USUCC.
No, I wasn’t talking to my various study guides or my endless pile of dishes.
I was talking about the University Stand-Up Comedy Club.
Recently, the club put on a show to determine which of its members would go on to compete this year in the National College Comedy Competition.
The current team is made up of eight members. Congratulations go to Otto Akin, Brian Amos, Tim Keck, Rudy Mendoza, Krishna Reddy, Kamaron Scholl, Jaclyn Schwarz and Barry Yuille Jr.
However, should the team advance past Florida State University in the second round of the competition, only four members will go on to perform in the next rounds. The four that are not selected will be alternates in the event that any of the starting members has to leave the competition.
“Brian Amos, Rudy Mendoza and I have all won this competition before,” said Tim Keck, the president of the club. “We know what it takes to win, and whoever makes it onto the final team will have as good a chance as any to win the whole thing.”
Keck has performed with the club for two years; his first experience with stand-up comedy was in the first round of this competition in 2009.
“We are all really excited for the chance to compete again, as well as the chance to represent the University of Florida,” Keck said.
Jaclyn Schwarz started performing stand-up one year ago in the first round of the competition, too.
Schwarz said that her preparation for shows consists of going to workshops held by the club and the Gainesville Comedy Showcase to “get feedback on new jokes from other comics.” She then tests her jokes at smaller venues to see if she thinks it’s “nearly stage ready.”
The team has the advantage of performing for a home audience for the next round of the competition.
At 7 p.m. on March 27, Common Grounds will be hosting the UF versus FSU stand-up battle. Common Grounds can be found next to Five Star Pizza in downtown Gainesville.
Also, I’d just like to point out that, according to FSU’s page of the National College Comedy Competition, it will be competing against the “UFL” Gators. It will also be providing a free bus for transportation of anyone that reserves a seat to come and support their team.
Seeing as Calvin Cole, the former president of the comedy club, won the title of America’s Funniest College Student last year, I don’t think one small typo and a bus full of Seminoles will stop our team from succeeding.
