Actress and stand-up comedian Rachel Feinstein and comedian Ali Sadiq fill the crowd with laughter in the Student Union theater Wednesday night. (Nick Hampton/The Daily Campus)
In SUBOG’s latest comedy special, Ali Siddiq and Rachel Feinstein brought two different but equally funny comedic styles to the Student Union Theatre Wednesday night.
“(Siddiq) had more of a chill, laid-back comedy and Rachel was like up-front about most things. I’ve heard both styles and I think they’re both really good,” Sunjay Venkatraman, a sixth-semester political science major, said.
Siddiq, known for his work on “Comedy Central,” took the stage in an unconventional way. He walked out, silently set up an armchair and a stool, sat down with his body slumped against the stool, let out a sigh and said in the voice of a friend who just rolled out of bed, “Hey.” This honest, relaxed attitude characterized Siddiq’s performance.
Margaret Moore, a second-semester nursing major, enjoyed Siddiq’s mix of relatability and humor.
“I liked when he was talking about the confidence of guys and girls. I thought that was funny. I feel like everyone knows it’s true but we rarely point it out most of the time,” Moore said.
Siddiq was still animated and entertaining as he recounted some of his most embarrassing moments throughout the night.
Venkatraman particularly enjoyed Siddiq’s bit about his kayaking trip with his white neighbor Ted, in which he nearly drowns and is forced to spend a sleepless night in an 18-person tent.
“I really liked him going on the kayak trip. That was a really funny one just like his experience with a different group just like him hanging out with white people,” Venkatraman said.
One of these “experiences” was when asking Siddiq if he wanted to go kayaking, Ted hit him “with a little racism,” Siddiq said.
“Not a lot of racism, well, I was uncomfortable, but a little racism just sprinkled. He asked me, ‘Can you swim?’ I said, ‘like a fish Ted!’” Siddiq said.
Siddiq also used a lot of audience participation. He repeatedly referred back to one audience member in the front row who sat straight-faced during the entire show, poking fun at his steadfast displeasure.
During her set, Feinstein relied on the audience too, but with her drier, straightforward sense of humor. After going on a rant about her father’s cringe-worthy Facebook habits, she asked student in the audience if their parents did too. However, the student’s account of her parent’s actions was more serious than embarrassing.
Feinstein still managed to bring humor back into it and make it work when the student said they just live with their situation.
“There was such a sadness. ‘I just live with it,’” Feinstein said. “I just hope that one day they acknowledge me as a human.”
Both approaches worked well with the small, but receptive audience.
“I thought it was a great vibe for the size crowd we had,” Venkatraman said. “Ali was great he really worked with the crowd and so was Rachel. It was the perfect size for their type of comedy too so that worked out really well.”
Alexis Taylor is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at alexis.taylor@uconn.edu.
