Lauren Ostrom – For the Review. Ice Auditorium was filled to capacity Oct. 3 as three students battled for the title of Linfield’s funniest student.
They performed under the watchful eye of Tony Deyo, a rising professional comedian. The students, sophomore Greg Larson, junior Darren Valenta and senior Michael Nelson, performed a skit in a five-to-10 minute time frame.
“Well, I did a bit on how I had lost my voice earlier last week and how one of the members of LAB said that I was just faking it,” Valenta said of his act. “So I made fun of [Area Director Josh Merrick] a little bit. I also did a bit on how I could do an impression of anybody in the audience based on 10 seconds of them talking to me. I then did a bit on how I like to do impressions of Chewbacca and Arnold Schwarzenegger and how I used to practice them at home and drive my parents crazy.”
Others took different approaches.
“My set was about the trials of life: board games, relationships, a kidney stone and communication,” Larson said. “Most of my jokes centered around wordplay.”
Nelson, however, took home the prize.
“My piece was heavily directed to things about Linfield that I find humorous, and knowing that parents were going to be there, I kept it clean and pushed the envelope a little bit in regards to some of the misconceptions that they may have noticed once they arrived at Linfield,” he said. “I had a great time doing it, and it was great to see so many people out there in support.”
Nelson won a gift card to Golden Valley Brewery and the bragging rights of being Linfield’s funniest student.
Freshman Lori McEwen, who attended the show, said she enjoys having the opportunity to attend these types of events at school.
“It makes it more fun to be here, and being able to see a comedian for free where you would have to pay anywhere else makes it worthwhile,” McEwen said. “Tony Deyo was hilarious, and I hope he comes back.”