Luhrs Performing Arts center was packed to the seams when Brian Regan came to town on Friday, May 2.
People of all ages could be seen in the audience– children, college students and middle aged audience members gathered to listen to the popular comedian.
The night’s opening comic began with some jokes about his family life, and by the time Regan stepped onto the stage the audience was warmed up for nonstop laughing.
Instead of sticking to some of his better-known material, Regan tried some new jokes out on the Shippensburg Community.
The 8 p.m. show began with Regan joking about the pounds he gained since making a resolution to lose weight.
As soon as Regan came onto the stage he had an exaggerated way of walking that caused the audience to chuckle right from the beginning.
Regan performed a bit about cashiers asking him to sign up for rewards cards, hotels forgetting reservations, anarchy in the lines at Disney World and the intensity of women’s curling.
When Regan tried to make the show more personal, he asked the audience what sports Shippensburg University teams were especially good at. The audience responded with laughter and Regan rolled with the vibe the crowd projected.
At one point, Regan messed up his punchline about Palestine and Israel talks. He started to say there should be a rule that you cannot answer a question with an answer. The audience figured out that Regan meant to say, “You cannot answer a question with a question,” and laughed over Regan’s mistake. Instead of stopping and giving up on the joke, Regan made fun of himself for his error.
Once Regan said the punchline correctly, the audience applauded him.
SU students Kaila Lampo, 21, and Jozalyn Gregor, 22, had the chance to meet Regan before the show, since they are marketing interns at Luhrs.
“I like that when he kind of stumbled over his part…he made it work,” Gregor said, “A lot of people would have a hard time…but he just kind of went with it and it worked in the show and made it funny.”
The audience cheered loud enough after Regan’s performance that he came back on stage to perform a short encore piece.
“[I like] the fact that he is clean but is so funny…you don’t really find that as much anymore,” Lampo said of Regan.
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