Review by Kyle Vanous
Professional comedian Andy Hendrickson graced our Peninsula College campus with a strong performance the night of Oct. 11 in Maier Hall. The audience was packed with anticipation to the point of standing room capacity. Andy’s brand of softcore comedy was lightly seasoned with a few good swears, successfully balancing the contrast of older and younger attendees.
Lots of jokes about family dynamics kept the routine safe, relatable, and funny. But that is also where he lost me. Safe and predictable is what I expect from my car, not from a comedy show. I prefer a set that pushes the edge of what one might find comfortable. Bordering the line of shocking or even offensive without crossing that line, and then flipping it on the other half of the audience with the next punch, because we are not all shocked by the same things.
Stand-up is typically a scripted routine but, when Hendrickson deviated into improvisational subjects such as Crab Fest, the whole energy in the room changed. His body language became more animated and the crowd quickly engaged with him. It must be scary to be up there shooting from the hip and missing but, when you can hit from the hip, people respond.
Let’s face it; when we knowingly go to a comedy show, we want to laugh, we expect to laugh, and the result is laughter.
Laughter is also very contagious. Andy got me twice legitimately which is pretty good for me but, the rest of my chuckles were just contagion.
He did however keep the audience rolling, and fairly based on their response it’s safe to say we would love to have him back sometime. Maybe next time he will get crabs.
