Homecoming 2021 was a truly memorable experience, especially as my first comedy show. For $15, students were able to see comedic performances by host Shang Weng, Ali Wong, and Jonathan Van Ness at the Matthews Arena. It was wonderful to see a group of Northeastern students coming together and to feel a sense of normalcy and community.
One part about my homecoming experience that struck me was having to lock my phone away in a little pouch so that we could not take photos or record videos. It was entertaining to observe a crowd of phone-less people try to find something to do with themselves in the hour leading up to the show. At one point I saw people playing “patty cake” and “chopsticks” out of sheer boredom. Each person held their own pouch with their phone locked away during the show. At one point I even felt tempted by the incessant buzzing of my phone. However, it was wonderful and eye-opening to go to a phone-free show. Everyone was truly connected to the performers rather than being worried about showing off what they were doing or capturing videos that they would likely never look back at. It was a nice change from other concerts I’ve been to in the past where almost everyone in the crowd had their phone held up and glued to their hands. It showed me how important and rewarding it is to live in the moment and truly enjoy a performance with no distraction. It was refreshing and reminded me that I should get off my phone and live in the moment more. I felt I could sit back and relax without having to worry about what people were texting me or posting what I was doing.
Ali Wong’s performance was unforgettable — she was the true star of the show. She knew her audience well and knew exactly what would make college students laugh until their stomachs hurt. Wong was relatable and talked about gender inequality and the difficulties of being a woman all with a comedic spin and cheeky jokes. She talked about what it was like to be a successful woman and how it impacted her dating life before she found her husband. I was engaged during her entire hour-long performance and it was clear that the rest of the audience felt the same way.
Jonathan Van Ness was funny, but certainly was outshined by Wong in his performance. While I am a big fan of Van Ness and Queer Eye, I feel his comedy is better suited for television and an individual comedy show. Van Ness’ funniest segment was imitating the Olympic Gymnasts lining up for their show. It felt he was over-compensating a bit and sharing more about his personal life rather than being comical. He seemed to ramble and was unsure where to go with his performance at times.
I loved how Wong and Van Ness used their own experiences to create jokes. It felt truly personal and relatable.