School of Communication Professor Chris Palmer teaches film full time at AU, but he could never teach his daughters to do a handstand, he admitted to 100 people during his stand-up comedy routine Saturday night.
Palmer said he uses inspiration from his family and the AU community in his stand-up set at Laugh Riot at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Md., a program he emcees each week.
"My whole comedic set is based on my experiences and observations and the world I see around me," Palmer said.
Palmer's comedy set included a discussion about his AU students.
"My 'A' students listen to everything I say," he said. "My 'B' students listen to half of what I say. And my 'C' students listen to iPods."
Laugh Riot at the Hyatt is every Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. Admission is $5 and the Hyatt provides a cash bar and light dinner fare. The program features local amateur comics, according to Laugh Riot co-founder Curt Shackelford, a 30-year resident of Bethesda.
Palmer and Shackelford founded the comedy club about nine months ago, Palmer said.
"We wanted a new place to do comedy," he said. "I wanted a place where I could perform and Bethesda had no comedy club. We saw an opportunity."
Palmer said his comedic career began 15 months ago when his daughter Kimberly, 27, gave him a flyer advertising stand-up classes and encouraged him to try.
The show usually begins with Palmer's 15-minute set, he said. There are about three or four comics following, ranging from seven to 15 minutes each. A headliner performs last for about 30 minutes. Each show ends with a joke-telling contest.
Zach Sigel, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he discovered the comedy show by viewing Palmer's podcast in the AU Career Center.
"I'm actually really surprised that it is as good as it is," he said.
Casey Wilson, a freshman in the School of International Service, said the comedians - despite being amateurs - impressed him.
"They're all a lot funnier than I thought they'd be," Wilson said.
Palmer said every weekend he might see a few students when he greets audience members before the show, and he loves it when students come. On average, there are about 100 audience members per performance.
"For very little money you can have a great evening of laughter on a wide variety of topics that you can really enjoy with four, five or six different types of comics doing different types of comedies," he said.
Palmer said he considers humor a major part of his life for both entertainment and educational reasons.
"I consider laughter a very powerful way of telling the truth," he said. "There's a wonderful way to tell the truth by altering people's perspectives by having them see things in new, fresh ways that they otherwise wouldn't normally see."
In the future, Palmer said he hopes for opportunities to perform for bigger audiences in Los Angeles and New York City.
"I think it's the enjoyment for me of having people laugh and having them, just for a time, forget all the problems and challenges and stress they feel in their lives," he said. "We don't have nearly enough of it in the world in my view."
Palmer said Laugh Riot at the Hyatt is a program he hopes will continue to run and improve forever.
For more information about Laugh Riot at the Hyatt, visit www.standupcomedytogo.com.
