The microphone sat alone atop the stage at UPC's Last Comic Standing.
Lights beat down on the microphone. The beams created both heat and weight. The microphone remained unmoved. A crowd slowly trickled in, murmuring in excitement and anticipation of the entertainment expected to come.
The student-comedians waited patiently for the competition on Thursday, Oct. 3 to begin. Perhaps the microphone would be the last one standing.
"Some people never get comfortable on stage," said Brent Pettie, senior in fruit and vegetable production. "But after I've told the first joke, usually, I get comfortable if things are going decently."
Pettie said he began doing stand-up comedy approximately two years ago out of respect and enjoyment of the craft. He gained much of his experience performing at bars and venues.
Performing stand-up comedy can be a fun experience for both the audience and comedian.
However, Pettie said when an act doesn't go over well with the crowd, comedians can experience what is called "bombing."
"That's something that happens to everybody," Pettie said, "It happened this week. The crowd wasn't paying attention. It was like they were just staring at you. It's like that dream you have where you're in your underwear and everyone is just staring at you angrily."
Not all of the comedians performing have a well of comedic experience to draw on such as Pettie has.
Elizabeth Earls, freshman in exercise science, has performed some comedic improvisation before, but she performed stand-up comedy for her first time that night.
"I took some improvisation classes," Earls said, "But it's totally different from standup because in improvisation, you are playing off of other people, and so you have people to help you along. But with standup it's just you, alone, up there all by yourself and you have no idea what's going to happen. You have to play off the audience with it, and I'm nervous about that."
But being nervous is not a deterrent, Earls said.
"I guess to reach a dream, or a goal, you want in life, you have to put yourself out there," Earls said. "I can't stay in my little bubble my whole life. I've got to branch out and try something new. That's what college is all about; finding what you want and doing what you love.
"When I heard about this, I thought, you know what; I might as well go for it. If I bomb, I bomb. It's a good experience, it will get me going, and it will help me later."
Ronda Eady, senior in information systems management, also performed stand-up comedy for her first time.
A friend of Eady's asked her to perform stand-up for Last Comic Standing.
She performed with only one day's notice.
"I'm a really shy person," Eady said. "So this will be a personal victory."
Despite being nervous, Eady was able to remain optimistic about how her act would go.
"I really enjoy stand-up comedy," Eady said. "I listen to it constantly. It's just in the background and I've always really enjoyed it. I feel like, even if they're not laughing, I'm going to be laughing. I tried to think of some things that would be funny to a wide amount of people."
It was with this optimism Eady took home first place at UPC's Last Comic Standing.
"I've seen (Carl Langlois) perform before and I really liked his stuff," Eady said. "I thought he was going to win. So, when they called out second and third I was like, 'Well I'll just pack up my stuff now and leave,' because I thought that either (Langlois) or Brent (Pettie) would win. I was just sitting there not paying attention and then I thought, 'that sounded like my name. Was that my name?' And then they were looking at me, so I guess they called my name. It was a really nice feeling."
Eady claimed her victory was due to beginners' luck.
"I didn't expect them to laugh as much as they did," Eady said. "The crowd was really, really good. They were ready to laugh at everything I said, so I appreciated that."
Despite winning, Eady jokingly remained hesitant to perform stand-up comedy again in the future.
"I won't say never," Eady said. "But I'm so glad that I did it; and maybe, maybe I'll do it again."
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