[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHoM45D7_0M]
REBECCA BAINER — General Assignment Reporter
Laughter filled the halls of the Lyman Center on Sept. 14 as comedian Matt Braunger took the stage joking about Taco Bell, holidays, relationships, hangovers and much more.
In addition to doing stand-up, Braunger appears regularly on Chelsea Lately on E and has a recurring role on ABC’s new series, “Up All Night.”
“I want to always do them both,” said Braunger of his love for both stand-up and acting. “I’ll miss one if I don’t do enough.”
Braunger said he performs his stand-up routines at colleges and clubs and he enjoyed the crowd at Southern.
“I love doing colleges,” said Braunger. “I do (Chelsea) Lately, about the same number of clubs as colleges. And clubs are fine but a lot of it is kind of controlling the audience that can get out of hand and drunk which is definitely a skill you have to learn as a comedian.”
Braunger said the crowd here at Southern acted as a guinea pig for some of his new material.
“I had a really good time,” said Braunger. “I’m doing a new album in a couple weeks and a lot of the stuff that I’m trying out that wasn’t doing as well elsewhere really did well here.”
Shannon Ryan, a psychology major, said she came to the show because she loves comedy and watches Comedy Central.
“I thought he was actually really funny, he was a little bit crude but that’s funny,” said Ryan. “Some of his owl jokes were really funny.”
Braunger said his joke about owls in which he describes why owls make vicious house pets, is probably one of his most famous jokes, and with Southern’s mascot being an owl he knew he had to really get the crowd going.
“I don’t actually really do that joke as much anymore,” said Braunger. “When I don’t there’s usually someone who’s like I brought my friend and you didn’t do that joke and I’m pissed. There’s no way I wasn’t going to do it here with you guys having the Owls.”
Mariell Trimachi, a psychology major, said she came to the show because tickets were free for students, but she was not disappointed and the owl jokes were her favorite as well.
“He was amazing, I loved him,” said Trimachi. “He should come back.”
Braunger said the material for his jokes comes from things that have happened to him and basically anything else that pops in his head.
“It’s either just stuff that springs to mind or experiences,” said Braunger. “It’s almost an even mix, a lot of it is just very absurdest.”
Braunger said his new album will be recorded on Oct. 14 so it won’t be out for a couple of months, but students can purchase his last album, “Soak up the Night” on Itunes or off his website.
Students can also catch Braunger on Chelsea Lately which he said is not the kind of thing he ever thought he would do because he doesn’t do pop culture jokes.
“They’ll just give me the topics of the day and I’ll have like two hours to write jokes,” said Braunger. “It was a little intimidating at first but it’s just one of those things where you kind of just be yourself and you know that she might rip on you but you don’t let it bother you. It’s just different and a good time.”
Braunger said he has been doing a lot of acting recently and is excited about his new role on “Up all Night.”
“I’m one half of basically the Flanders couple in the neighborhood and the guy that just wears Crocs all the time and has a baby strapped to him,” said Braugner. “It’s fun. It’s totally not me, but it’s fun.”
