Jay Leno made no bones about ingratiating himself with the student population when he appeared at Alumni Arena several weeks ago.
Pausing to take a drink of water, Leno looked at the brand on his bottle, only to disapprove:
"Oh, it's French, I'll pass. Can I get some nice Buffalo tap water?"
For abstaining, he received cheers and applause from the audience. When he was given a bottle of Dasani instead of the offending Evian, Leno approved:
"Hmmm ... it's Italian, close enough!"
When Dennis Miller came to campus in September, he spoke out on his opinions of world events.
"I don't like Iraq. I don't like the way they treat their own people. And I don't like the fact that they might be able to send somebody here and blow up something in one of our cities. I think you only have to go back to the mid-30s, ignoring warnings from Germany. You have to learn from the past, and if you repeat it, you're stupid," said the comedian.
And reflecting on the United Nation's opinion, Miller said:
"If the U.N. were on the frontlines of being blown up, they'd be right there with us. If some (U.N. member nations) had it together enough to be a superpower, they'd be under scrutiny. But they're not, so their own ineptitude as nation states serves them well."
A month later, comedian Wayne Brady performed at Alumni Arena:
Toward the end of his routine, Brady impersonated Michael Jackson's infamous glove and crotch-grabbing tendencies. In Brady's act, the glove had a mind of its own and tried to grope the comedian's private parts, despite Brady's protests.
The glove eventually got what it wanted.
Comedian Jim Breuer also paid a visit to UB.
While imitating Metallica lead singer James Hetfield's throaty vocals and audience incitements, Breuer shouted, "Are you happy-ya?! Are you?! Yeah?!"
"Yeah!" shouted the audience.
"Ooh!"
Breuer described several celebrity encounters he had while working in the entertainment industry. But Breuer indicated it was his chance meeting with Jack Nicholson that hit close to heart.
"I often forget that I look high all of the time," Breuer said. in the middle of his story.
He was in an elevator with Nicholson, who was apparently on his way back from a night on the town.
"Just when I thought I had lost my chance to talk to him, (Nicholson) said to me, 'You know, you look how I feel, right now.'"
Dave Chappelle's racially charged humor filled Alumni Arena.
"When (it was revealed) the sniper was black, that news cracked you right on the head. I didn't even know they train a n- to do that! Damn! I thought he was white. I did. I'm not a racist, but c'mon, dawg! They found tarot cards (at the crime scene), and s-, I said, 'Tarot cards?' This man is white as f-! Black people don't know any f-ing tarot cards. I think Elizabeth Cleo did that s-," said Chappelle.
He continued with discussion of political topics:
"(Bush said) 'Sept. 11, the day we will never forget!' You're right motherf-er, but it's Jan. 14 and I got some bills to pay ... First he hit us with the 'Axis of Evil.' That s- set it off. Here's the other speech, 'You're either with us or you're with the terrorists.' Word, n-? There's nothing in between at all?"
Opening for Chappelle was low-talking comedian Greer Barnes, who also appeared with the Comedy Central comic two years ago at their previous show at UB. Unlike Chappelle, it wasn't hard to determine the sobriety of Barnes.
"So I smoke marijuana sometimes. Sometimes, like everyday. I don't see the downside to that s-. (I'd be) down at the parks, harassing trees," Barnes said casually to a room full of cheers while slowly kicking the air. "I know you're in there little elf man. Just tell us where in the tree y'all make the cookies."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
