The Daily Campus

Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Nick Hart Vic Henley amuses students in Student Union theater Thursday night, depite skepticism.

Vic Henley is a veteran. Although his name is not well known, he is a southern comedian who has worked with well known acts including David Letterman, Jeff Foxworthy and Colin Quinn among others. Last night he filled the Student Union theater with howling laughter from a more than receptive UConn crowd. Brought to the Student Union by SUBOG as part of a free comedy series, Henley delighted the crowd with his brash, college-based humor.

Some skepticism could be felt in the crowd as Henley took the stage, clearly an older man, would he be able to get a laugh out of a room full of college kids? The answer was yes. Through a thick Southern drawl he warmed up the crowd by teasing a few audience members, in particular a young man wearing shorts despite the Artic weather. As the show moved on, Henley proved that he definitely understood his audience hitting popular college topics from marijuana to mechanical engineering. The crowd roared along with the hilarious whit and relatable jokes. Even Henley couldn't help cracking a smile when he could tell the audience knew exactly what he was talking about.

One of his best pieces was when he asked "How many students go to school here? About 18,000. So there must be what? Four hundred and sixteen parking spots? I'd like to find the weed they were smoking when they came up with that." Everyone in the audience was definitely smirking in agreement.

Another memorable moment that played right into the college humor genre was when Henley brought up the presidential election. No student could keep a straight face at Henley's suggestion that we combine the two outstanding characteristics of both Democratic candidates and elect Oprah, a black woman, but not only that; He also suggested America should elect her to a more serious position, as part of the Catholic Church and call her "Pope-rah." It was light, easy going humor like this that helped win the crowd over.

With the crowd on his side he tested to see how much we could laugh at ourselves bringing up sports and the terrible weather which UConn students had no problem laughing about good naturedly. 8th-semester political science and urban studies double major Summer Cerruto said that it was the "little nuances that only college students would get" that she enjoyed the most. It was those little nuances that kept the crowd in stitches last night.

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