THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10,2009
NEWS
5A
10:34:18
CAMPUS
...
SUA offers a night of comedy with a side of pizza
BY BRANDON SAYERS
Contributed photo
bsayers@kansan.com
Students will be able to get free pizza and a free comedy show tonight at the third annual Pizza & a Comedian event.
Student Union Activities is organizing the event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in Hashinger Theater
at Hashinger Hall. During the event, students will be able to vote for their favorite pizza in Lawrence and see comedian Dan Cummins perform standup comedy from his upcoming Comedy Central special. The
Cummins
event will be opened by Those People, a student group that will be performing improv comedy.
Jabiz Behzadpour, special events coordinator for SUA, said Pizza & a Comedian was one of the most popular annual events that the group organized. At last year's event, comedian Sabrina Jalees performed and students voted Pizza Shuttle the best in Lawrence.
This year's featured comedian is Dan Cummins, a standup comic whose work has been featured on "Last Comic Standing," Comedy Central's "Live at Gotham" and
"Last year, Hashinger Theater was full at a maximum capacity of 300 people, and there was still a line of people wanting to get in after the show had started" Behzadpour said.
PIZZA AND A COMEDIAN
**WHAT:** Performances by Dan Cummins and Those People
**WHEN:** 6:30 tonight
**WHERE:** Hashinger Theater, Hashinger Hall
"The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson." The Kansan had a chance to talk with Cummins recently to discuss his comedic style, upcoming television special and what it's like to perform in front of college students.
Edited by Sarah Kelly
As of Wednesday, the following local businesses have confirmed they will be providing pizza at the event:
Gambino's
Hy-vee
Wheat State
Papa Murphy's
Papa morphy's Pizza Shuttle
Pizza Shuttle
Wheat State
(as served in Oliver Hall)
Each student will be able to vote for the one pizza they liked best. To ensure there is a fair vote, colored toothpicks will be used to identify the different types of pizza.
Q&A WITH CUMMINS:
Kansan: All right Dan, let's say that you've just seen yourself perform standup for the first time. How would you describe what you saw?
Dan Cummins: Well, I guess a few words that come to mind are dry, sarcastic and off-the-hall humor. In general, I would classify my comedy as pretty absurd. I saw a quote the other day where an author was asked to describe their book in a few sentences and he said, "Well if I could describe it in a few
sentences I wouldn't have wrote the book."I kind of feel like that when it comes to standup. I get asked these questions every time and I never know how to answer because I just think my act is really unique and unlike everything else out there.
Kansan: Can you say a few things about some of your influences as a comic?
Dan Cummins: I would say Steven Wright, Daniel Tosh and Dave Attell are my main three influences. You know, when I first started doing standup everyone would say, "Just talk about your family, talk about where you're from, make me autobiographical,
Dan Cummins: I was verv
don't do this, don't do that," and I found it really hard to write jokes that way. When I saw someone like Daniel Tosh for the first time, it wasn't like "Oh, I want to do what he's doing." It was more like "Oh, you can get away with those things you were too afraid to say."
Kansan: Your half-hour television special recently took third place during Comedy Central's standup showdown. How did that make you feel?
Dan Cummins: I was very excited. It was cool to know that people liked it and everything.
But, the best part was when my manager called and said that
Comedy Central liked it so much they wanted me to do an hourlong special.
Kansan: You're currently on tour and have been doing a majority of your shows for college students. How do you like having an audience of primarily college students?
Dan Cummins: College audiences are great. I feel like when you're in college your mind is more open to different things and you have more time to pursue the things you passionate about. I also know most college students grew up on Comedy Central, so they are usually more standup than older folks
and seem to be more responsive to the shows.I definitely like a college crowd better than, say, a bar crowd.
Kansan: How much will your show here at the University be a practice run for your upcoming television special?
Dan Cummins: Basically the first hour or so of my set will be new material directly from my new special. When you see it on Comedy Central in a few months, I may have changed a few words here and there, but it's going to be about 99 percent the same.
Kansan: I don't know if you've heard this yet, but in addition
to the free comedy that is being provided, this event will also feature free pizza. What do you think about that combination?
Dan Cummins: Well that should bring some more people to the show. I do love pizza. Unfortunately, I'm lactose intolerant so I won't be going crazy at the pizza buffet. But, I think those two things are the perfect college combination. If you could have free beer along with it, I'm pretty sure most of the University would show up. I don't know how much attention they'd pay to my set at that point, but they'd certainly be around.
POLITICS
N.M. Gov. involved in minor boating accident
SANTA FE, N.M. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's chief of staff was at the helm of a houseboat involved in a minor weekend accident on Elephant Butte Lake with the governor aboard.
Brian Condit was cited with
negligent operation of the vessel and damage to property.
According to an accident report released Wednesday, Condit was operating the 81-foot houseboat, "The Bloody Mary," when it hit two other houseboats in a marina on Saturday.
Condit said in a statement he wasn't experienced enough to try to navigate a boat that size
and will not contest the citations.
There was damage to two of the boats and the marina, but no injuries.
Other passengers on the houseboat included its owner and Katherine Miller, New Mexico's secretary of finance and administration.
Associated Press
Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.
Robert Kennedy shooting
The schools welcomed students for the first time Wednesday.
EDUCATION
Schools open at site of Robert Kennedy shooting
The 1,000-room Ambassador Hotel was once a celebrity playground that hosted six Academy
Awards ceremonies.
LOS ANGELES — Two elementary schools have opened in Los Angeles at the former site of the Ambassador Hotel, where Robert
Robert Kennedy was shot in a pantry moments after declaring victory in the California Democratic presidential primary.
smartbreak
Associated Press
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