By Jessica Ganga
Nation & World Editor
If you didn’t already know how the College got its name, comedian Adam Ray made sure to tell the audience.
“It’s a college right? It’s in New Jersey? Fuck, man, College of New Jersey,” Ray said.
Once that was out of the way, Ray, who starred in the film “The Heat,” went on by opening the College Union Board’s spring comedy show. This semester’s show featured the hysterical Ray and the side-splitting humor of the “Workaholics” and “Pitch Perfect” star, Adam Devine, in Kendall Hall on Thursday, Feb. 12.
Ray continued his act by picking up a copy of The Signal and, after saying the College had a great paper, went on to read from his favorite section — Cop Shop.
“If you go to this school and don’t know what Cop Shop is, you need to get your shit together,” Ray said about the newspaper’s section that includes accounts of crime reports from the week. “It’s easily my favorite thing of 2015.”
He read aloud the beginning of the first story — adding his own sarcastic commentary as he went on. His hilarity became serious as he went on to read another report from the section.
“A pencil case with pencils was taken from an unlocked closet,” Ray read, causing the audience to burst into laughter.
Ray continued to connect to the College’s crowd by mentioning the favorite late-night spot, T-Dubs, which when mentioned later in his act, received claps from the audience.
The comedian interacted with the crowd, unafraid to ask students about their own personal experiences with drugs, in addition to recounting his own interesting experiences.
“It was also my first time talking to a Daddy-Longlegs about Global Warming,” Ray said, referring to the first time he tried shrooms.
Alongside the discussion about drugs, Ray sprinkled various topics throughout his performance with which college students could relate, including sex, Facebook, dating and relationships. He even pointed out a couple in the front row and asked them about their relationship, and how long they’ve been together.
After finishing up his last joke about a man walking in on him while he went to the bathroom, Ray introduced headliner Devine, who received a large cheer from the audience as he walked out to the “Workaholics” theme song.
Before starting, he was surprised when he noticed two photographers on the sides of the stage snapping pictures.
“They’re hitting me from all sides,” Devine said. He then went on to pretend like he was “crushing” his performance. Devine began to strike a number of poses — ending up on the floor at one point and causing the crowd to break out in a roaring applause.
Devine had a feeling that the night’s show was going to be a good one from the “vibes” he was getting from the already hysterical crowd of students.
“We’re going to have fun tonight, I feel it,” Devine said. “Good vibes in here, guys.”
The audience did seem to be enjoying themselves, as people couldn’t help but double over in their seats from laughing so hard.
Devine, especially, had the audience laughing when he recounted the time he was first recognized by someone while stopped at a stoplight. The man was crossing the street, stopped and said a famous “Workaholic” line to Devine. In return, Devine threw a “double-backwards peace sign.”
“That is the ultimate douchey move,” Devine said about throwing up the peace sign. “I just immediately turned into Bieber or something.”
Devine was very animated throughout the entire show, taking advantage of the whole stage. He shared how, as an 8-year-old child, he would run around his house with a cape because he was into magic.
Devine talked about his family, particularly his parents, throughout his performance. In an interview with The Signal, Devine said that he was definitely influenced by growing up in the environment he was provided, which included plenty of jokes involving his family.
“My dad’s super funny, my uncles are funny and my mom thinks she’s really funny,” Devine said. He continued on to explain how sweet his mom is, but that for his comedy, he “took all their bad qualities,” which he said with a laugh.
Throughout the show, Devine mentioned some of the different shows and movies he’s been involved in, such as “Workaholics,” “Modern Family” and “Pitch Perfect.” What some people might not have known about Devine is that he had once auditioned for the late-night sketch comedy show, “Saturday Night Live.” When Devine mentioned the audition, people cheered him on.
“Give it up for my audition everybody,” Devine said. “Yeah, give it up for that job that I did not secure.”
Devine was not prepared to do impressions and demonstrated how he poorly impersonated Paul McCartney in front of producer Lorne Michaels, a fan of the British band.
Along with pointing out his failed audition, Devine made fun of his own jokes by occasionally saying things like “so stupid” or “that’s dumb,” at one point saying that there should be a T-shirt with his “big dumb face” on it and underneath should read “stupid.”
At the end of the show, Devine talked about one of his “Workaholics” co-stars and real-life friend, Blake Anderson, and how Anderson would steal his orange juice on set.
When asked about what it was like working with his friends on “Workaholics” in an interview with The Signal, Devine explained about how great it really is and how lucky he is to be working with some of his best friends.
“Luckily, we don’t have to be that serious on the show,” Devine said. “And it’s so much fun. Those guys are my best friends, and it’s cool that we have the opportunity to work together.”
