By Cesareo Contreras
Comedian, writer and podcaster Pete Holmes had the crowd bursting in laughter at his comedy show in DPAC this past Saturday, an event which was part of FSU’s Homecoming Weekend.
Holmes’ celebrity status ranges farther than just his stand up. Whether from his weekly podcast, “You Made it Weird,” where he interviews celebrity guests, often comedians, or his writing on comedy television, Holmes is a man with a variety of comedy-centric occupations.
To warm up the crowd, comedian Sean Sullivan started the night OK. Sullivan’s act consisted of a mix between observational and self-deprecating humor.
“I’m excited to be here,” Sullivan said. “I know it’s a real treat for you guys. ... Come see a big fat guy you never heard of, that’s gonna be a real thrill.”
One of the most notable moments of Sullivan’s set came toward the end when he discussed his disdain for his children’s pediatrician and their swimming instructor calling him “dad” in front of his kids.
“The pediatrician is always like, ‘Well, what do you think about that, dad?’” Sullivan said. “‘Hmm, what do I think about that? I think maybe you should use your 12 years of school and learn my stupid name.’”
Sullivan went on to say that it would be a different story if it was an attractive woman who said that – “Well what do you think about that, dad?” Sullivan said seductively.
Sullivan went on to stand still for some time and was interrupted by an audience member, who yelled, “I feel you!” which caused the audience to erupt in laughter.
Soon after Sullivan’s exit, Holmes stepped on stage.
Holmes’ loud and animated humor entertained the crowd thoroughly. Be it from his impersonations of his parents to discussing the grand experience that was attending an Enrique Iglesias concert, Holmes’ expressive style and willingness to laugh at his own jokes encouraged loud laughter and enthusiastic hollers from the audience.
“I don’t know why people are proud of being hard laughs,” Holmes said to the crowd. “Sometimes people leave my shows, and they’ll be like big muscly guys and they’re like, ‘Hey Pete, you got me bro, you made me laugh. I’m a haaard laugh.’ Yeah, work on that.”
Holmes engaged with the crowd throughout his performance. At one point in the show, Holmes asked the audience if they believed FSU was haunted. After listening to one audience member’s story, Holmes went on to discuss one response he heard from another school that he found strange.
“I did a school recently, this is true, where they said the campus was haunted, but the ghost only showed itself to commuters,” Holmes said. “Can you imagine a translucent being covered in chains, coming out of the bushes, like ‘oooooh,’ and you show him your student ID, ‘No, I live on campus’ and he’s like, ‘Oh sorry.’”
Another joke that the audience enjoyed involved Holmes telling a story about his time going through airport security. In the story, a TSA agent commented on his T-shirt, which had written on it, “Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham.” Holmes described how the TSA agent made him happy for two years when she sassily said, “WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT GREEN EGGS AND HAAAAM?”
Holmes said, “That is joy. That is happiness there for you. That happened in the world. It wasn’t at a comedy show, there was no cover, there was no drink minimum, just a woman killing it in the wild!“
Holmes, however, did meet a small amount of resistance from the crowd with a joke in which he mocked Lenny Kravitz’s full name, Leonard Kravitz.
“All week, I’ve been laughing just remembering to myself that Lenny Kravitz, his name is Leonard Kravitz.” Holmes said. “That is a dork name. ...It has the word nerd in it. LeoNERD!”
Although most laughed, one audience member thought the name Leonard was a nice name, and told Holmes so, which Holmes jokingly responded with, “you’re just wrong, you’re sitting with a Hannah.”
Hannah Nielsen was a freshman with whom Holmes had been interacting and joking earlier on in the show. The response was met with a lot of laughter and clapping. Casie Thurber, a sophomore, thought the performance “was better than expected.”
Jimmy McKeon, a Framingham State alumnus, said, “It was really good. I was already a big fan. Now I love him even more.”
Nielsen said, “He is such a funny and kind and amazing guy. I had so much fun! He was very kind and gracious. He had really inspiring things to say about happiness and life, and his set was hilarious.”