Funches brings the punchlines

When Ron Funches hit the Center for the Arts stage Friday night, it only took him a few moments to make the crowd erupt with laughter.

The comedian claimed he thought the movie “Hidden Figures” was based off his love for women in winter coats, yet he said he was disappointed when he found out it was “just a bunch of b----s doing math.”

The punchline caused the largest laughter of the Student Association’s 2018 Comedy Series, with one audience member laughing for an entire minute.

The 6 p.m. event, which was the first of two shows Friday night, brought out roughly 300 students to the Center for the Arts. SA spent $16,933 of its $35,000 budget for this year’s event, according to SA’s general ledger, a fraction compared to last year’s $110,000 budget for Trevor Noah’s appearance. Friday’s event saw “Saturday Night Live” affiliates Anna Drezen, Alex Moffat and Streeter Seidell appear alongside Funches for a night of college-themed humor and witty punchlines.

During the show, Funches’ signature giggles brought life to his routine.

When Funches mentioned 12-year-old black girls and claimed there was “nothing meaner than them,” the audience went wild. The comedian told the story of a young girl who sarcastically told him he was “killing it” on a subway station, and how he thought about it for years to come. Audience members also chuckled when the comedian claimed how you have to “give them beads [for their hair] so you know they’re coming.”

During the back end of Funches’ routine, the comedian discussed his 14-year-old autistic son. The comedian brought up his son’s condition delicately, but members of the audience couldn’t contain themselves when Funches told one specific story about his child.

Funches took listeners back to a time when his son was eating an entire cheese pizza without pants or underwear on. The teenager refused to put on pants despite his father’s requests, but the comedian claimed that “Jesus took the wheel.”

As his son was taking a bite of the pizza, cheese and sauce fell on his testicles, causing the teenager to scream about his “hot nuts.”

This joke was the perfect conclusion to a night of comedy from some of the most prominent writers in the game.

Another fan favorite, Alex Moffat, brought an equal amount of energy to the stage as he does with his SNL skit characters.

When he walked on, he gave members of the crowd high fives and gained some early chuckles from the crowd.

The first five minutes of the routine saw Moffat speaking in a German accent and doing impressions of celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr. and Shaquille O’Neal. When he fist-bumped an audience member in the front, he referred to him as “racist,” building a relationship with the crowd.

Moffat appeared to have done the most research for his set, and referenced UB’s discontinued “drunk bus,” Dennis Black and Andrea Costantino’s embezzlement cases and acknowledged Buffalo terminology.

“Dennis, are you here?” Moffat asked. He was hoping some higher ups would be in the audience to “bring back the drunk bus.”

He joked the former UB vice president would attend the show “fresh off” of his Liza Minnelli concert, which he spent stolen funds on. He also made reference to Costantino’s treadmill which she purchased with stolen funds.

The researched routine capped off with a keyboard performance of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” in which the comedian played nonsense chords, placing his hands on random keys and garnering massive laughs.

Another SNL affiliate, Anna Drezen, brought self-deprecating and witty humor to the stage Friday night.

Drezen’s approach was different from that of the other comedians, yet her humor was spot on.

Her routine touched on her dog’s nipple size, female-friendly-porn and the comedian took crowd-involvement to new levels and made “rain” noises with the audience.

The Spectrum’s interview with Drezen can be viewed here.

College Humor’s Streeter Seidell opened the show, and poked fun at SA President-elect Gunnar Haberl after Haberl introduced Seidell.

He mentioned that Haberal had a “politician walk” and was “corrupt,” making playful jokes about the student.

Seidell also told stories of McDonald’s on a plane, his dog eating vomit and his college roommate who never returned.

The comedian covered a lot of ground and set the standard for a night of laughs.

Brenton Blanchet is the senior arts editor and can be reached at Brenton.Blanchet@ubspectrum.com. 

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