Welcome Week concluded last Wednesday, Jan. 25, with the Kat Komedy Showcase held in newly renovated Johnson Coliseum.
The showcase featured Saturday Night Live Comedians Pete Davidson, Streeter Seidell and Aidy Bryant. The event was hosted by the Department of Student Activities and was sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs.
The night was kicked off by Streeter Seidell, who began his career as part of the CollegeHumor cast. Seidell later gained popularity from his video series Prank Wars and moved on to become a writer for SNL in 2014.
Seidell’s performance at last week’s Kat Komedy Showcase featured jokes that college students could relate to.
His performance focused largely on awful college roommates, his dislike of people who vape and making small talk with the front row audience. Due to the relatability of Seidell’s content, his jokes garnered the most laughs from the audience, and started the night off strong.
Seidell’s set followed the classic format for stand-up comedy compared to the other two comedians, he appeared to be the most prepared with material for the showcase. Overall, Seidell was a major hit.
Seidell introduced his SNL co-worker, Aidy Bryant, to the stage. Bryant started with SNL back in 2012 and has made many guest appearances on popular shows like Broad City, The Awesomes, and Girls.
Bryant’s performance focused mainly on her younger self and her childhood best friend, whom she befriended because she was obsessed with her pony. Her comedy routine was catered more towards the women in the audience but still made the entire colosseum laugh out loud.
She also mentioned her nieces and ties it back to her time as an awkward middle school student, making the routine seem rounded and well prepared.
Bryant utilized the screens on each side of the stage during her performance to project her actual childhood journal. She also included a continuation of the journal to show what it would be like if she was still creating entries today.
Bryant did have some minor technical difficulties during this portion of her performance. She was fast to remedy this situation though and used it to add to the audience’s experience by stepping off the stage.
Pete Davidson was introduced by Bryant and was the last of the trio to take the stage. Davidson began his career as a stand-up comedian at 16 years old. He later joined SNL in 2014 and is the youngest of the current cast members.
Out of the three performers, Davidson seemed to be the least prepared for his set due to a recent comedy special. Whether it was due to the comedy special or not, his performance seemed a bit amateur compared to Seidell and Bryant’s comedy routines.
He used audience participation to cover the fact that he was ill prepared for the showcase. Davidson spent most of his allotted time on stage telling randomly selected material from his notebook and passing his hat around the crowd trying to illicit marijuana from the audience.
He spent the final ten minutes of his performance allowing students to ask him questions. While this part of the performance resulted in slight irritation from Davidson, he switched gears quickly to turn the bad moments around for the audience.
Although his performance wasn’t the most prepared of the night, Davidson still received plenty of laughs from the crowd.
Seidell, Bryant and Davidson contributed a wide variety of comedic styles to the diverse body of students at Sam Houston State University who attended the show. The showcase appealed to every viewer present in one way or another. Ultimately, the event achieved what it was supposed to, which is to allow the students to enjoy a stress-free environment before the craziness of the semester hits.