COMEDY

Rathskeller becomes “Laughskeller”

Campus comedy coming to the Rathskeller.

Alum returns to host campus Comedy Nights

Guest host Chad Zumock, feature performer Mike Farrell and headliner Ryan Dalton humored students in the Rathskeller last Thursday by kicking off one of many Comedy Nights this semester.

“We will have new comics from Comedy Central all coming down here,“ said Zumock, a former Kent State student who started Comedy Night.

“I opened for Nick Swardson at the M.A.C.C. last year. Four thousand people were here, and it really took off from there,” he said. “I graduated from Kent, so I enjoy giving back.”

Zumock is co-host of The Alan Cox Show on 100.7FM WMMS from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. He is known for wearing sweater vests and his sarcastic, obscene humor.

He opened the show by asking who had a Blackberry.

“I play with my Blackberry more than my dick. It’s my new favorite toy. I play with it all the time,” Zumock said.

He proceeded to joke about naked pictures that people send on their cell phones.

“I wonder if Alexander Graham Bell had this in mind back in the 1800s when he was doing his telephone thing,” he said.

Farrell began his skit by saying, “this place looks like a used laser tag dome!”

Everyone lost it, and the Rathskeller roared with laughter as he persistently made fun of his surroundings.

Farrell said he has a funny family, and he was a troublemaker growing up.

“I think of everything on my own, whether it be an encounter or just an awkward situation,” Farrell said.

Dalton is a Kent State alumnus as well. He has been on Comedy Central and the Bob and Tom Show.

“It was so nice of you to let us interrupt your study hall. I’m going to jump from topic to topic. It’s going to be awkward, but it’s going to be funny … I go tanning,” he admitted. “Not enough to Snooki it up or anything … but I’m talking entry level package.

“I’m so allergic to cats, that when a girl calls her vagina a pussy my eyes swell up a little bit. Well, not really, but I like the joke.”

Dalton said he has been doing professional comedy for five years.

“It’s amazing, it’s the greatest job on earth,” Dalton said. “I had a dream at Kent State, and I knew one day I’d be able to have a job where I wake up at 5 p.m. Believe in your dreams, always keep them low.”

Dalton said his comedian buddy Steve Byrne got his career started in upstate New York, and the comics work together to make their skits funnier.

“I love doing comedy, but my least favorite thing about this gig is bachelorette parties because these girls show up with props, like penis straws,” he said. “Irony, it’s horrible! Some factory out there makes that stuff, and some factory worker guy has to look at himself in the mirror every day and say ‘I get to go make wieners again today. I should have stayed in school.’”

Students can take part in the experience by attending Comedy Night every Thursday in the Rathskeller, along with the upcoming performance of Magical Comedian and Impressionist Brandon Styles on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Shows are free to Kent State students.

Contact on-campus entertainment reporter Michelle Bair at [email protected].