick a badger. You don’t want to be a badger. You don’t hear anyone saying, ‘Don’t go over there, man. There’s a badger over there.’ But you’re scared of a tiger.” All the panelists commented on the South’s hospitality and how it is so different from where they live. “There are trees that still have leaves, it’s hot, people keep handing me julep-based beverages,” Holmes said. “It’s fun here. I keep waving at people, but I don’t know anybody. It’s beautiful.” After their standup routines, the four comedians commented on clips and photos of celebrities and other news, much like what happens on the television program. They made fun of everyone from Tom Cruise to Amy Winehouse to Britney Spears. “Louisiana, you got gumbo, you got New Orleans and you got the biggest pop star in the world who everyone has seen her coochie,” Nice said. Commenting on a particularly horrible photo of Winehouse that showcased her missing tooth, Holmes said, “They tried to make me go to the dentist, but I said, ‘No, no, no.'” The television program always concludes with the panelists deciding which newsworthy person had the “best week ever.” The live program was no different. The comedians called notable campus figures onto the stage – Lauren Edwards, Miss LSU-USA 2008;, Ashley Hofsommer, winner of LSU Ido;, Dixon McMakin, SG presidential candidate; Brandon Taylor Craft, SG presidential candidate and Wesleigh McLeod, SG vice presidential candidate – as well as some students from the audience. The students explained why they were having the best week ever, and the winners were judged by the amount of applause they received. It came down to a runoff between Hofsommer, pre-nursing freshman, and Alex White, mass communication freshman. The audience erupted in applause for White, and he was named the winner. He won favor with the audience after explaining he was happy he did not have to work over spring break. White said he decided to come to Best Week Ever Live because he had seen some of the comedians on other shows. “I saw a couple of them, like Chuck Nice, on Keith Olbermann’s show, and I liked what they had to say,” White said. He thought it was funny that he was voted as having the best week ever because he thought Hofsommer would win. “It feels pretty odd,” White said. “I was pointing at Ashley saying, ‘Vote for her.’ I know I’m going to get crap for this but it was awesome.” Leesa Rodrigue, chemical engineering sophomore, enjoyed the rapport the comedians had with the audience. “A lot of unexpected things happened, and they were very crowd-friendly,” Rodrigue said. The comedians said they get different reactions at every school they visit. “With comedy, it’s like we’re musicians, but the audience is the instrument,” Holmes said. “LSU was wonderful.”
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