Caitlin Williamson – Special to the Southern News
This past Wednesday, Southern Connecticut gave the John Lyman Center stage to stand up comedian Thomas Dale. With joke deliveries aiming towards serious social issues of today’s world, he was able to address topics with a good-hearted punch. I had never heard of Dale before I heard about the event hosted by Southern, and trying to avoid another overheated night at the local pizza restaurant/bar down the road, I felt this would be something different. Dale was a great performer; audience oriented, and brought hysterical situations from his upbringing and everyday life for our laughing convenience.
“I was laughing to the point of possibly dying. I was crying at one point because I was laughing so much,” said IvyLee Rosario, 20. “I mean he was just so funny! His voice was great and he kept making fun of the fact that he was gay and from New York, and he had this little accent.”
Thomas Dale was born and raised in Long Island, N.Y. He travels to many college campuses around the country performing, with relatively cheap tickets or in some instances free for the students. He has performed at famous New York stand up lounges such as Caroline’s on Broadway and Laugh Lounge.
With his thick mixed New York and Italian accent, he killed the crowd with his vulgar but honest punch lines. Using his family members as a huge portion of his show, he was able to make the crowd relate to his topics as well as laugh hysterically at his Italian family’s ways and upbringing.
“He kept picking on the fraternity Beta,” said Rosario. “He picked this one guy and started ragging on him and telling him he loved him. It was perfect.”
If anyone is ever interested in seeing a free comedy show at Southern, I would highly suggest going out to see Dale. I was able to YouTube some of his previous shows after seeing him perform on Wednesday and showed some of my friends his stand up pieces. He was hysterically making fun of his father for being a detective but being clueless as to his son’s sexuality preference.
Lauren Christian, sophomore at SCSU, attended the stand up show. “He was hysterical! Definitely a good show, laughed the entire time as well,” said Christian. “I love when Southern is able to host shows for students, especially those without cars who can’t leave campus as easily.”
Rosario took to Twitter after the show to give her support. “I like tweeted to him because a whole bunch of people were doing it, and I followed him, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, you’re so hilarious!’ and he tweeted me back and was like ‘Thank you so much! I love you!’”
“Yeah, it was free, but I mean I would pay for that,” said Rosario. “It was great! It was literally that hilarious and the fact that it was free was even better.”
Next week’s performer at the Lyman Center will be the famous Drew Carey performing Sept. 28. Definitely reserve your tickets for this stand up, enjoy good laughs with friends, and cost effective tickets for Southern students. Suggested for mature audience members only.
Southern Connecticut has had numerous famous performers come to the Lyman Center, and usually have well priced tickets for the students’ budgets. Keep an eye out for upcoming events with the Lyman Center for the Performing Arts, and you can always see the schedule online athttp://tickets.southernct.edu/.
I give this performer a nine out of ten for witty fresh material, as well as relatable material for college student’s age!