7220 Entertainment is welcoming the UW community to participate in a stand-up comedy competition or to just come and enjoy the performances.
Tonight at 8 p.m. in the Gardens 7220 Entertainment with the support of the Campus Activities Center UW Stands Up will be taking place. The event is free and open to the public, but the actual competition is open only to UW students. There will be cash prizes for the winning stand-up performances.
“I believe laughter makes moments memorable and people stay connected with happy people,” Manish Bengani, UW graduate student and participant of UW Stands Up, said. “Being an international student at UW, this even gives me an opportunity to make people laugh and make new friends. Back in India, I used to conduct behavioral training and used laughter as a tool during my sessions. So, it was my vocation as well as avocation.”
According to the public page of 7220 Entertainment, UW Stand Up is not just a performance, but a competition among the students. Cash prizes will be awarded: $250 for first place, second place will receive $100 and the third-place winner will receive $50.
This event is organized right after the performance of famous stand-up comedian Trevor Noah on campus, which could encourage the UW community to come to the Gardens and laugh at the jokes of the beginning stand-up comedians.
“Last week, on Friday, I watched the performance of Trevor Noah. I had a great time laughing for few hours in a row,” undergraduate UW student Anna Klimova said. “Now I want to listen to the UW students. I think they have something to say.”
An important thing in a successful stand-up performance is the connection with the audience.
“My style is conversational,” Bengani said. “I expect to interact with the audience and build up a story around my topic. this way the audience becomes an active participant. I hardly use slangs or curse words in my communication.”
Klimova said, “I think, that the most appealing part of Trevor’s performance was that he was referring to the audience. As an international student at the UW, the foreigner in the U.S., I really liked the parts where he was talking about his cultural shock in this country.”
Stand-up comedy is the experience of acting on the stage alone, sharing your own life and thoughts while all the audience stares just at you.
“I love being surrounded by people and to speak in public,” Bengani said. “I have trained people in public speaking. I enjoy the butterflies in my stomach while I am on stage.”
The comedians in this genre talk about their own life experiences and turn them into the joke.
“I don’t have an outline ready yet, but I’ll be talking about intercultural communication barriers,” Bengani said. “Obviously, I expect the audience to cheer! The audience should be able to understand my act. It isn’t rocket science.”
