AAA Comedy Night - a knee slapper

Author: Nick Fager

Last Friday, Middlebury's McCullough Student Center hosted three prestigious comedians in a sparsely attended but successful night of laughs. The African American Alliance (AAA) Comedy Jam's three visiting comedians, who go by the names of Spank, Mike Bonner and Shang, touched on a wide variety of subjects from dorm life to politics. Their unique half-hour acts were filled with irony and wit, and all evoked lots of laughs from the audience.

The evening's opening artist, Spank, was a finalist on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) show "Last Comic Standing." Spank was also featured on BET's "Comic View." The theme of his one-man show involved making fun of many current pop-culture figures, as well as people in the audience and the college life scene. Alexis Zain '05, president of AAA, commented, "There was one guy who wasn't from Midd, who Spank picked on the whole time and finally at the end the guy smirked." Those who attended the event agreed that Spank was "hilarious."

The event also featured Bonner, who is a 14-year veteran of the stand-up scene, and has had a very impressive career. Bonner was one of 10 comedians selected in 1999 to appear at the HBO-sponsored U.S. "Comedy Arts Festival" in Aspen, Colo. He has appeared on Jamie Foxx Presents Laffapalooza on Showtime, as well as Russell Simmons' HBO "Def Comedy Jam All-Stars." For seven seasons he has appeared on BET's "Comic View," where he won his own Grandstand Comedy Special. In his act, Bonner ridiculed many aspects of dorm life, the college dating scene and his own family life. Ashley Gamell '08 said that Bonner "did a great job of engaging the audience with his thoughts on college life and his style was creatively amusing."

The last comedian of the night goes by the name of Shang. Like the comedians before him, Shang boasts an outstanding career in comedy. He chose to become a comedian one night when his friend dared him to compete in an open-mike night at a local comedy club. Shang won the competition, and he has not given up comedy since. He has been featured on HBO's "Def Comedy Jam," BET's "Comic View," NBC's "Comedy Showcase," Comedy Central's "Comedy Cabana" and many other programs. Shang has cemented his position as one of the brightest and most successful comedians out there today and recently released his first major CD entitled "Shangry!" which received rave reviews. Shang's reputable socio-political style of comedy was much appreciated by those who attended the Comedy Jam. Almost everyone agreed that Shang was the best performer of the night because of his witty political humor. Spank, Bonner and Shang lit up the McCullough social space in the Comedy Jam on Friday night with various types of humor. Though the turnout may not have been as good as in past years due to conflicting social events, the sound of laughter was never lacking and a bad review was not to be found. The members of AAA felt that the event was a big success, and to all those who missed it in order to crowd into Pearsons to watch the Dissipated Eight or in Hepburn to see "Vampire," the Comedy Jam will be back next year.