When comedian John Mulaney arrived in Syracuse, he was unprepared to face the weather. He was in need of a winter coat, so he took a trip to Destiny USA.

“What a great name,” Mulaney said. “Destiny USA — the most pornstar-ish name a mall has ever had.”

Mulaney performed stand-up comedy for over an hour Wednesday night in Goldstein Auditorium at the Schine Student Center. The performance, presented by the Traditions Commission, kept the crowd laughing throughout the night, and even got some audience members involved in the set.

Mulaney previously wrote for Saturday Night Live, where he helped create the Weekend Update character, Stefon. He also created and currently stars in his new show “Mulaney,” which debuted in October on Fox.

The show has received mixed reviews and poor ratings, something Mulaney was quick to acknowledge during his performance.

“If you haven’t seen it, you’re not alone,” he said.

Seaton Smith, a comedian who plays a character in “Mulaney,” opened the show with about 20 minutes of his own stand-up, keeping the crowd laughing the entire time. Much of his material was edgy, filled with profanity and focused on politics, crime and race.

Mulaney was originally scheduled to perform at Syracuse University on Oct. 11, but had to reschedule because of work on his show. Mulaney, who wore a suit, said he was nervous that the crowd would be upset that he had to cancel the original date.

“I hate confrontation. I’ve never been in a fight but you could probably tell that from the moment I walked out here,” Mulaney said, laughing. “I know some people who give off a vibe of, ‘Do not f*ck with me.’

“My vibe is more, ‘You could pour soup in my lap, and I’ll probably apologize to you.’” Mulaney said in a high-pitched voice.

He also told the story about the “best day of his life.” His parents went to the same college as former President Bill Clinton. Clinton walked Mulaney’s mother home from the library one night, much to the displeasure of his father. Mulaney went with his mother to meet Clinton at a fundraiser in 1992 when Clinton was running for president, while his father stayed home.

After his mother used him as a “human shield” to fight past Secret Service, Mulaney said he ended up at Clinton’s feet.

“He turns to my mom and says, ‘Hey, Ellen,’ because he never forgets a b*tch, ever,” Mulaney said, as the crowd roared with laughter.

Much of Mulaney’s material focused on his family and his childhood. He recently got married, and during one of the crowd’s favorite jokes of the show, compared his wife to a cow. He referred to the saying “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?” — a question some of his friends asked him when he used to bring up getting married.

“Why buy the cow?” Mulaney asked the crowd. “Because you’re lucky to have the cow, and roping in cows and getting milk out of them was never anything you were known for. There’ve only been about eight cows — several un-milked — and a lot of people think you like bulls and they assume it. And if you just bought the cow nobody would say that anymore.”

Throughout the show the comedian interacted with the crowd. He spoke with one student in the front of the audience who gave him directions to the Schine Student Center. Then he began talking to the student one seat over.

Mulaney gave him a hard time for being an economics major, to the crowd’s enjoyment.

“Be an English major, like me,” he said. “I have to wear a suit when I go to colleges — otherwise people will just think I’m another English major walking around.”

At one point in the show, Mulaney noticed a couple open seats in the front row.

“You saving these seats?” he said. An audience member hesitated and then told Mulaney no. “I wouldn’t want them to show up and not have these seats — there’d be a riot,” he said, lowering his voice to whisper.

Mulaney kept the crowd engaged throughout the set. When he finished, he thanked the crowd for letting him reschedule and walked off the stage to a standing ovation.

Published on November 20, 2014 at 12:42 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27