Comedian Drew Carey cracks up Southern

Aaron Johnson – General Assignment Reporter

NEW HAVEN — A fairly large crowd came out to the Southern Connecticut State University Lyman Center to see the stand-up comedy of Drew Carey. Carey — best known for hosting The Price is Right – left the audience in stitches with this hilarious, somewhat surprising language.

“His material and language totally took me by surprise,” said Alaina Whitney, a graduate student from Fairfield. “But it was my first time here at the Lyman Center and I love the show and had a great time.”

Carey on the night shook off the humble, wholesome image that most audiences are used to seeing on television day after day. Instead he used mature language to articulate his jokes. Carey also made sure that no one was spared, from making jokes about U.S. President Barack Obama to talking about both Miranda Cosgrove and Jennette McCurdy’s characters on the hit Nickelodeon television show iCarly.

“He was just hilarious. I loved him on ‘Who’s Line is it Anyway’ and tonight was great,” said Justin Sherrick, a sophomore from Milford.

On the night, Carey’s style was very interactive with the audience including a conversation he had with a local 17-year old high school student sitting in the front row. Pretending to smoke a cigarette, Carey leaned in and pointed the girl out before having some fun with her and the rest of the people in that row. The joke was a fan favorite for the night

“I really enjoyed the show especially that part with the high school girl,” said Fairfield resident Marisa Mazzo.

The show was for 16 and up due to its mature content. Both Carey and his opening act shocked the crowd with the overall language of the performance.

“I was wondering how he was going to make the jokes more adult,” said Mazzo.

Carey was a stand-up comic turned actor and producer who had the distinction of having two hit shows simultaneously: the long-running comedy “The Drew Carey Show,” and the improv/sketch show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” In July 2007, Carey was named the host of The Price is Right, succeeding longtime host Bob Barker. One of the jokes he made was about what it is like to host The Price is Right and how the winners of certain prizes like a home spa have to put it together themselves.

Tickets for the General Public were $35 Faculty/Staff/Active Alumni and SCSU Student Guests were $30 and for SCSU Student with valid ID the cost was $10. Carey has been in show businesses for over 30 years and he told the audience that he has recently gotten back into doing stand-up for the enjoyment. Carey has also published an autobiography entitled Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined in 1997, a year before the his success on Who’s Line is It Anyway.

Carey has been making news the past few years with the amazing weight loss of over 80 pounds. During the show, Carey spoke about how he has been keeping up with weight loss with the addition of yoga into his regime. Although the jokes about him trying to do yoga were funny, the results of his workouts are obvious.

Overall the night was a success and the crowd was pleased with Carey’s performance giving him a standing ovation as the show came to an end.

“I was not a huge Drew Carey fan,” said Christian Ross, a resident of New Haven. “But tonight was very much enjoyable and I had a great time.”