By Fiona Flowers
From crowd-surfing naked at sketch shows to smoking marijuana with his mother, comedian Eric André shared eccentric stories from previous tours while headlining the Homecoming Comedy Show at the University of Maryland on Sunday.
André joined the likes of previous headliners including John Mulaney, Colin Jost and Jimmy O. Yang at the Student Entertainment Events sponsored appearance, where he performed twice at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Ritchie Coliseum. The event was open to the public, but UMD students received a discounted ticket price.
André’s quick wit and lively sense of humor made him a hit with his audience, whom he directly engaged with throughout his standup routine. At one point he video-called an audience member’s mother off her phone and projected her reaction on the screen, and later concluded the show by having two volunteers chug full bottles of ranch dressing for a $20 reward.
The audience was also provided with sneak peek clips of the newest season of “The Eric Andre Show,” including skits of André playing a crazed bug exterminator and reckless taxi driver dubbed the ‘Goober Driver.’ The series can be streamed on the Adult Swim channel or Hulu.
Jerketa Williams, a freshman secondary education and English major, did not follow André’s work before the show, but said the performance was an exciting kickoff to UMD’s homecoming week.
“Honestly, I’ve been cooped up in my room for a long time. And a lot of events I felt like I had to wait for somebody to go with me. Then I saw [Eric Andre] advertised and I recognized one of the movies he was in, and I was like okay, yeah. This looks like fun,” she said.
This sentiment was echoed by Rohit Kommuru, a junior computer science major. He explained that he was unfamiliar with André’s comedy, but wanted to take advantage of the chance to see a popular comedian for such a discounted price, especially seeing as the performance coincided with his 21st birthday.
“I saw a bunch of posters and advertisements for the show, and just figured I would go with my group of friends,” Kommuru said. “ I wanted to come see Eric André, even though I’m not too familiar with him. I thought it was funny.”
Kylie Garman, a sophomore hearing and speech major, served as a member of the security team at the event, and credits André for his sharp and charming personality, even when his jokes proved a bit crude.
“My favorite part was when he called that girl’s mom on stage. I thought that was really cute and the whole audience loved it. I’m not big on standup comedy, but I really like him after his performance,” she said.
For more information on future Student Entertainment Events, visit https://www.see.umd.edu/.
Featured Image: Photo courtesy of Student Entertainment Events.