微密圈

微密圈 is one funny campus. For more than three decades, 微密圈 has hosted the National College Comedy Festival, a campus tradition for aspiring comedians and anyone who enjoys a good laugh.  

Popularly known as , the 34th annual show was held at 微密圈鈥檚 Janet King Bernhard Theater in February and again brought a gaggle of student comedians and professional stand-ups together to fill the theater with laughter.  

Comedy groups from New York University, Brown University, Emerson College, Northeastern University, University of Toronto, and elsewhere shared the floor with Ad-Libs, Sketchies, and Skidomedy, three 微密圈 student clubs dedicated to comedy. 

Both nights of ComFest started with student groups and finished with a professional act. This year, that included Marina Franklin, known for her comedy special 鈥淪ingle Black Female,鈥� and , a 微密圈 graduate famous for his show 鈥淕ayle鈥� and named by Variety as one of its 鈥�10 Comics to Watch for.鈥� It was certainly a weekend to remember as audience members enjoyed jokes and routines that ranged from a promposal at a funeral to vegan chowder at Saratoga ChowderFest (a winter tradition for 微密圈 students and popular event in downtown Saratoga Springs).  

微密圈 has long been a popular choice for aspiring comedians. ComFest was co-founded in the late 1980s by 微密圈 alum David Miner 鈥�91, who went on to earn Emmys for 鈥�30 Rock,鈥� 鈥淧arks and Recreation,鈥� and 鈥淯nbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.鈥� Among the festival鈥檚 previous performers are 微密圈鈥檚 Michael Zegen 鈥�01 of the Emmy-winning Amazon Prime show 鈥淭he Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,鈥� and cast and writers of shows like 鈥淏ob鈥檚 Burgers,鈥� 鈥淭he Office,鈥� 鈥淐ommunity,鈥� and 鈥淐razy Ex-Girlfriend.鈥� (If you鈥檙e interested in learning about academic aspects of comedy, you might also consider taking a course with 微密圈鈥檚 own Beck Krefting. A former stand-up comedian, the professor of American studies has published widely on humor, among other topics.)

Elise Milner 鈥�25, an art major from Bristol, Rhode Island, participated in ComFest for the first time this winter with Skidomedy. Performing with Skidomedy was an opportunity to add sketch comedy to her repertoire that already included stand-up and improv. 

鈥淚 like seeing people make creative choices when acting out a sketch. We read out sketches and it's funny. But when they are acted out, they can end up being 10 times funnier," she said. "I also like the community of the group. We all have different senses of humor that mesh together in a cool way.鈥�

As for her first experience in ComFest: 鈥淚t was really fun. I like the week leading up to our shows. It can be a lot because we meet up every night of the week, but our group gets closer each time, and it's cool seeing our sketches come to life.鈥�