For two comedians performing on campus this weekend, getting laughs out of college students is never a sure thing.
Rodney Johnson and Miguel Washington, who are part of The Black Comedy Tour, provided some comic relief from the daily grind of college life.
The Campus Center hosted the tour Saturday in the Engineering Building.
“Performing for students, although rewarding, is difficult because you aren’t sure how well they’ll relate to the topic,” Johnson said.
Both comedians say they fall in the clean and religious category, which sometimes gets in the way on college campuses, but MSU was really receptive, said Tami Kuhn, director of the Campus Center.
Washington opened his 45-minute set with jokes about college, but he won the crowd over with jokes about whipping his two kids.
Johnson and Washington said whipping jokes are the best because everyone can relate to them.
This is the second year the tour has stopped at MSU. “Last year it was really funny. I couldn’t believe that I laughed so hard and I was working,” said event security head Zachary F. Keen, a criminal justice junior.
Johnson and Washington have used clean jokes throughout their careers.
Performing for a full crowd, Johnson had no problem picking up where Washington left off. He told the audience how he was whipped as a child in church, the grocery store, on the street corner and even in front of friends.
The audience members cheered, stood up, stomped their feet, pounded on desks and jumped in response to many of the evening’s jokes, but the whipping jokes were by far the best received.
“The first comedian (Washington) related to the audience well, his stage presence was inviting, he knew how to tie himself into the crowd,” said chemical engineering junior Samuel Richardson.
Johnson and Washington have been comedians for more than a decade.
Washington, a former Dallas radio personality, has been doing stand-up for 10 years. He’s performed on cruises and is touring with the Hilarious Church Comedy Tour.
“I consider myself to be a PG-13 comedian with a religious background,” Washington said before the show.
Johnson, a 13-year veteran, recently performed on Black Entertainment Television’s Comic View and has served as a warm-up for TV shows such as “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “In the House” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
