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Comedians stomp Ritsche crowd for Spring Kick-off
By Debbie Peterson
 Media Credit: Christin Osgood Sonya White filled Ritsche Auditorium with laughter as she joked about her college experiences to SCSU students at Comedy Night Wednesday.
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Sudden outbursts of gut-laughter reverberated through the acoustic-friendly walls of Ritsche auditorium Wednesday night while the CSOLD (Center for Student Organizations and Leadership Development) sponsored comedians Owen Smith and Sonya White slung jokes and insights to the Spring Kick-off student crowd.
"Spring Kick-off?" Smith quipped. "Spring isn't nowhere near here!"
Students laughed at the good-humored sarcasm while Smith thanked the crowd for the chance to leave Los Angeles in January to come to Minnesota.
White, who traveled from Chicago, and has previously appeared on Comedy Central's Premium Blend and the infamous Jerry Springer Show, went on first.
Using slap-stick dancing, uncanny impersonations and a multiple range of voices, White tickled the audience. Her topics ranged from her mother's party-girl nature to Minnesota highway line painting techniques and wet-boxer competitions.
Backstage, White reflected on performing.
"When you're on the stage, it's better than any drug, drink (or) sex," White said. "Well, sometimes it's an endorphin."
White graduated from James Madison University with a degree in communications, then turned to comedy once she realized that job's were scarce in radio, broadcasting and theatre.
She started her entertainment career with an improv group, where she learned to let go of all of her inhibitions.
As for the best place to perform, White says it's the places where the people really want to laugh.
"You can go to a little rinky-dink town, like a fishing village, and have a great time," White said.
After White left the stage, Notre Dame Alumnus Owen Smith came out, and the volume of laughter was kicked up a notch.
Smith played with the crowd, talking about his own memories of college, his experiences with and insights on women and the thrill of being invited to holiday celebrations for little people.
The crowd would burst into jovial laughter at a mere facial expression from Smith; especially when he demonstrated "the look" that could end any chance at furthering a date with a woman.
Smith also had a few things to say about performing comedy.
"The best thing about comedy is that you make a lot of people from lots of different backgrounds laugh; and it's a beautiful thing," Smith said behind stage.
While at Notre Dame, Smith earned a degree in finance and studied Japanese.
Smith has been a full time comedian for eight years and performs anywhere from 30 to 100 shows a year. Currently, he's becoming involved with sitcoms, and has appeared in the USA series "Monk." Smith has also performed on Premium Blend; his performance aired New Year's Eve.
"I love performing in places where the people in the audience don't think they're too cool. Like in the Northwest, people there really know how to laugh," Smith said.
Students on the left side of the audience couldn't hear half of the performance due to sound difficulties.
"We actually couldn't hear," said graduate student Kristy Modrow. "It was better when (Smith) turned the speaker around."
Smith turned the onstage speaker towards the performance during the middle of his act, and then laughed and joked that the audience hadn't actually found him funny, they were just laughing to be polite.
The students who sat in sections where there were no problems with the sound enjoyed the show. Shoemaker RA Nolan Nesbitt summed up the experience succinctly.
"It kicked gluteus maximus," Nisbitt said.
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