Tuesday night, the University Programs Council hosted a comedy night at Old Cabell Hall featuring stand-up comedian Michael Longfellow and Isabella Fazio, fourth-year College student and student comic.
Longfellow is a Los Angeles-based comedian and actor who was on Saturday Night Live from 2022 to 2025 and now tours as a stand-up comedian. Fazio said she first got involved in local comedy after being introduced by a roommate, and following her performance at the UPC comedy open mic Sept. 15, Fazio won the opener spot for Tuesday’s show.
The show began at 8 p.m. with a 10-minute opening set from Fazio. Her set, while short, was packed with relatable laughs and clever subversions. For instance, her opening joke poked fun at the trope of on-stage impersonations, easing the audience in.
The remainder of Fazio’s set was interspersed with personal anecdotes and University-related quips, such as referring to former University President Jim Ryan as her favorite “micro-celebrity.” Fazio said this set was a culmination of her comedy experience at the University.
“The set that I did last night I guess was kind of an amalgamation of all the sets that I've done,” Fazio said. “But definitely leaning towards the more recent [jokes]. As I've gotten more comfortable and more confident, I think the jokes have improved.”
Fazio warmed up the audience thoroughly, and their constant laughter was a reflection of her success. Once she finished, she introduced the headliner for the night, Longfellow.
Longfellow performed for nearly an hour and a half with a healthy balance of prepared bits, crowdwork and improvisation. After his initial introduction, he started a conversation with one audience member in which he asked her about her dog, then about her favorite celebrity. The audience member pushed back on the celebrity question, using her mother as an answer, creating a comedic conflict that led perfectly into Longfellow’s punchline.
While many of his jokes were dark or potentially boundary-pushing, Longfellow kept the mood in the room light by frequently making himself the punchline. One set of jokes centered around his experiences with pornography as a child, specifically a time his father caught him watching it.
That was not the only vulnerable or dark joke of the night. Longfellow built his set around personal experiences, such as treating his dog’s anal infection in the month leading up to its death, or him being confused as a child as to why his mother was crying on her birthday — which happens to be Sept. 11. In isolation, any of these stories may have left the audience in silence, but Longfellow’s unrelenting authenticity appeared to put the room at ease.
Harrison Bontecou, audience member and fourth-year College student, as well as his friend Jimmy Wischusen, audience member and third-year Education student, had polarizing reactions to the dog story. Wischusen noted it as a highlight and Bontecou remarked that it disturbed him — a theme characteristic of many of Longfellow’s jokes.
“He had a very, let's say polarizing set,” Bontecou said.
Longfellow also came prepared with a surprising number of University-specific jokes. He opened his set by insulting Virginia Tech, and throughout his time he rattled off University lingo such as “Grounds” and “first-year, second-year, fourth-year!” both enthusiastically and ironically, prompting the audience to applaud each time. Some of his improvisation linked directly to the University, including his repeated bits poking fun at the Greek characters on the Old Cabell mural behind him.
“What the f—k are these guys doing after the show?” Longfellow said.
Longfellow also had the audience cheering with one particularly sweet interaction. When one audience member asked if Longfellow could sing “Happy Birthday” for their friend, he agreed to do it at the end of the show. Right before he stepped off stage, he and the audience did in fact sing “Happy Birthday” for her.
In addition to his relatability and vulnerability, Longfellow’s set had a narrative nature. He wove both prepared jokes and improvisation together with callbacks, such as his multitude of explanations of how bad of a father he wants to be. Beginning with a lengthy complaint about how he will never be able to take his future son to Hooters and ramping up to bringing his son with him to land a deal on “Shark Tank,” his running bits helped tie his set together.
“I want to be a dad that makes the kid hear the garage door open,” Longfellow said. “Some of you were like, ‘Dad's home!’ And the rest of you just went to your room. You're like, ‘He's here.’ I want to be a ‘He's here’ dad.”
The show brought together the best of the local University comedy scene with national talent, creating a unique experience for the arts at the University. Fazio explained the importance of such events in advancing the popularity of stand-up among the University community.
“We have our own great, tight-knit arts community,” Fazio said. “But I think … we're not known as a hub for comedy. … I think having that connection to those industries is really important for a lot of people.”
Fazio and Longfellow both make a concerted effort to connect with the audience, an important aspect of any successful comedy. The result was an unforgettable night with hardly a quiet moment in the audience.
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