Fall comedy show welcome change among lacking fall programming

| Senior Cadenza Editor

Just as people were starting to ask whether Social Programming Board even remembered to book a fall comedy artist, the group announced that Hannibal Buress—absurdist comedian, provocateur and propagator of the Bill Cosby rape allegations—would be taking the Graham Chapel stage Oct. 18.

Buress, who came to Washington University five years ago for a campus comedy show, helped usher into the mainstream much of the absurdist comedy that people accept so readily today. Between his time on “Broad City” and ‘The Eric Andre Show,” Buress has made a career out of putting himself and others in unnecessarily uncomfortable situations.

To get to the point, Buress is a fantastic choice by SPB, especially considering the reception of Lil Dicky’s selection as WILD headliner. Buress has name recognition, a track record of being a decent human being and is genuinely funny in a way palatable to college campuses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmF1Y25iEPw

Take one of his more well-known routines for instance. The joke starts with Buress in New Orleans for a bachelor party, looking to drink a bit. At first, he’s just awed by how little the authorities care about flagrant drinking. Bars just let him buy a drink and walk out, never an intention in his mind to stay. One thing spirals into another, and pretty soon Buress decides he wants to throw himself a nice little party. For $300 and a route plan, Buress gets himself a brass band and a one-man parade. The streets of New Orleans are his to have, going bar to bar with walk-up music and no reason for it other than the desire for chaos.

More than any other audience, college students love jokes about chaos and drinking, having more of a tolerance for the absurd. Buress traffics in it all, telling stories of taking drugs while also providing biting observational humor that you just wouldn’t think of otherwise.

Buress may feel like a bit of an afterthought considering the timing with which his performance was announced, but his show will be a truly redeeming bright spot in this semester’s schedule of events.

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