Friday night 37 year-old actor, screenwriter, producer, and more importantly, stand-up comedian Nick Swardson came to Iowa City for his sold out show.

The CAB comedy show was originally scheduled to take place on Friday December 13th, 2013, but due to unspecified conflicts, the show took place Friday January 24th in the Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge at 10 pm.

Swardson is best known for his writing and roles in films and TV shows like: Grandma’s Boy, Malibu’s Most Wanted, Benchwarmers, Reno 911!, Just Go With It, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. Nick started out doing stand up comedy at the very early age of 18 and began making a name for himself in the Minnesota comedy scene.

But before Mr. Swardson graced the stage with his new material, comedian and opener Josh Mann took the stage. While Mann truly did make me laugh on multiple occasions, his material overall lacked originality. It seemed as though the less rehearsed the jokes were, the better the reaction from the audience, (Such as his jokes involving the Ped Mall). His stage presence was awkward at best, mainly due to his incessant sipping of an unidentified Starbucks beverage. His demeanor was somewhat off-putting and definitely did not help the delivery of his material at all. All in all I have to say I wasn’t impressed with Josh Mann.

As disappointed as many may have been with the opener, that quickly changed for the better when Minnesota native Nick Swardson took the stage. Greeted by a roar rather than applause, Swardson took the stage with his classic funny man swagger. Dressed in a Young & Reckless t-shirt and snap back, along with neon Nikes and blue jeans, he greeted the audience by shouting, “What the fuck is up Iowa City?!”.  If such language is bothersome to you, then Swardson’s act was definitely not for you. Like many stand up comedians, most of his jokes were somewhat vulgar and profanity saturated. I say that in the most complementary way possible, because literally he had me in tears. His material covered a wide range of topics. Anything from cats, to the first man to experience a brain freeze, to ice skaters with diarrhea, were all fair game. The material was relatable and original in every way possible, and the crowd loved it.

Check out a pic a UI student snapped at the show by clicking on the Tweet below. Nick then retweeted it to his 500,000+ followers:

“@nellym2011: First row in Iowa City! @nickswardson Throw me a retweet. #IOWA pic.twitter.com/O1axpZyGmd” am I albino? Wtf? Haha

— Nick Swardson (@NickSwardson) January 25, 2014

Like any comedy venue, the IMU Main Lounge had it’s share of hecklers, which Swardson handled like a real pro. One young woman, got irrationally upset when Swardson was a telling a joke involving a woman performing oral sex. She yelled from the back of the room in a moment of silence, “Women are not objects!”. To this Nick responded jokingly with “No, you’re just alcoholics.” and then proceeded to tell more jokes aimed at women to make a hilarious point. Again, those sensitive to such topics are advised to avoid Swardson’s shows, because he is crude and fully proud of it. I completely enjoyed his set, along with the hundreds of others in the IMU Main Lounge. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand, and delivered much more than our money’s worth.

Swardson seemed to return the pleasant sentiment with the Tweet following the show you can read below:

Iowa U was dope. Such a fun crowd w/ great energy and some hammered folks. Love ya! Driving out to Des Moines tonight. Rain check the party

— Nick Swardson (@NickSwardson) January 25, 2014

To keep tabs on Nick, like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

The post Nick Swardson Brings Colossal Laughs to IMU appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Andy Stoll visited forty countries in four years.

He’s lived in a Buddhist temple in Korea, a mud-hut in Zambia, and on a cattle ranch in Australia.  He’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, acted in a Bollywood movie, and eaten dinner with a Taiwanese supermodel.

However, Andy’s global experiences were hardly the focus of his lecture on Thursday, November 21st, in Shambaugh Auditorium; they were the endpoint.

Andy instead described several experiences from his high school years and time as an undergraduate at the University of Iowa College of Business in order to illustrate a few pieces of advice for his audience. Among my favorites were the following:

1.To make a change, you have to put yourself out there.

When Andy was in high school, a classmate encouraged him to run for Student Council.  Andy ignored him; the elections were a popularity contest and he couldn’t win.  Later that day while watching television, he was seized by the idea of spoofing a popular Budweiser advertisement into campaign propaganda for Student Council.  On Friday evening, he waited until the school was deserted and then plastered each locker with his new ad.

2. Do what you love and interesting things will happen.

He was vaguely aware of the long stares in his direction as he walked through the hallways Monday morning. People knew his name. Tiffany, the cheerleading captain, knew his name. He had run as a joke with no expectation of winning, and then he found himself on the list of new Student Council members.

3. Fake it ’til you make it.

In college, Andy Stoll became an accidental member of Student Government.  His roommate convinced him to campaign as a way to meet girls. He won without any idea of the duties of a member of Student Government, and then somehow became the vice-president.

4. Be prepared to wake up in Budapest (and embrace the experience).

While living in Germany, Andy and a fellow traveler made arrangements to meet in Paris the following Saturday. On Saturday morning, he barely caught the train to Paris and then discovered he had actually boarded a train to Budapest.  Instead of trying to return to Munich and then find another train to Paris, he remained in Budapest and discovered that it was an interesting, beautiful, and lively city.

Perhaps one of Andy Stoll’s most inspirational pieces of advice, were a pair of reflections on life he opened and closed his lecture with:  First, life is not linear, it is organic.  There is no set path our lives must follow; we don’t have to graduate high school, graduate college, get married, have two and a half children and live in Suburbia.  There are no barriers that confine us to a rigid, linear path – we only assume there are. Second, you cannot win life. There is no set of experiences that make one life better than another; there is no “best way” to live.  There are only several different ways to live. We can choose a linear path, or an organic one.  Realizing we have the choice is the first step to making one.

To find out more about Andy and his story you can go to his website, or check out the video below.

The post Andy Stoll Lecture: A New Perspective on Life appeared first on KRUI Radio.