Goldstein Auditorium shook with laughter time and time again Saturday night. Several hundred people made up a diverse crowd, as students, alumni and community members came to see the stand-up comedy show.

‘Laughing for an Education’ was hosted by Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and Omega Phi Beta sorority in collaboration with the Orange Central Planning Committee. The headlining comedians were D. L. Hughley and Dean Edwards. A percentage of the proceeds from ticket sales were donated to Say Yes for Education, a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve inner-city education in Syracuse.

The show began with two opening comedians, Syracuse University’s own DeMarcus Woods, a sophomore in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and alumnus Tyler Gilden. Woods entertained the audience by singing songs in different genres, like the country version of 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club,’ while Gilden had the crowd in hysterics as he talked about sex and life in a fraternity.

When Dean Edwards came out onto the stage, the energy level of the show increased dramatically. Edwards gained recognition in the world of comedy after joining the cast of ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 2001 for two seasons.

His set consisted of many impressions, a characteristic of his comedic style for which he is well-known. Celebrities that were impersonated included Tracy Morgan, Nicki Minaj, Denzel Washington and Lil Wayne. One of the highlights of his performance was impersonating a woman being cut in line by an old person at a store. Edwards’ facial expressions and timing drew roars of laughter.

Whether it was the justification that people who wear their pants low use, ‘I’ve got respect for myself, I don’t want anyone to see my ankles,’ or the desire to get old, ‘I want to be so old that everything I do sounds like it hurts,’ or his young daughters who had begun to develop their mother’s British accent, ‘I feel like they’re colonizing my living room,’ Edwards’ commentary drew a steady flow of laughs.

D. L. Hughley was the final comedian of the night. He is most famous for being the star of the ABC sitcom ‘The Hughleys’ and one of the featured comedians in Spike Lee’s film ‘The Original Kings of Comedy.’

Hughley fired off one joke after another, covering race relations, political events, the difference between children of his generation and today’s, the effects of marijuana and much more.

‘Tiger Woods doesn’t need marriage counseling, he needs diversity training,’ Hughley said after pointing out that the women Tiger had affairs with were all white.

Talking about his wife, Hughley demonstrated questions women will ask men as their relationships develop and the answers they should expect to receive.

”If I gained 350 pounds, would you still love me?’ ‘No. If I can’t lift you, I can’t love you.”

A majority of the second half of Hughley’s set was based on audience interaction.

‘Those are some thick glasses,’ Hughley said to a man sitting close to the stage. ‘You could watch this show from Rochester.’ His crude ridiculing of audience members drew eruptions of laughter from the crowd. The interaction culminated when he walked through the general seating and set up two random audience members on a date, giving them $50 to spend on dinner for two.

‘These guys are hilarious. It was great to see them in person after seeing them in films and television shows,’ said Robert Bacaj, a sophomore broadcast journalism student. ‘There is so much energy and subtlety in a live show that you just don’t get when watching a recorded performance.’

ebianchi@syr.edu 

Published on November 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm