With nothing but a microphone between the performer and an audience that can just as soon throw rotten fruit as buckle over laughing, stand-up comedians put everything on the line in the name of all things funny.
The University is hosting its own stand-up comedy show, “Last Comic Standing,” on March 10, free to students. The competition is still seeking student comedians to perform in front of a large anticipated audience.
Auditions will be extended to tonight from 7:30 to 9:30 in the Castilian Room of the Student Union.
The event has had a fairly good reception and had good attendance last year, said Steven Johnson, kinesiology sophomore and chair of the Pop Fusion committee in Student Activities Board, the group running the audition.
“Our goals are really to have our student comedians showcase their talent and to give them a venue,” Johnson said. “They get a chance to meet a professional comedian … and also to give the student body a comedy show.”
This year, Last Comic Standing will be combined with the SAB music committee, which will begin the show by hosting an open-mic night.
Daniel Raborn, mass communication sophomore, is returning to Last Comic Standing for the second year. He began performing stand-up at open-mic nights around Baton Rouge.
“My audition went fantastic,” Raborn said. “I had them laughing, and they gave me a good feel, so I’m pretty confident.”
Comedic competitors will attend a comedy workshop with host comedian Dan Ahdoot, who will share methods for coming up with routines and techniques for reading the audience, said Craig Marcus, assistant director of Campus Life. Ahdoot will also close the show with an act of his own.
“For audience members, this event will be a good Thursday-evening thing to do where you can have fun and enjoy yourselves,” Marcus said. “For participants, it’s a good challenge for them and an opportunity that doesn’t come around that often.”
The winner of the competition is awarded bragging rights and exposure, Johnson said.
“You get to showcase your talents in front of your student body,” he said. “It is a larger event. You usually don’t get to be seen by this amount of people.”
James Ramsey IV, computer science and electrical engineering freshman, said this was the first time he auditioned for this type of competition.
“I’m always funny, but I’ve never tried to do stand-up comedy before,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey hopes the audition and the experience performing in front of an audience will help with his public speaking skills.
“Whenever I’m somewhere, everything has to be awkward,” Ramsey said. “Apparently, that’s one of my traits. I’m just used to it, and it doesn’t affect me either way.”
Many students who audition are participating for fun and to gain new experiences, but some, like Adrian Wintz, mass communication freshman, are hoping to form a future career.
“My eventual goal is to have my own stand-up special on Comedy Central,” Wintz said. “Auditioning definitely has been a good experience. Ever since I got into comedy when I was 14, I’ve been trying to make people laugh.”
 
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Contact Morgan Searles at [email protected]