Loads of laughs with Loni Love

By Heather Fiore and Angelique Lee

Comedienne Loni Love is known for her notorious racial jokes on Chelsea Lately, as she bickers back and forth with the late-night hostess and others on the panel. However, on Feb. 26, Love managed to venture away from the “crazy white woman,” Chelsea Handler, to perform at Rider.

The Student Entertainment Council sponsored the event, which generated a turnout of about 100-150 students, who were laughing from start to finish. When Love first appeared on stage in the Cavalla Room, she started the show by firing off jokes about Rider’s website and how she had never heard of the school. However, because she glimpsed a smiling African-American student on the website’s slideshow, she decided it was safe to come here.

She acknowledged each class from freshmen to seniors. She also caused a riot when she started calling out people that were late to her show, including a large African-American man whom she referred to as “Blind Side.”

After cracking on part of the audience, Love gave students advice on topics, such as “don’t look up to celebrities” and “find something you love doing.” Love elaborated on this by mentioning how Christina Aguilera royally messed up the National Anthem at Super Bowl XLV, not because she was nervous, but because she was drunk.

Love talked about her own college experience as well, and how her career plans drastically changed. She said she started off as an engineer but then decided to become a comedian.

Love had a lot to say when it came to politics. She expressed her political statements, such as her support of President Barack Obama and her hopes of the U.S. electing the first Mexican president, all of which had the audience roaring.

Love finds time to visit Afghanistan. She goes there twice a year to do a comedy show in support of the soldiers.

At Rider, Love said she enjoyed audience interaction and participation and got students involved on stage. In this part of the act, she had a pick-up line contest where she chose three men and three women to display their skills. The three men had to give their best pick-up lines and sing a line from a song of their choice to a girl that Love chose from the audience. The audience chose the winner by a round of applause.

After the winner of the guys’ contest was chosen, the women’s contest began. They also were required to present their best pick-up line, but had a more risqué challenge when Love asked them to dance up on the winning guy.

Because of her entertaining rendition of Ludacris’ “What’s Your Fantasy,” junior Bobbilynn Tull won the cash prize contest for the women.

“When I was on stage, I thought I would have been nervous, but I wasn’t. It was fun being up there and being courageous,” Tull said. “It was a good experience. I had worthy competitors and it was fun to laugh with them before we did what we had to do.”

To end her show, Love had one student dance and another student sing “Only Hope” by Mandy Moore. Afterwards, Love gave fans and students the chance to meet her personally by opening the stage for photographs.

— Additional reporting by Neil Rasbury