We’ve all heard the line “If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college.” It’s one of the signature bits of famous comedian Lewis Black. Naturally, as a well-known mountebank, Black has had many others open for him, most of whom are excellent comedians in their own right. One such cut-up, Ty Barnett, did his thing in the McNeil Room on Saturday night.
Barnett stepped up in front of a packed house at 8 pm in the McNeil Room and immediately launched into a rapid fire comedic routine that zipped from one topic to the next faster than a freshman late for class. But, where a lesser comedian would have appeared scatterbrained, Barnett had it all together, transitioning smoothly with each topic change. He began with the cold weather and inside of five minutes had moved to the fact that women have power over men.
Another mark of Barnett’s comedic talents is his ability to adapt. It was not until during the course of his act that he learned about the male-female ratio at RPI, and he quickly improvised a whole new series of jokes relating to it. “Y’all must watch a lot of porn here, huh?” he queried, after comparing competing for girls here to the Superbowl, Survivor, and the Bachelorette.
Barnett also had a significant amount of interaction with the audience. Before learning of the ratio, he singled out one couple sitting in the front, and teased the guy for not being able to laugh at the jokes for fear of retribution from his girlfriend. Later on, he continued asking questions of both specific audience members and the crowd at large, often asking for a show of hands to illustrate one point or another about gender relations.
The technical nature of RPI thoroughly impressed the entertainer who called it a “whole other level of academia.” Barnett was educated as a pharmacist and is no stranger to the scientific way of thinking about the world, but could not come close to some of the majors in the audience, such as chemical engineering,
Barnett has an interesting background. He was in the Armed Forces at first, and despite always being told he was funny, he never did anything serious with it until he lost his best friend. Barnett then realized he wanted to do something positive with his life, and an open mic in Seattle, near where he was stationed, got his career off the ground.
Barnett has been on Comedy Central before, and he will be again. The February 17 episode of Friday Night Standup will feature the up-and-coming funnyman. If you attended the show, you will know to catch this; if you missed the show, do not let this opportunity to see Barnett in action slip by.
But Barnett’s ambitions are not confined to standup; he is writing a sitcom with a partner. Barnett has the comedic background, and his partner has the writing background, and together they are discovering that writing a sitcom is more difficult than it sounds. Barnett also wants to get into acting, and with his easy, laid-back attitude and winning smile, he might just have the makings of a good comedic actor.
Everyone who attended Barnett’s show was thoroughly laughed-out by the time he finished. Barnett has a unique talent for connecting with a young audience, and it was in fine form Saturday evening.
