Comedy Central Presents

“Testing one…two…three.  Testing one…two…three.  Please give a round of applause for Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas!”  The roof of Hunter College’s Kaye Theater was on fire Thursday night, and it would’ve taken the entire New York City fire department to put it out. With Apl.de.ap’s surprise performance from The Black Eyed Peas’ new album, the bar was set extraordinarily high for the event’s main attraction: Jo Koy.  The anticipation, excitement, culture, sincerity, and⎯not to mention⎯hilarity present at Jo Koy’s special TV taping easily made Thursday night’s comedy show the best show of my life.

The special performance was by invite only, but a seat was still not guaranteed.  The line wrapped around the block, across Park Avenue, down 69th street, and up Lexington Avenue.  The end of the line was out of sight, but definitely not out of mind.  The agony of not knowing when the line would start moving was unbearable, but the anticipation it built somehow made the wait tolerable.  Nevertheless, the two-hour wait on the four-block line was well worth it.  Apl.de.ap kindled the fire with his performance of a song from their new album followed by a hit song from one of their old albums.  Not only did the hip-hop artist sing, he break-danced as well; only further fueling the already raging audience.   After such an inspiring performance, you would expect the crowd to lose some of its flare, but the cheers only grew louder as Apl.de.ap left the stage.  The audience knew the time had come.  It was the moment they had all been waiting for.  Throw a log on the fire; Mr. Koy was coming on stage and tonight promised to be a long and wonderful night.

Apl.de.ap had prepared the crowd, and now it was Jo’s responsibility to bring them home. His performance could make or break the night, and the audience was ready.  The fire was hot.  He held the potential to put out the fire or let it burn, and, boy, did he let it burn.  Comedy is very hard to master and comics can often be crude or insulting, but not Jo Koy.  He had the audience in the palm of his hand; he had everyone on the edge of their seat.  However, there were a few people who weren’t on the edge of their seats, but it was only because they had fallen off the edge from their unyielding laughter.  Jo perfectly balanced all forms of comedy into his act. He told his stories about family with the utmost honesty.  His stories were grasping and his punch lines were sharp and clever.  The performance was one in a million.

The lights above us turned on, and sadly the performance was over.  People began putting their jackets on and made their way into the isles.  However, the night was only over for the camera crew.  They were done taping the part that was going to air on TV, but we were still in for some more excitement.  It took only about 30 seconds for Jo to exit the stage and come back on stage.  He quickly apologized for leaving and asked us if we would care to hear a couple more minutes of the act that wouldn’t be on Comedy Central.  We all found our place back at the edge of our seats and listened to a couple more hysterical stories.  After a long night, Jo gave us his final goodbye and the raging hot fire had finally cooled down.  As we exited Kaye Theater the fire had finally smoldered, but the night had burnt a timeless impression on the audience that would last an eternity.

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