The 5C Late Night Stand-Up Comedy Club performed their first show of the semester last Saturday night at Pomona College’s Doms Lounge.
The club’s three senior members, co-presidents Ellie McElvain SC ’14 and Charles Blyzniuk CM ’14 along with contributing comic and host Joseph Ocon PO ’14, performed in their final opening night as a part of the club.
McElvain said she joined the club as a way to simply be funny and to have total creative control of the humorous content.
“It’s kind of an addiction,” Ocon said. “But in a healthy way,” Blyzniuk interrupted.
5C Late Night Stand-Up shows feature club members as well as guest comedians from the Los Angeles area. Some guests are professional comedians, while others do stand-up as a hobby.
Last Saturday’s guest performers included Pat Regan, Erin Lampart, James Austin Johnson, and Grant Pardee. The combination of senior club members and guest performers generated a fantastic evening of high-velocity humor that secured a delightfully unpredictable pace.
When asked why students should attend the events, McElvain smiled and said, “I love everyone who comes to our shows—and not a friend love either—it’s deep and passionate. That’s what we offer.”
McElvain is a comedic provocateur who fearlessly combined chicken nuggets and vibrators into a deliciously pleasurable performance.
Though she does not consider herself a social commentator, McElvain’s scandalous humor grapples with feminine sexuality and its implications.
“I’d like the laughter to also be part of a conscious or unconscious thought process or shift in thought,” she said as a preface to her act.
McElvain excelled at politely shoving her audience to the edge of their comfort zone with her explicit sexual discourse. At one point during her act, she pointed to a male member of the crowd and informed him that despite his “endowment,” vibrators will always be superior.
It seemed a ridiculous route for a sex joke, but it was genius. McElvain’s act deconstructed a patriarchal extreme for all to see, and it was done with simple absurdity and laughter.
As for the guest performers, the crowd favorite was Pat Regan, whose stage presence was unparalleled. During his act, Regan sauntered awkwardly onstage with a guitar and a wide-eyed, disoriented expression. Regan’s use of music in his comedy was reminiscent of comedian-musician Bo Burnham.
Among the highlights of Regan’s act was his satire of classic “love letter” style odes to iconic cities. For example, he began one song by repeating the line, “Take me back, San Francisco.”
Regan’s satire was reminiscent of pop music culture and its intermittent failure to carry the torch of American musical tradition. He became a pseudo-deep-rooted musician attempting to imitate classic artists like Neil Young, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Frank Sinatra—with hysterical, and potentially critical, results. Regan’s effortless and candid performance was met by waves of laughter from the audience.
Despite a small turnout, the show was a success. After the show, Lucas Sandtroen PZ ’17 said, “It was a tremendous introduction to all of the student-facilitated opportunities at the 5Cs.”
In addition to weekly Friday night open mics in Pomona Hall, the 5C Late Night Stand-Up Comedy Club will host five more shows this semester. All shows are free and run from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. The next show will be Saturday, Oct. 5, in Doms Lounge.
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