‘Pride’ful comedian entertains RFOC
Comedian Jason Stuart liked to play doctor as a kid.
He just did it in a different way.
“I’m no different from you guys; when I was a kid I wanted to play doctor,” Stuart said. “You guys were the ones who made me be the receptionist.”
Stuart, an openly gay comedian, made sure to include everyone in his performance Thursday night at the Towers Real Food on Campus residential restaurant.
“I love straight people; two of them clean my house. One of them stole something, but I’m not going to say anything,” he said. “If it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t be here.”
Anyone who came to the show planning only to be a spectator was in for a surprise.
Stuart made sure to find someone who was gay, bisexual, straight and Jewish during the first 20 minutes of his performance.
Although Stuart had an awkward moment or two – especially with some of his travel stories – he was not afraid to admit it.
On The Fly Productions decided to sponsor the comedian after seeing him at a conference in November.
“He had a really good show at the conference,” said Harper Woods sophomore Eric Kmetz, OTF’s comedy chairman. “We thought he’d be a good fit for National Pride Week.”
Stuart’s performance attracted an audience of about 115 people.
With the variety of people Stuart poked fun at, it was hard not to identify with something he said – whether it was Paris Hilton or animated people.
Pride Week schedule
- The Gay Straight Alliance student organization will host a drag show at 8 p.m. April 7 in the Real Food on Campus residential restaurant.
- A concert to benefit Transgender Michigan will take place at 8 p.m. April 8 at the Wesley Foundation on the corner of Washington and Preston streets.
- Pride Fest 2006, which will include a picnic and games, takes place noon to 3 p.m. April 9 at Warriner Mall.
- Paul Wesselmann will deliver the Pride Week keynote address at 7 p.m. April 10 in Moore Hall's Townsend Kiva.
- The Office of Gay and Lesbian Programs banquet and awards ceremony will conclude the week’s events at 6 p.m. April 12 in the Bovee University Center Rotunda.
“You know there’s a bunch of gay guys in animation going, ‘How far can we go before the parents notice?’” he said, referring to animated children’s movies.
Stuart was not hesitant to make the show controversial.
“My family’s insane – we’re five minutes from an OJ (Simpson) trial,” he said.
The theme of the night was mainly sexuality and some jokes seemed more stereotypical than funny.
His comments about leopard print coats and attraction to cartoon characters such as Tarzan failed to hook the audience.
However, Stuart never stayed on any topic too long.
“My sister’s a very pretty blond like Paris Hilton,” he said. “She went to college for 10 years and got that two-year degree.”
Stuart’s upbeat attitude and ability to talk about things everyone could understand made up for some of his mediocre jokes.
