Sara Schaefer performs at SUB’s Comedy and Cookies.
Award-winning comedian, writer and MTV talk show host, Sara Schaefer performed an hour-long set at the first of the Student Union Board’s (SUB) Comedy and Cookies series on Sept. 15.
The event was held in The Perch, where SUB provided milk and cookies from Insomnia Cookies.
Schaefer, who received two Emmy Awards for the blogs she wrote while working for NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” based many of her punchlines on her personal life experiences.
“I think self-deprecation is my way in with the crowd usually,” Schaefer said. “They want to know who you are.”
Schaefer’s repertoire included jokes about bodily functions, including a time when she was unable to control her bladder in a grocery store and ended up wetting herself while waiting in the check-out line.
She said she had to return to the same grocery store because it was the closest one she could walk to from her apartment in her New York neighborhood.
These personal stories resonated with Cassidy Robbins ’21, who said she enjoyed Schaefer’s style of humor.
“When she talked about personal stories in New York, they were relatable,” Robbins said. “She told the story about her peeing her pants, I was dying of laughter since she made something frowned-upon so hilarious.”
Shannon Scimecca ’20, chair of SUB’s Late Night, said SUB wanted to bring a performer who would attract a crowd.
Previous Comedy and Cookies performers included Daniel Franzese and Eric O’Shea, but SUB wanted to feature someone who would represent female comedians.
“We decided to bring her [Schaefer] here, mostly because a lot of our comedians in the past have only been guys,” Scimecca said.
Schaefer tried to connect with the audience by talking about current anxieties and divisiveness in the world and what she thinks is an increased sensitivity that people feel about these subjects.
“I’ve been working on ‘How do I make those topics funny without making the audience feel like they’re being attacked,’” Schaefer said. “That’s not my style.”
Kasey Yunghans ’21 said she enjoyed the relatable nature of Schaefer’s jokes and stories, because they reminded Yunghans of her own life.
“My favorite part was when she was talking about a typical girl’s dorm room,” Yunghans said. “She was literally describing me when she talked about girls who have inspirational quotes on a rustic piece of driftwood in multiple fonts hanging in their room.”
Although Dylan Kaytes ’21 came in halfway through the performance, he said he still enjoyed the show.
“My favorite part was getting to sit around with good people and listen to good jokes by a funny comedian,” Kaytes said. “And eat cookies and milk.”
Schaefer is currently on a tour that includes many college campuses.
She said that one of her goals is to get students to become interested in live comedy and learn not to take themselves too seriously.
“Sometimes if you see something that makes you really upset, maybe there’s a way to laugh about it,” Schaefer said. “So, if we can learn to laugh at ourselves, things would be a lot better.”
