MAY 1, 2025 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Maya Rosen
Friday, April 25, students line the halls outside Taylor Theater, trying to secure a coveted seat for the final Sunbutter Stand-Up Comedy Show of the year. It’s 8:30 p.m., and the lights come up on a single microphone stand on the stage. Eight students sit nearby, packed onto a small couch facing the audience. For many of these students, it is their last college stand-up performance. A nervous excitement lingers with them, overpowered only by the audience’s eager faces as the house lights go out and the show begins.
The show was hosted by Jessica Duran ‘25, introducing each comic before their set, and finding clever ways to connect the themes of each. The hour-long showcase featured outstanding sets by graduating seniors Nick Gordon, Mira Springer, Emma Langas and Jessica Duran, Asa Gartrell ‘26, among other underclassmen performers.
Throughout, each comic shared stories ranging from intimate details of their hookups at CC (or lack thereof), to car shops and the spotify AI DJ. As a frequenter of the blockly Sunbutter Comedy Hour, I can certainly say they ended with a bang. They had far more performers than usual, and each set was polished and hilarious.
Sunbutter was originally formed in the fall of 2015 by Lukey Walden ‘17 and has only grown as it approaches its 10th anniversary. It has solidified as a strong addition to the other comedy groups on campus (Twit Improv and Scallywags Sketch Comedy). The first Friday shows every block is something the entire campus looks forward to.
During Springer’s set, she took the time to get a little serious about her time with the CC comedy group. She recounted her four-year journey of preparing for her first stand-up set and expressed her appreciation for the community at CC. She even shouted out fellow senior Margot Swetich for making her experience with the CC comedy scene special. She then displayed a surprise promposal that read “Margot Will You Say YES AND to Prom with me?” which was met with an enthusiastic “Yes.”
Springer first joined Sunbutter entirely by accident, in the fall of 2020. She recalls meeting two students on the quad who made a joke she thought was “stupid and bad,” and she then responded with “you guys should do stand up comedy.” They responded that they did, and added her to a group chat. She then spent her time attending Zoom stand-up comedy meetings and became involved with the other comedy groups on campus when she returned to campus in person.
As she looks to the future, Springer definitely wants to keep comedy in her life, whatever form that takes. She says that other members also seem to want to try out stand-up elsewhere but it can be scary entering that harsh world outside of CC. “The audience at CC, you’re really not going to find that generous of an audience for comedy anywhere else,” Springer said. “I feel really lucky to have gotten to do it for the first time in this environment.”
Not to worry, there is still more to come for the fans of comedy at CC. On May 2 and 3, many of these seniors will return to the stage of Taylor Theater for the Scallywags Sketch Comedy Show. In the future, we can expect the talented underclassmen to keep the scene going and for audiences to keep returning each block. As for the class of 2025, based on what I saw last Friday alone, I doubt this is the end of their comedy careers.