On Apr. 3., Duke Jewish Student Union (JSU) swapped Thursday night cramming time for a spectacular stand-up comedy show. Held at the Freeman Center, Jewish Life at Duke’s building, the event featured Columbia College Chicago comic Ian Toppall and Trinity sophomore Ariela Shuchman.
“Jewish Comedy Night” was inspired by the Freeman Center’s 25th anniversary stand-up show last fall. The November event featured “Community” actor Joel McHale alongside other professional comedians (Dan Levy, Leslie Liao and Ariel Elias) for a star-studded night of laughs.
Hanna Lavi, a Trinity senior and vice president of JSU, noticed the attention and positive reviews that this comedy night had garnered and wanted to recreate the event. But she also wanted to mix things up by bringing younger Jewish comedians more in tune with college student life. “Joel McHale came, and he was great, but some of the more adult jokes didn’t land as well,” Lavi said. “So I thought, what if we brought someone our age?”
After pitching her idea to the JSU board, Lavi organized the stand-up performance in the bright and airy commons space on the Freeman Center’s first floor. The mixed arrangement of chairs and tables allowed attendees to enjoy the show with complimentary Israeli appetizers or a meal from the Freeman Center Cafe. The event was well-attended, with a full audience.
Shuchman opened with a strong five-minute set about Jewish culture at Duke, touching on everything from the iconic (and viral) Chabad Jewish speed dating event to color war, a team-based competition integral to any Jewish sleepaway camp experience. With an audience comprised of the students most in tune with Duke and broader Jewish culture, her punchlines were all hits.
After Schuchman, Toppall delivered the hour-long main set. Toppall has been practicing stand-up since he was 14 years old, and currently hosts weekly comedy shows in his apartment while attending college. His performance included elaborate stories about his college art school classmates, his time as a camp counselor, an antisemitic yet flirtatious encounter and a hiking mishap involving wild boars.
Toppall was an energetic, enthusiastic performer, moving around the stage and acting out scenes as he explained them. This physical style likely stems from his theater background, which he mentioned during his set. Despite not being a Duke student, Toppall connected with the audience through their largely shared Jewish backgrounds and college experiences.
“Jewish Comedy Night” provided a welcome study break as the semester creeps to an end. For Lavi, the stand-up show was an ideal way to celebrate Jewish culture and the arts. Although comedy isn’t extensively addressed in religious texts, one cannot enter a Jewish space without seeing how central comedy is to the cultural experience.
“I love that we were able to bring so many people together to celebrate this aspect that kind of goes unspoken,” said Lavi.
From b’nei mitzvahs to Passover seders, Jewish events are shaped by crude honesty, sarcasm and comedic self-deprecation that helps define the community. As Lavi suggested, a comedy night is the perfect way to highlight this quintessential element of Judaism.
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Olivia Prusky is a Trinity sophomore and a social media editor for Recess.