Arts, Etc.Comedy

Audience left howling at Mooney

Comedian Megan Mooney, seen on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and HBO’s “US Comedy Arts Festival” brought laughter to University of La Verne students with her jokes on marriage and alcohol March 30 in Founders Auditorium. / photo by Sergio Sandoval
Comedian Megan Mooney, seen on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and HBO’s “US Comedy Arts Festival” brought laughter to University of La Verne students with her jokes on marriage and alcohol March 30 in Founders Auditorium. / photo by Sergio Sandoval

Matthew Loriso
Assistant Editor

Comedian Megan Mooney entered University of La Verne’s Founders Auditorium March 30, and did not leave until after making the audience practically roll in the aisles with laughter.

Mooney, featured on the HBO Comedy Arts Festival and Comedy Central Presents, added many aspects from La Verne into her act.

During the performance she frequently commented on the unusual look of the ULV tents, as well as alumna Roxanne Klein’s Sandy Candy, featured on the cover of the Summer 2005 La Verne magazine.

“I know the jokes that will work in every city, but I like to kind of talk about where we are,” Mooney said. “The students kind of get into it when you poke fun a little at their campus as long as it’s not mean… It’s nice to add your own little touch.”

Students really delved into the show.

“I really like how she incorporated ULV into her jokes,” junior business marketing major Lauren Zagurski said in an e-mail. “It was something that hit home for all of us and was something we could relate to, whether we agreed or not.”

Mooney took many opportunities to interact with the audience.

After cracking a joke about how the students in the balcony were probably drinking during the roughly 45 minute performance, the students informed her that ULV is a dry campus.

“It’s a dry campus? Well do you have backpacks?” Mooney jokingly asked the audience. “I just found a loophole.”

Mooney performed comfortably for the audience of roughly 100 people. She said that since she was not being filmed, she could perform without as much pressure.

She described what it is like performing for a half-hour television special.

“(I) waited eight years to get to that point and you have one opportunity to shoot the special, so it’s kind of intense.”

That tension was possibly very similar to what opening comedian, ULV student Yesel “Yak” Manrique felt during his act.

“I was really nervous,” Manrique said. “Every time feels like the first time.”

Before the show began, Manrique mentioned the butterflies in his stomach, and how that affected him.

“I like the butterflies,” Manrique said. “They give me the energy on stage.”

The butterflies appeared to have been working at full force that evening, because the audience really seemed to appreciate his act and so did Mooney.

“I think it takes a lot of courage to get up there and I think his jokes are funny,” Mooney said. “He’s totally headed in the right direction.”

Manrique’s act was followed by a surprise second act.

Eddie Gossling, long time comic and Mooney’s husband of three years, performed a short bit in which he joked about topics that are relevant to college age students, such as the obsessive use of Google and text messaging.

Gossling explained why his act is so relevant to the college atmosphere.

“Honestly, being a comic is a lot like being a college student, except I don’t have classes during the day,” he said. “So I can sit around and Google and go on MySpace all day long…(then) I go out to the clubs and do my shows about what I did all day.”

Overall, the show had a theme that was very pertinent to the college atmosphere. Whether it was Mooney cracking jokes about the school or Gossling’s use of current fads in college culture, the show kept its audience entertained throughout.

Matthew Loriso can be reached at mloriso@ulv.edu.

Matthew Loriso
Other Stories
Sergio Sandoval
Other Stories
Previous article
Happenings
Next article
Alumna’s many characters empower women

Latest Stories

Related articles

Arts, Etc.

Morgan Auditorium concert closes week of dedications

The final event for the dedication of Morgan Auditorium took place on Saturday and featured Ann and Steve Morgan opening the concert with gratitude speeches and the audience giving them a standing ovation.
News

Renovations complete on Morgan Auditorium

After years of planning, months of construction, and roughly $4.2 million, the newly renovated Ann and Steve Morgan Auditorium, formerly Founders Auditorium, is complete.
News

Founders Auditorium gets revamped

This January the University of La Verne will unveil the renovated Founders Auditorium. Completion of the long-anticipated revamp of this historic performance hall will be accompanied by a renaming of the hall after University President Steve Morgan and his wife, Ann.
News

Founders Auditorium to be renamed for Morgans

On Jan. 4, the University of La Verne Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename Founders Auditorium to the Ann and Steve Morgan Auditorium.