If you are easily offended, leave NOW,” said the voice coming from the speakers of Ives 101 when introducing Eliot Chang. “Scandalous Stand Up” was an appropriate title for Chang’s comedy show, who made many jokes to engage the crowd of about 60 people on Thursday night.
Chang has previously performed on Comedy Central, Chelsea Lately and Showtime.
After seeing a flyer for his show around campus, Anjelica Martinez decided to see Chang on Thursday night. “I really liked how small and intimate the setting was. We’re lucky he came to Sonoma State instead of having to pay a bunch of money to see him,” said Martinez.
Chang’s joke topics included drinking, dating, being Asian, gay rights, cars, Asian stereotypes, racism, girls’ poses in Facebook pictures, broken phones, working from home, interracial couples, vegans, our dependency on cell phones and even jokes about the crowd.
His first joked started by asking who in the crowd was over 21. A few students yelled and cheered, and he responded with, “Now I know who all of the alcoholics are.”
Chang made many jokes about being Asian. He used his comedy to defend his culture and to joke about it at the same time.
After asking if anyone had seen him on Comedy Central or “Chelsea Lately,” Chang said, “Maybe I just look familiar because I look like 14 million other people.”
Chang’s jokes incorporated impersonations and dirty humor to get the crowd to laugh, and it worked. Through the show, the crowd was engaged and laughing at Chang’s jokes.
He joked about the usage of chopsticks in China. “We don’t actually use them, we just like to see white people try,” said Chang.
“Being Asian, you can’t stand too close to other Asians because people think you’re a family,” said Chang when joking about how Asians look alike.
He talked about girls’ iPhones and how they always have cracked screens. “I feel like whenever guys leave the room girls go, ‘dodge phone’,” said Chang, bringing many loud laughs throughout the room.
When talking about how dependent we are with our phones, Chang said, “Your car gets stolen and you say ‘My phone was in there!’ Yeah, so was your car. And your baby.”
After joking about how girls’ poses in photos make them look like they have scoliosis, Chang added, “And half of you are still explaining to the person next to you what scoliosis is.”
Chang even defended gay rights by commenting that people shouldn’t worry about other people being gay because it doesn’t affect them. “’I’m gay.’ Okay, where’s the money you owe me? Just don’t leave it in the closet,” joked Chang.
Chang called out any vegans in the crowd by saying, “Vegans—you’re wrong.” Even with a few disagreeing and upset boos from the vegans in the crowd, Chang continued with his jokes, not caring that he offended some.
Chang ended his show by explaining that the show would be followed by a Q-and-A session that would include answering anonymous text messages from the crowd. He also told the crowd that he would be selling videos after the show, joking that he was selling Iron Man, the Avengers, and other DVDs.
His well-deserved spot on Comedy Central was made clear with the jokes and laughs that he brought to Sonoma State. With a wide range of jokes, Eliot Chang was a great fit for a comedy show at Sonoma State.
