Through little giggles and grand hand gestures, Ernie G lamented over the intricacies of relationships. A tall man with an inviting smile, he quickly slipped into different characters with voice changes and varying motions. The audience responded with resounding chortles.

‘I’m going to tell you guys one more story,’ Ernie G said as the audience’s laughter died down.

The buoyant and good-natured air of comedy shifted to a more serious and philosophical tone, with the speaker talking about his achievements against the odds.

Motivational speaker and comedian Ernie Gritzewsky, known by his stage name ‘Ernie G,’ performed sketches from his show ‘Empowerment Comedy’ Tuesday night in Grant Auditorium. He has performed at many different venues, including high schools and television shows. His credits include Comedy Central’s ‘Make Me Laugh,’ S TV’s ‘Funny is Funny’ and co-starring with George Lopez in ‘Qu Locos!’ He is currently the national spokesman for Hispanic College Fund.

Bea Gonzalez, dean of University College, saw him speak at the 2011 Hispanic Youth Institute in Virginia and asked him to perform forstudents at Westside Academy at Blodgett in Syracuse. Ernie G agreed, saying that he would be happy to speak to Syracuse University students. After that performance, Gonzales invited him to perform for SU students on Tuesday.

He started off the show by introducing himself to the crowd of nearly 100, going around to each section, shaking their hands and making light conversation. He also encouraged them to sit closer to the stage. To one girl timidly walking down to a seat in the front row, he joked, ‘I’m not going to tease you.’

Once onstage, he poked fun at the audience and at himself. Some of his jokes referenced aspects of the Latino culture. He jokingly pointed out looks on people’s faces who did not seem know any of his Spanish terminology. This interaction brought many laughs from the crowd.

As the audience grew accustomed to his larger-than-life stage presence, his topics branched out into a variety of topics, from relationships with women to the ‘Cholos,’ or Latino gangsters, he grew up with in Los Angeles.

To close his set, he dropped his bubbly nature. He addressed the difficulties he faced growing up. As one of three Latino students at St. Francis Preparatory School in his hometown, he said he felt isolated. He touched on the troubles he faced after dropping out of Loyola Marymount College, but he also spoke about how he achieved his goal of finishing school by reapplying, getting back in and ultimately graduating.

His teasing personality and optimistic story inspired members of yesterday’s audience.

‘Being from New Mexico, I could identify with a lot of what he was saying. He had really good messages. Good messages for minorities and even individuals,’ said Ramon Maestas, an education graduate student.

Ernie G’s message onstage is something he maintains in his everyday life, even after planting his microphone back into its stand as the audience’s applause faded out.

Said Ernie G: ‘My message I try to get through is: ‘If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.”

cmdunder@syr.edu

Published on April 3, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Claire: cmdunder@syr.edu | @ClaireDunderman