Is this thing on?

Somewhere, a guy named Will finally has a human face to put on his restraining order. That face belongs to Ezra Deutsch-Feldman, ’10, political-science student, comic troubadour, and skulking admirer of this Will dude.

He even wrote a song about him:

Never let it be said that unrequited love taken to creepy extremes cannot be funny. In the hands of the amateur comedians who participated in Monday's RooftopComedy.com National College Standup Competition, that and other unsettling set-ups (punching a nun, the symbolism of a swastika) inspired the coveted reaction—spontaneous, authentic laughter, as opposed to the forced, sympathetic variety that serves only to break the agonizing silence. There was some of that throughout the competition, too.

Three alumni run RooftopComedy.com—CEO Will Rogers (swear to God, that’s his name), MBA’98; COO Alex Zelikovsky, MBA’96; and board member Hans Roderich, MBA’94. The company records live performances and provides content for a variety of media from its library of stand-up, sketch comedy, improv, and short films. It also produces events like the competition that turned the Reynolds Club's McCormick Tribune Lounge into Zanies for a night.

Eight students participated, and all of them advanced to compete as a team in a school-against-school Midwest regional stand-up standoff against Columbia College. Winners will be determined through formal judging and audience voting, in person and online. The final four teams will perform at the Aspen RooftopComedy Festival in June.

For Charles Arbuthnot, ’09, thinking ahead to June conjures concerns about what he will do for a living. Despite his stint on stage Monday, it probably will not be stand-up comedy, though a bad economy could lead to a lot of free time and open-mic nights. “It’s probably something that maybe I would have time to do if I don’t get a real job straight out of college,” the English and economics major said after his performance, “which I hope to do.”

If anybody will fall into something, he’s the guy:

Jason Kelly

February 25, 2009