Cadenza
John Mulaney an excellent choice for spring comedy
CS40 may have stuck us with MKTO for WUStock this year, but at least Social Programming Board looks like it’s doing something right this semester with its spring comedic performer, John Mulaney.

Although the comedian’s appearance is hardly a surprise considering Mulaney will be playing two shows on March 21 at The Pageant, he is a welcome addition to what has been a relatively successful string of comedians cycling through campus in the past couple of years (including the likes of Kenan Thompson and Nick Offerman).
Mulaney is better known as the mastermind behind iconic “Saturday Night Live” character Stefon, the recommender of all New York’s hottest clubs and various forms of human appliances, including the human Roomba (“It’s that thing of when you put a midget on a skateboard and it slides around on your floor eating garbage”) or the human kite (“It’s that thing where you tie a string to a midget in a windbreaker and then run through a field”).
He also had a brief run at the eponymous sitcom game a la “Seinfeld,” but his FOX show “Mulaney” didn’t even last the first 13-episode run. Despite the failure of his show, students shouldn’t be discouraged for Mulaney’s potential success when he comes to campus. Mulaney shines not in the scripted sitcom format, but in the stand-up setting. For a preview of how Mulaney manages to turn mundane stories and minutiae into laugh-until-your-sides-hurt material, check out his standup special “New in Town” on YouTube.
If you don’t have the 45 minutes to set aside for the whole show, check out his bit called “The Salt and Pepper Diner,” about an 11-year-old John queuing up Tom Jones’ “What’s New Pussycat” 21 times on the diner’s jukebox. His retelling of the patron’s reaction and the establishment’s slow descent into madness is one of the most hilarious pieces of stand-up comedy you’ll find on YouTube. If Mulaney can even bring part of that magic to Wash. U., then SPB has a win on its hands.
Mulaney is at the top of his game and one of the most original and quirky performers working in stand-up today. To miss the opportunity to see him perform on campus—and for free, no less— would just be crazy. If we’re lucky, we might just get a little behind-the-scenes peek at “SNL” antics or just how Mulaney managed to make Bill Hader break character so often. Now, the wait for the WILD headliner is all that remains…and if it’s as good as Mulaney, then we should be in for a treat.