Miles Hendrix once stripped down to his underwear in the middle of class to make a point, while giving a speech about being a nudist.
Members of the White Tie Improve group Kevin O’Connell, left, Micheal Angelo Smith, far right, and Cory Williamson, front, perform on Saturday in Shoup Hall. The Moscow Mardi Gras Comedy Show was co-hosted by the White Tie Improv group and the Comedy Lab.
Hendrix enjoyed the laughter elicited from his classmates by the bold move and has since been inspired to pursue a career in comedy.
Hendrix will host the Moscow Comedy Show at 8 p.m., Friday at the Kiva Theatre. The show is free to the public and will feature comedian Jake Weisman from Funny or Die and comedian Monica Nevi from Seattle. The show is sponsored by Vandal Entertainment and the University of Idaho Comedy Lab.
The Comedy Lab — founded by Hendrix and a few friends — is a small group of students who enjoy performing as stand-up comedians.
“It’s a student organization … we initially did open mikes and that was good for about a year and a half … we had about 10 comics, but now it has dwindled down,” Hendrix said.
Hendrix said that between graduation and personal reasons participation has dwindled, but he’s hoping to recruit new students who are interested in entertainment and comedy.
Hendrix is also a part of a group on campus called White Tie Improv, an improvisation group that meets twice a week. White Tie puts on a show every Saturday in Shoup Hall. Cory Williamson, a member of White Tie, said improvisation is much more collaborative than stand-up comedy and their shows are based on each audience.
“It’s terrifying enough talking to people, let alone make them laugh,” Hendrix said.
Hendrix has performed in Seattle and spent the summer in New York performing his routine. He would do three or four shows a night while he was in both cities.
Hendrix said he started to do open mikes and worked at comedy clubs, until he found improvisation.
“Improv is a collaborative thing … I think people like participating in that more,” Williamson said.
Hendrix incorporates his improvisation skills in his comedy act. Hendrix said he is more energetic on stage than in real life, and he enjoys what he does on stage and has been able to refine his act since he began. He said during his first performance, his opening joke was really funny and made the audience laugh — but the rest of the show “bombed.” Since then, he’s learned how to read his audience and found that he appeals more to a crowd whose age is between 20 and 30 years old.
“To take all the tragedy and hard times in life and make them funny, it’s cathartic,” Hendrix said.
Williamson said he believes that Hendrix is still finding his voice, but is improving with every show.
Both Hendrix and Williamson wish to see more people involved in comedic theater like improvisation and standup comedy. They both said people don’t have to be in theater or have experience to be good at comedy.
“Everyone’s funny, because truth is funny,” Hendrix said.
Williamson said that any show relies on how open and willing the audience is to participate or to be amused. He described the audience as the paint and those on the stage as the paintbrush — if they have nothing to work with, there would be no show.
Williamson and Hendrix believe there’s a lot of hidden talent on the UI campus and they are hoping to see the Comedy Lab and White Tie live on, after they leave UI.
Hendrix said after graduating from UI in May, he plans to move to Chicago to pursue his career in stand-up comedy.
Hendrix is excited to host the upcoming show on Friday. He said he hopes anyone interested in theater, improvisation and comedy entertainment will attend the show and join the groups.
Students interested in participating with White Tie or Comedy Lab, or just interested in watching their rehearsals can find them on Facebook or attend practice. White Tie meets from 5-7 p.m. every Wednesday in Shoup Hall.
Danielle Wiley can be reached at [email protected]