The Baruch Performing Arts Center hosted comedy night starring Jeff Wright and Matt Friend. The night was filled with laughter as the crowd hurdled many surprising — at times not safe for school — content that was nonetheless hilarious.
Both comedians came together and interacted with the crowd by telling lighthearted, humorous jokes from their life experiences and sharing their political opinions.
Both created a perfect yin and yang of personality and jokes. Wright, known for his appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” was described by GQ as someone who flows with the audience.
Friend’s impersonations have landed him on the “Today Show” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” as well as winning Kenan Thompson’s Ultimate Comedy Award in 2019. He has over 250 impersonations, all of which are spot on.
Wright opened the stage with an inviting presence and charming smile. Going with the flow, he brought laughter and humor to the stage by interacting with the crowd and complimenting the guests in the front row.
Friend entered the stage following Wright with a burst of energy, and the promise that his speed was supplemented by a Zyrtec and nothing else to credit. After he licked the Baruch microphone and feared for his life, he jumped right into his infamous impersonations of politicians.
Most notable were his Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy impersonations. He gave the crowd a run-down on how to do the perfect Trump impersonation.
Friend referenced characters in Harry Potter in a Trump voice and said the key to master the impersonation is to purposely pronounce all their names incorrectly, but make sure to sound completely confident.
“As long as you say anything in a Trump voice, you are completely un-cancelable,” he said.
Friend shared that Republicans often accuse him of making fun of Trump.
“I am not making fun of Trump,” he said. “I’m just repeating exactly what he just said.” Not to leave out Trump’s counterpart Elon Musk, he joked that “If Elon Musk sinks any further, he’ll just be a Tesla stock.”
The current political crisis is a wonderful time to be in comedy, joking that he took Baruch’s offer to perform as his only alternative was the encampments at Columbia University.
Friend continued to joke that he was almost totally sure that he was being “Punk’d” halfway through and called out Ashton Kutcher.
He riled the crowd by joking that an older guest with a cane was going to charge into him on stage and attack him Will Smith style.
Another crowd member got up from his seat and walked down to the first row with his hand raised after Friend asked if anyone was single.
“I don’t wanna host the Oscars,” Friend said. “I don’t wanna be on SNL. I want to perform for the people at Baruch.”