Pete Davidson recently visited Bucknell’s blissfully cold and snowy Lewisburg campus with nothing but a pair of Jordan’s and a few friends backstage. Bucknell paid Davidson two-semester’s worth of the – for lack of better words – celebrity budget, with the understanding that getting the comedian on campus would be an event of the year. I would say they were right.
At a time when this often active and flourishing campus is fairly quiet, filled with students waiting to ditch the KN95 masks and gather with more than 25 people, Pete showed up right when we needed him. The beauty of this comedian is not just that he’s well known and liked by most people these days, especially college aged students, but that even his filtered Q&A with absolutely no expectations can fill the gym where our Basketball team often plays with a much smaller crowd. Students went for the jokes and the entertainment, but it’s the faith in Davidson and the honor of being in his presence that filled the seats.
The way he went about the Q&A is an exact representation of the type of comedian he is, and why he’s so well liked. He sat down, he was comfortable, and he was fully prepared to just be himself and make people laugh on his own. Davidson is fairly known for his goofy personality, his self-degrading jokes about his drug-ridden lifestyle, and much more relatable content for people around his age. He’s not afraid to talk about girls, weed, celebrities he doesn’t like, insider information he probably shouldn’t talk about, and much more. But he also has a more emotional side, a side that shows his struggles with depression, or his passion and devotion to comedy and the business he’s in. This is the reason people are so drawn to him, and it fully came through in his performance. He talked about his experiences in Hollywood and his personal life; he talked about the drugs he’s taken, and even made a joke about masturbation that the university would probably rather didn’t make to the big stage. Throughout the entire show, it was so clear that the audience was fully engaged and enthralled; it felt like a one-on-one conversation with each person.
He left us with some advice while he sat in his red velvet chair under the spotlight: have fun, do things you love and things that make you happy. Don’t wait around for anything or anyone, and make sure you enjoy what you do.
Thanks Pete! Come back again soon!