Baruch students show off their comedic chops

"It was off the hook!" "I liked the host; he was the funniest." "It should have been longer."

These were some of the audience's comments after the New York Boyz of Comedy big stand-up comedy show on Thursday, September 29th, sponsored by the Sigma Alpha Delta Honor Society. The group of five comedians consists of Victor Chu (absent for the night), Duncan Grant, Brenton Land, Max May and David Waugh. After months of preparation, these guys finally got a chance to demonstrate their expertise in their much-anticipated launch.

Host David Waugh, who has performed at Madison Square Garden, kicked off the show to over 200 in attendance. The NYBC performed a short skit to warm up the audience for a great night of comedy. Duncan Grant played a Drill Sergeant as they marched onto the stage, then they began to dance and shake their "bon bons." They performed "kung fu fighting" and then clumsily did a Jewish "Hava Nagila."

After the introductory opening number, Waugh kept the audience going into the night: "Is Brooklyn in the house?" When they responded a triumphant "YES," he said "did you know that Brooklyn is the only borough where when you window shop, you can take everything you see?" He continued, "I hate asking gay people for directions, because their directions ain't even straight," which the audience found funny. He ended his introduction by saying that "they don't even shoot documentaries in Africa anymore. We are now in South Africa, which is known as 116th Street, Harlem!" The audience loved this joke. By the time he introduced the first stand-up comedian to perform, Duncan Grant, the audience was pumped and ready to enjoy the ride.

The biggest surprise from last year's Stand-Up comedy show, Grant was back again. The vocally talented security guard, whose baritone is often heard echoing the halls, started off by saying that back in Junior High School, students told him: "Damn, you're not black, you're blick!" Audience members were hysterical when he said that in his house, his shade of darkness often confuses the roaches. "One night I was chilling with my date and two roaches flew by, saying 'Red Bull gives us wings.'"

Afterward, host Waugh entertained the audience before bringing out the next comic. He said the he was from the Caribbean and his Jamaican mother thought she could fix everything with duct tape. With a good Jamaica accent he played the role of his mother: "Buttons on a shirt, you crazy. Take de duct tape and put it around de shirt. Belts in me house? He he. Take de duct tape and wrap it around you waist." Waugh's sister wanted a bra so his mother said: "No way! Take de duct tape and wrap around you chest." This elicited peels of laughter from the audience.

The next comic, Max May, President of Sigma Alpha Delta, "tripped" while making his way onto the stage. He started off by informing the audience that he was from the garbage city, Staten Island. When he says this to women, they respond, "Oh that must be why you stink." May takes the ferry home everyday, and since there are so many tourists on the ferry, who take pictures all the time, he ends up in every shot, making him the global guy. "They got pictures of me on the walls in China, Brazil, France-especially France-striking the all-American pose!" (holding up two middle fingers) He cracked the audience up with this visual.

May finished by doing an impression of Sylvestor Stallone, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino waiting at the bus stop, where Sylvestor related that he cannot wait to get to the first African American museum: the Bronx Zoo. This got a wild and long reaction from the audience, where even the "booers" could not help but laugh.

The last comic, Brenton Land, who loves movies and hates stupid people, got the audience's attention when he said: "I live in Starret City. That's a hard place to find; it's like trying to find the G-stop: you're not going to find it unless someone shows you!" Land got some good laughs when he said that at the clubs, the way people dance depends on what race they are. "White people, touching your hair is not a dance movement." Between laughs he told black people that the electrical slide is not cool, it went out in the 80's. As for the Hispanics, "I'm not even going to mess with you, 'cause y'all doing it right!"

Land elicited some audience participation when he asked: "what is the most devastating STD out there?" Someone answered AIDS. "Nah, it's pregnancy!" he exclaimed. Land then informed the audience about why he does not date black girls: "I'm tired of all of them being named after drugs and diseases." This, of course, got huge laughs.

In closing, host Waugh said that he hates when girls he dates live in bad neighborhoods, like Hunts Point in the Bronx. "It's like a scene from Thriller: crack heads talking to themselves and bodies rising from the ground," he vividly demonstrated.

Marla Renwick, the backbone behind the group, was extremely pleased with the NYBC's first big show. "Each comedian explored topics that were personal, universal and controversial. The audience responded enthusiastically and honestly." She continued to say that this was a tremendous training ground for the comedians as they continue to explore new material and understand the complex comic audience relationship. "For example, Max will be able to adopt the techniques I have taught in my stand-up workshops and apply them to his Society speeches to make them a little humorous, concise, and overall more powerful."

Teesha Bhola, junior, 19, who was the Executive Producer for the last comedy show in April said: "This time the show went absolutely perfect. The guys exceeded my expectations. This is just the beginning of NYBC." Another, Jennifer Kong, senior, 22, said, "I thought they were hysterical. I could not stop laughing!"

Overall, the show's talent was amazing. Each comedian brought his own flavor to the group and the outcome was superb. Students can post their responses in the forum page or send feedback to the comedians at

www.nyboyzofcomedy.com.