Students gathered around a lectern during eighth period for a comedy show, some to support their friends while others came out of curiosity. Nevertheless, most expected a lighthearted event full of listening to jokes and laughter. Comedy Club hosted the a stand-up event in the Black Box Theater on Feb. 3. The club decided on a stand-up event and had been preparing for it before winter break.

“We wanted to try some new things,” senior Rahul Patel said. “[A stand-up event] could get other students who usually don’t come to the club to watch an event one time a month, or even perform.”

The club had scheduled meetings to go over the performances with the participants, but the snow days were a hinderance.

“We were going to have meetings the week before the event to make sure [the performers] can still come, test out their material and give them feedback on their material and delivery,” Patel said.

The event was open to anyone interested. It was publicized mainly through word of mouth, and was listed under the “special” category on Ion. Two participants, seniors Sauravpat Pattanayak and Jackson Zagurski, delivered their monologues in front of an audience of nearly 30 students. The event also included an open mic for the audience members, where Sishaar Rao and Greg Bastian participated.

“As far as performers go, we’re just trying to get the funniest guys out there. We just want TJ to be funny and not stressful.” Pattanayak said, prior to the performances.

When they are not holding events, Comedy Club members spend meetings coming up with ideas for, writing, or filming skits. They meet on Wednesday A blocks and are sponsored by Jill Burdick-Zupancic. They plan to periodically hold the performances.

“We will start bouncing off skit ideas towards the beginning of the year, and later we pick one and we write a skit for it,” Patel said. “We shoot it, and so we try to get actors.”