This past Saturday, the Aggie Theatre hosted Jokechella, a multi-hour-long comedy event that showcased many comedians from local acts to some that have been featured on Comedy Central.
Produced in partnership with the Comedy Fort, a soon-to-be coming comedy club in Fort Collins, Jokechella was a 60+ comedian special broken up into three acts with three headliners and three rapid-fire sessions in which the remaining comedians would tell jokes for only a few minutes before alternating to the next comedian.
The event started at 6 p.m. but lasted until 11 p.m., while still keeping a sizable crowd throughout the entire night. Samantha Ruddy, Zach Reinert and AJ Finney headlined the show, all three of which have amassed national audiences, but the show also featured local comedians like Sam Sisson.
All of the shows kept the venue near full. Even during the show’s intermissions, the theater was buzzing with people walking around and discussing the shows. While the headliners kept the audience entertained, many of the rapid-fire comedians were not as well received by the audience. Many of the comedians only elicited small amounts of laughter or just left the crowd silent entirely. Within reason, many of these acts either couldn’t land their timing, were haphazard with their delivery or simply just did not make any sense.
The headliners, on the other hand, consistently kept the crowd roaring. Admittedly, during Finney’s section of the night, there were several times I was doubled over, gasping for air because I was laughing too hard. But despite the general audience’s lukewarm reception to parts of the night, a few audience members had nothing but positive things to say about the show.
“All the comics were great, and they brought their A-game,” audience member Eric Cooper said.
One of the highlights was the high energy of the show, according to another audience member, Jason Blanco.
“It was excellent, it was a lot of fun, good energy and a good turn out,” Blanco said.
Ty Davis can be reached at entertainent@collegian.com or Twitter @tydavisACW.