A Night of Laughs in Science Center D

After the first time it’s told.

And yet, while jokes may weaken with repetition, the leaders of the Harvard Stand Up Comic Society—a group formed just this year—said they hope the response will only get better after the group’s first ticketed event held Friday.

“The first two times you tell it, you’ll get a great reaction,” said comedian Harrison R. Greenbaum ’08. “The third or fourth time, it’s maybe not as good because you haven’t rehearsed it enough yet so that it sounds unrehearsed.”

Billing itself as two hours of nonstop comedy, the lineup of the show included performers from both Harvard and Tufts, and—despite being held the night before the LSATs—it managed to draw close to 150 people to the Science Center, according to the society’s co-founder David W. Ingber ’07.

Performers drew some of their material from goings-on in the College community itself—notably The Game, which, in a jab at the alleged irrelevancy of Ivy League football, was likened to selecting the Playboy playmate of the year via a philosophy exam.

Also cited was the recent christening of the Women’s Center. “It’s a kitchen in the basement of a freshman dorm,” Ingber exclaimed.

The material that drew the loudest responses, however, had little to do with current events.

Bits about the relative merits of working out at physical therapy centers instead of gyms, William Shakespeare’s teenaged forays into the field of flirtation, and a hypothetical “Chinese Idol” competition, in which contestants performed academically instead of vocally, all drew bouts of laughter.

Tufts senior Neil Padover punctuated a particularly well-received set with some commentary on the Church of the Assumption, a place of worship whose title particularly interested him.

“Listen, we’re not 100 percent sure Jesus is the Lord,” he said, referencing the double entendre posed by the church’s name. “But we’re going with it.”

At night’s end, one audience member wasn’t quite “going with” the show’s venue, citing a preference for the looser atmosphere that prevailed in an earlier, un-ticketed society event in a crowded Winthrop House common room.

“There was a better vibe,” said Colby Brown ’07. “I felt like this was trying to be more professional.”

Professionalism, however, didn’t appear to have dampened the optimism of Ingber, who said he was pleased with the show’s outcome.

“I’ve already had people come up to me and say, ‘Hey I want to perform at the next one,’” he said. “And I think that’s great. I think there’s a need for groups like this on campus, and I would love to see this blossom.”