Chris Thelin
Equinox staff
The Spring Weekend entertainment started off on Friday April 15, as comedian Hal Sparks performed his routine in the Mabel Brown room.
Although Sparks does not have the name recognition as Dave Chappelle or Jerry Seinfield, he has been in many movies and shows such as Spider-Man 2, where he has a brief conversation with Spider-Man in the elevator or his role on the Showtime show “Queer as Folk,” or the “I Love The… “series on VH1
Sparks’ topics had some similarities to a generic show with the usual topics of sex jokes. One of the larger pops of the night is when Sparks spoke of ribbed condoms.
“They say for her pleasure,” explained Sparks. “But I turn them inside out for me. F**k her!” as the almost full house crowd laughed.
In addition to being a comedian, Sparks also considers himself a political activist. On his website, he lists a group of charities he is involved with, including the NOH8 project which is a silent photography project to protest California’s Proposition 8 which states only marriage between a man and woman is recognized in the state of California. One of his jokes was on the misconception of how sexuality is not a choice.
“It’s not like you can go to the gym, work out for awhile and become straight,” said Sparks. “In fact, it may be the opposite!”
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Sparks said jokes like these come from annoyance.
“I usually read something and get so frustrated from what’s going on and I look for certain solutions. All of a sudden a joke can pop up like toaster,” said Sparks.
Sparks feels like he has an edge up being a comedian while trying to work on change.
“I feel like people fear me. I have the ability to turn around what they say as a joke and a lot of times they don’t have a response,” explained Sparks.
Sparks has a regular gig in Las Vegas but was able to make the trip to KSC for a special performance that required flying back across most of the country twice in one day. Sparks said its different performing for college students as opposed to his usual crowd and didn’t really know what to expect from the KSC crowd.
“Students are a cleaner, more attentive audience. It’s more environmental. College kids are used to being in class and sitting through lectures,” said Sparks. “I heard [KSC] was had a big education program and had the reputation as a party school, so I expected a crowd of half stoics and half drunk kids.”
Most of the students who attended the show seemed to enjoy the performance.
“I thought he was hilarious,” said freshman Halie Rondeau. “I really liked the way he used funny noises like in the animal jokes he told.”
“It’s my senior year and last Spring Weekend so I figured I would go,” said senior Ariel Cohen. “I thought he was very funny and I had a good time.”
After the show, there was an hour long wait as fans waited to meet Sparks and had no problem waiting for every last fan.
“I am the product and they are the consumer. I need to make myself available,” said Sparks
However, not all the students enjoyed his performance, as some filed out during the show and some posted on Facebook and Twitter about their disappointment in the show.
Chris Thelin can be contacted at cthelin@keeneequinox.com
