Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. hosted its 24th annual winter comedy show last Saturday in Renaissance Coliseum. The show featured comedians Dominique Whitten and Lavell Crawford.
Event coordinator Rasheed Habler said they wanted to bring a different perspective and voice to Bradley.
“The comedians that we brought are very well known within the black community and they joke about, among many things, matters of race,” Habler said.
Whitten is a comedian who has toured around the country and appeared in Russell Simmon’s Comedy Def Jam. Crawford is a comedian who has appeared in TV shows like “Breaking Bad,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.”
The two comics spent the show riffing on topics like the differences between men and women, black people and white people, the weather and their past.
“I liked the part where Lavell talked about how he was bullied when he was younger and his mother taught him to defend himself by scratching,” junior community wellness major Dakota Zamora said. “There’s just something hilarious about a big dude with a gruff voice making cat noises and scratching the air. And it was great to hear how his bullies reacted to his scratch tactic.”
Zamora said the comedians really engaged the crowd.
“Dominique would ask questions about Bradley or chat with the people in the front row,” Zamora said. “People generally responded to her, although, there was this one girl who just stonewalled her, didn’t really answer her questions or gave vague answers. However, Dominique kept up the rhythm and still got some jokes out of the girl in the end.”
Habler, a senior public relations and English double major, said he was very happy with the comedy show, specifically the attendance, which was 1,067 people.
“As far as I know, this was the highest attended comedy show we have ever hosted,” Habler said. “I think that’s largely thanks to the comedians, who are very popular and whose humor appeals to both students and the older generation.”
Habler said he believed the fraternity’s marketing campaign also contributed to the large turnout for the show.
“This was our first time using Facebook ads,” Habler said. “We were able to reach a lot of people through Facebook. We also used billboards, we had one on Knoxville for a week. We also used a lot of radio ads. As a result of all of this effort, this comedy show had the most pre-sold tickets of any show we’ve done before.”
Habler said this is the last winter comedy show he coordinates, but he hopes to return as an alumnus.
“The comedy show has always been a great way for students and alumni, and also the Peoria community, to come together,” Habler said. “I think it helps create bridges between old and young, white and black, by talking about the differences and laughing about them.”
