Two Cardinals Walk Into the Lower Pryz
Image courtesy of Gabriel Romito
By Gabriel Romito
Catholic U Project Arts held its own standup event on Thursday, October 24. The event, Cardinal Comedy, roused a good number of laughs from the very beginning. From jabs at the seminarians who came to watch, to direct quotes from the recent Joker movie, Cardinal Comedy definitely cemented itself as a CUA Project Arts event for the future.
Catholic U Project Arts is a relatively new organization on Catholic’s campus, aimed at promoting all forms of culture in and around the Catholic University community. Many of its events focus on the visual arts, meaning that comedy-centered events have made a place on its schedule. The first Cardinal Comedy took place in the Pryz food court, with its own array of acts showcasing Catholic University students’ comedic talents.
At the start, the event was focused on one student who made a variety of comments about Catholic University seminarians, to little effect. However, the student who followed him garnered some laughs as soon as he walked on stage. Opening his backpack as soon as he walked on the platform, Tim Noble pulled out a penguin-shaped cap, which he appropriately placed right on his head. From that moment, the audience started to light up, with a lot more involvement—including heckling—between the performers and the audience.
One of the more notable acts included sophomore Robbie Cruz, whose delivery was short but poignant. Knocking off three jokes in quick succession, he proceeded to make jokes towards the Washington Nationals, current events, and pop-culture. A joke the audience found particularly funny was his closing comment, ripped straight from the movie Joker: “When I was younger, I always said I wanted to be a comedian, and everyone laughed at me. Well, no one’s laughing now!”
Five acts followed Cruz. Junior Matt Bechtel, CUA Project Arts president, himself went up at one point, letting the audience in on a story of his trip to the hospital, in which he was given a few powerful shots of morphine. Yet Bechtel’s act was enhanced by some heckling from the audience. “I hate going to the doctor,” Bechtel began; only to be interrupted by a heckler who asked what his favorite procedure was. “What do you want me to say?” Bechtel said. “Prostate exam?” the heckler responded. “That’s what I figured,” and without stumbling Bechtel went right back to his story, not missing any detail.
The event wrapped up after a few more performances, ultimately ending around 10 p.m. At that point, most of the snacks provided by CUA Project Arts— including pizza from Pizza Boli’s and tons of candy in the spirit of Halloween—had been devoured by the audience and the comedians alike.
Needless to say, the ability of the amateur comedians that performed to rouse an audience surely implies that Catholic University will see more Cardinal Comedy nights in the future.
