Club & Greek

“LOL” in Anacon

Comedians KT Tatara and Adam Mamawala Perform


The Student Activities Board (SAB) at the University welcomed comedians KT Tatara and Adam Mamawala to Anacon Hall in the Student Center on March 3 at 8:00 pm. Tatara and Mamawala were returning guests after performing at the University last year.

Tatara, a 32-year-old from California, performed first. Not only has he been on Showtime before, but Comedy Central as well.

He did not hesitate to jump right into his crude, though hilarious, comedic style. He used his ethnic background of being half-Japanese in his jokes as well as using other races and sexes.

Tatara really related to the audience through his blunt humor on matters that all college kids could understand.

His performance was very interactive. Midway through his act he asked students at the University about recent events here that he could talk about. He also called out members of the audience about their different reactions to his jokes and other things such as leaving their seat to get a drink or someone fumbling with their empty soda can.

At the last part of his performance, Tatara called up a student from the audience and proceeded to serenade her in song. Adam Mamawala is from Hoboken, New Jersey. He attended high school in Hillsborough, New Jersey, but grew up in Illinois near Chicago. He has performed in over 20 states and has been to about 60 to 70 colleges in the past few years.

Mamawala’s performance did not start off as “in-your-face” as Tatara’s, but the attention of the audience was captured.

What really got everyone laughing was his incredibly accurate impression of President Barack Obama. Drawing from personal experiences, Mamawala was easy to relate to.

In his act he talked about relationships, his summer job as a tennis camp counselor and his college experiences at The College of New Jersey. When referring to some of his experiences, he read us text messages he has gotten or notes off of his smart phone that he had written in the moment.

Like Tatara, he also used his racial background of being half Indian in his act, providing as a transition into more (respectful) racial jokes. Mamawala says growing up around family and friends with good senses of humor got him interested in comedy.

“The reason that I tried stand-up comedy is because my freshman year in college I went to a New Jersey Nets game and I kept making all these snide remarks about the game, and this friend of mine kind of looked over at me and she’s like, ‘you sound like you’re doing standup right now. You should write some of this down and go to an open mic night and see if people think you’re funny,’” says Mamawala.

 

He started at the Stress Factory in New Brunswick and launched his career from there. He said college audiences are easier than people in club settings also.

He hopes to further expand his comedy career in the future. He says his acting background helps him in his comedy acts and would like to get back into that area of performance.

“I’m hoping as a stand-up comedian opportunities are going to present themselves for me to get back into acting, whether it’s on a sitcom or hosting a show like “The Soup” or “Tosh.0,” that sort of thing,” Mamawala says. “I definitely have very lofty aspirations of where I expect myself to go.”

The styles of both comedians were different from each other but both hilariously entertaining. From their relatable stories, to crude language, to interaction with the audience, it was evident that these comedians were meant to perform.

Everyone in the crowd was laughing by the end of the night. Senior Samantha Sansone attended because she had never seen a comedy act at the University before and said her expectations were far exceeded. “I actually have not laughed that hard in a while,” said Sansone, “What I was expecting was that they would be remotely funny but not something I could relate to. What I got was something completely different.”

Members of SAB say that comedy acts are generally really popular among students and that the turn out to these events remains relatively constant. Seeing their performances and the reactions of people in the audience, it is hopeful that Tatara and Mamawala will return to the University in the future.

The next comedy event sponsored by SAB is Steve Byrne. He will be performing in Pollak Theatre on March 22 at 7:30 pm. Student tickets are five dollars with a student ID and are on sale now on the second floor of the Student Center.

PHOTO COURTESY of ivc.edu