Though classes had started just one day before, spirits were high in Wadsworth Auditorium on Tuesday, Sept. 1 as comedian and Rochester, N.Y. native Jamie Lissow took the stage.
Dressed casually in a plaid shirt and glasses, Lissow dove into a comedy routine that was unsurprising but well-suited for an audience of college students. The crowd kept laughing as Lissow spoke bluntly about sports, school mascots, living in cramped apartments and college life in general.
In a particularly funny moment of the show, Lissow handed out his comedy CDs to the audience member with the best pick-up line. Both Lissow and the crowd cracked up as students offered up their best one-liners.
"I like performing at colleges," he told the crowd. "You guys are smart enough to get all the jokes."
Lissow had plenty of material from his years as an undergraduate student at SUNY Fredonia, where he obtained degrees in mathematics and psychology. After college, Lissow decided to pursue stand-up comedy. He has since been on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," the "Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" and his own 30-minute "Comedy Central Presents" special.
During his Geneseo performance, Lissow mentioned that one of his most famous moments - now immortalized on YouTube - occurred while accidentally being electrocuted while performing on stage at a club.
"Maybe if you didn't like the show, you can watch that," he quipped.
Sophomore Asad Khan, a special events coordinator for Activities Commission, was responsible for bringing in Lissow. After hearing the comedian, who has also lived in New York City, on a Rochester-area radio station, Khan thought he was a good choice to usher in the new semester.
"Since we have a lot of students from the New York City and Long Island area, as well as from Rochester, I thought people could relate to him," Khan said.
The audience left Wadsworth Auditorium laughing and chatting about the show.
"It was good. He's funny," said freshman Mike Cooke. "I was going to go to the library, but this was definitely better than studying."