Most contestants in Spartans Got Talent sing or dance. Marketing sophomore Chris Ryan wanted to make the audience laugh.
Ryan was one of the few MSU students who performed a stand-up comedy act at the Spartans Got Talent event, a talent competition put on by the University Activities Board that took place Nov. 7 at the International Center .
“I’ve been doing stand-up for one year, so my first stand-up gig was last year,” Ryan said. “I did Last Spartan Standing. I got an audience favorite for that.”
Since then, UAB has had Ryan open up for various comedians.
“I just go wherever I get a gig. If you got money, I’ll try to make you laugh,” he said.
While Ryan said he enjoys what he does, he plans on pursuing a career in marketing as opposed to comedy.
Hospitality business junior Donovan Wilson , on the other hand, aims to be the best comedian that ever lived.
“I just like making people laugh. I didn’t know how to go about making people laugh so I just started doing open mic nights at UAB and I heard about Spartans Got Talent and I tried out,” he said.
One of Wilson’s favorite aspects of comedy is doing impersonations.
“I like to act out other stuff, like what people do,” he said.
Despite this being his first show, Wilson won best comedy act and audience favorite.
Elementary education senior Nicole Gloden performed jazz and tap pieces at the event with her dance team, the Spartan ShowStoppers.
Gloden said she has been dancing since she was 3 years old, when she was inspired to take dance after watching her older sister practice and perform. Her dance team was formed just last January. Since joining, she wants to pursue a career as a dance teacher.
“It’s the first time that this group has performed together, so we’re excited but nervous,” she said.
Gloden also noted that the Spartan ShowStoppers is the only dance team on campus that does tap.
“(We’re) trying to get ourselves out there with that, and hopefully people will enjoy it,” she said.
Human biology senior Justin Diamond was inspired to get into music after seeing the film “School of Rock” with his brother.
“I’ll be performing one of my songs, one of my new songs — it doesn’t really have a name yet,” he said.
Diamond, who is planning on releasing a couple EPs, thinks it would be fun to pursue a career in music. He has been playing at open mic nights ever since college started, but was feeling especially excited for Spartans Got Talent.
“I’m quite excited because I haven’t played this song to anyone yet,” he said.
