Comedians get ‘wild’ with relatable, raunchy jokes

By Lauren Cavazzini

From the TV to the stage, comedians Chico Bean and Darren Brand prove that laughter can aid semester stresses.

Students were treated to a show filled with jokes and life lessons during the comedians’ stand-up routines on Sept. 30 in the Bart Luedeke Center.

Bean and Brand are both comedians from the MTV show Wild ’N Out, and are part of the Freestyle Funny Comedy Show, which is described on their website as, “an entertaining mix of original stand-up, sharp improv and amusing crowd-interactive games.”

Brand was the opener of the show, and used his time on stage to give the students advice about college.

“This is the best time of your life,” he said. “Live [it] up. It doesn’t get better than this.”

He then talked about all aspects of campus life, from pre-gaming and sex to dealing with roommates and cheating on exams.

Although exaggerated for comedic effect, Brand appealed to the audience by talking about relatable topics for most students at Rider.

By the time his set was over and it was time for Bean to take the stage, the crowd was fired up and ready for more.

“I’m so happy to be here in Narnia, New Jersey,” Bean said when he first walked out on stage. “Seriously though, this is a part of New Jersey they don’t talk about in rap songs.”

Although Bean thought of the campus location as a negative, he was happy to notice the diversity Rider has on campus and how great it is that students have the ability to learn about different cultures.

He also mentioned that all college students can relate to at least one thing: the fact that they’re all broke.

“It don’t matter what color you are, we’re all stealing drinks from McDonald’s,” he said. “I fill that water cup up with Sprite every time.”

Bean’s topics were similar to Brand’s in that he focused on the social aspects of college and brought out the humorous part of any situation.

He talked about being away from family, navigating new relationships and partying. Between each of his jokes, Bean was sure to tell the students to have fun but to also be responsible.

Overall, the show was a big hit with audience members, who were constantly bursting out in laughter or applause. Freshman theater major Shawn Jobin was particularly impressed.

“I was surprised at how real and raunchy it was,” he said. “I had never been to a comedy show before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I thought that it was really cool how they were able to incorporate life lessons into the show.”

Many in attendance, including Jobin, came to the show because they recognized Brand and Bean from television.

“I’m a huge fan; I watch Wild ’N Out every week,” Jobin said. “That’s the whole reason why I went. They were even funnier than the people I see on the show.”

Bean finished his set by leaving the students with one last piece of advice. “Y’all are young adults out here so I’m saying whatever you do here, do it with passion.”

Published in the 10/04/17 edition.