In lieu of all the stress and confusion associated with upcoming exams and the plethora of events for Spirit Week, many students' hearts were lightened on Friday as Craig Ferguson of CBS's Late Late Show entertained his audience with a hilarious and high-energy evening of comedy.
Ferguson's stage presence was in full gear at the Center for the Arts' Mainstage Theatre, where he was dripping with energy and enthusiasm (or was that sweat?).
His constant movement and mannerisms were reminiscent of the hyperactive greats like Jim Breuer or Robin Williams, but perhaps slightly less drug-induced.
Ferguson was unashamed to recount his life story before the audience in his own funny fashion; from an early childhood spent with his crazy mother, to his experiences in rehab due to alcoholism, to his goal of becoming an American citizen, the brunt of Ferguson's critical and sometimes-contradictory humor was most often directed at himself.
A great deal of Ferguson's material was drawn from time spent in his birth country, Scotland. With his thick accent intact, Ferguson talked about his experiences in his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland's relationship to the rest of Europe and the US, and of course, Sean Connery.
This Scottish commentary, however, never became dull or repetitive.
While many comics tend to focus their social, political, or media-based commentary on local or national issues, international comics like Ferguson can be pleasantly diverse, covering a number of comical issues in different countries. Ferguson himself referenced various stereotypes and issues spanning countries like Belgium, France, the US, Afghanistan, Canada and many others.
Ferguson's visit to UB comes at a high point in the artist's career.
Since Ferguson's inception as host of the Late Late Show in 2005, the show's popularity has grown immensely, with an average of around two million viewers. This is only half a million viewers behind Late Night with Conan O'Brien, one of the biggest names in the late night game.
Ferguson's own reputation is growing quickly, having been nominated for an Emmy in 2006 for his performance on the show.
Despite this recent critical acclaim, many students at UB were a little confused about who exactly Craig Ferguson was.
"Wasn't he on SNL a few years ago? Or maybe it was Mad TV," one student tried to recall.
With the aptly named Late Late Show airing at 12:30 a.m., it's understandable that the average student might not know who Ferguson is. Some might recognize him from his role as Nigel Wick, Drew Carey's boss from The Drew Carey Show. Or perhaps even from one of the films he wrote/co-wrote and acted in, such as Saving Grace and The Big Tease.
Regardless of whether or not students knew who Ferguson is, tickets to a Friday night comedy show are hard to pass up.
Those in the audience who didn't know of Craig Ferguson before the act certainly gained a little insight into his life and career throughout the performance.
No doubt referring to the lengthy tangent about his genitalia, or any number of other "dirty" topics, Ferguson did concede that this is a college campus and there is very little that will likely offend students.
When asked about his performance, Ferguson half-apologized, saying, "Yeah, sorry it was so dirty. It's really normally not that bad."
Offended or not, the crowd loved Ferguson, and they let him know it with their constant laughter, cheering and applause.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
