Ah, Winterfest Weekend. A spring semester tradition where WCSA attempts to thaw the cold, lifeless ambitions of Rochester’s students with build-a-buddy, poutine, and, of course, the annual comedy show.

This year, the Student Programming Board presented “A Night of Comedy – Featuring: Chris Redd, Alex Moffat, and Melissa Villaseñor, hosted by Karen Chee.” Unlike last year’s Q&A style session with Pete Davidson, this year’s performance was a traditional comedy show where each comedian performed a 30-minute set. There wasn’t as much excitement surrounding the show as there was last year — students didn’t arrive over two hours early to nab the best seats or heckle the performers onstage. And the bad weather, a balmy high of 28°F, definitely kept some audience members at home. But overall, this show was the best Winterfest comedy performance I’ve attended. 

Audience members were consistently laughing during every set, and each comedian offered an entirely different style that kept the show interesting. Their delivery had the wit and character you’d expect from three former “Saturday Night Live” cast members. The comedians touched on subjects near and dear to the hearts of all college students including the difficulties of being single and the joys of napping. Alex Moffat got some of the loudest cheers when he shared that he’d been to the Goergen Athletic Center before the performance. What was he doing there? Playing a game of pick-up basketball with some students, of course. He’s just one of many celebrities to grace the halls of our athletic center with his presence, I’m sure. 

All in all, this show was a great way to wrap up Winterfest Weekend. We laughed, most of us didn’t cry, and we shared in the joys of singing a song together. I’m excited to see who WCSA invites to the stage for the next Winterfest Weekend. 




Grammy Noms: Colin’s Commentary

That said, I’m always still curious to see what gets nominated. Perhaps some part of me hopes that an artist who actually deserves it gets the recognition.

Plutzik Reading Series brings in Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Carl Phillips

Phillips is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who has written 17 books, the most recent of which is entitled Scattered Snow, to the North.