Rosy Flores and Christian Martinez, co-chairs of Multicultural Programming Board and juniors here at Augustana, invited Jay Jurden of recent “Tonight Show” fame to perform stand-up comedy here at Augustana College on Nov. 14, 2019.

“This is my last college performance this year,” Jurden said, who started touring his comedy performance aroun colleges in April of 2019 and is highly impressed with his last show’s closing.

Jurden remarked that preparation for the comedy shows starts with time management, as it relates to how many jokes you want to perform given the preferred time frame of the college he is performing at.

His writer’s process consists of note-taking and drafting what he wants in the performance and what he wants to cut out. “Of course, things change,” Jurden said. He adds that comedy evolves and “what gets cuts out, of course, stays out.”

Jurden’s comedy is inspired by social observation of everyday people and historical events that have shaped the way people see the world.

He feels that the goal for him is to mix the two concepts of his interest and fuel them into another interest, which is comedy.

Aaron Hanania, first year student here at Augustana, has noticed the comedian’s style and is here at the show for cultural exploration. Hanania commented, “Jay Jurden comedy is really unique. He has a very broad audience and has a specific style of comedy.”

Hanania doesn’t really follow comedy, but he found the show entertaining nonetheless.

Another student who attended the show was sophomore SophiaRose Brown, who was at the show because she loves comedy and even has a passion for it.

Brown said, “comedy is fun and so was the performer.”

Her favorite comedian right now is John Mulanely, who is  known for script writing for SNL, also known as Saturday Night Live.

Jabin Rodriguez, first year, is another student at the show because he has a passion for comedy and making folks laugh, said, “Jurden is very funny and a good performer.”

Augutana students look forward to other big stars coming to the school.

One of Rodriguez’s favorite comedians that he follows is Kevin Hart. Rodriguez stated he would actually want to see Kevin Hart come to Augustana as the next comedian stand-up act.

Hananaia remarked he would be impressed to see a musical artist perform, specifically COIN, an alternative rock band he is fimiliar with.

Stay tuned for Feb. 28, 2020 when Priyanka Wali, a part-time comedian and doctor as well as  Augustana’s next guest, will be joining us.

However, from the reviews of this performance, stand-up comedy is well favored among the campus, even among students who do not follow comedy.