Comedian Hannibal Buress performs at Goldstein Auditorium in a night of laughs

Syracuse University students gathered to watch stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress perform in Goldstein Auditorium on March 31. Buress, a stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter from Chicago, is most recognized for his acting roles as Lincoln Rice in the Comedy Central series Broad City and as the sidekick to Eric Andre on The Eric Andre Show. His recent films include Daddy’s Home, Neighbors and Band of Robbers. Currently, Buress is working as a voice actor in the movies Angry Birds and The Secret Life of Pets. 

Photo: Amanda Piela

“I haven’t been touring lately,” Buress said during his stand-up routine. “I’m trying to be the best actor of my generation. It turns out I just always end up playing myself.”

Before Buress hit the stage, Joyelle Nicole, a comedian from Brooklyn, warmed the audience up with her jokes.

"I need y'all to clap like both of your teams are in the Final Four," said Johnson. She then joked about how she has hated her roommates in the past, asking the audience to applaud if they wanted to kill their roommates.

"You're clapping more for that one than for the Final Four," Johnson said.

After her act ended, Buress ran out to center stage, and the crowd went wild. Smiling evily, Buress said Syracuse wasn't going to win its next basketball game. The audience reaction was a mixture of shock, boos and laughter.

“His delivery is deadpan,” said Thomas Beckley-Forrest, a magazine journalism major. “Also, he switches out to (a) wild sense of humor. He can also be kind of satirical; picking apart social things.”

Some Syracuse University students said they attended the event not just because of Buress, but also because of the very reasonably priced ticket.

“My boyfriend is a big Hannibal fan,” said Danielle Roth, a dual magazine and international relations major. “So, I figured why not? Plus, I like to laugh and (it) was only five dollars.”

Buress' jokes covered a variety of topics, including college, politics, asthma, flatulence, religion, famous rappers, exercise and sex.

Buress said he seems to know that nowadays, comedians live in a world where everything is becoming offensive, even jokes. 

“My friend said that his son was jerking off in the shower and I said that’s weird I didn’t know that he had a shower-proof laptop,” Buress said. 

But, despite these sensitivities, he added that his comedy comes first.

“You already paid, so I can say whatever I want to say,” Buress said in a joking tone.

Current events were also fair game, with Buress discussing the presidential election. He joked that Hillary Clinton was the "same as a crouton" because "whether you asked for a salad or not, the crouton was still there." He also found issue with Ben Carson for looking too similar to Buress himself, and with Bernie Sanders because he might die soon.

Buress also showed how much of a music fan he was by collaborating with his DJ to play the beat for Iggy Azalea's song "Fancy."

"Fancy sounds like one of your friends just started making beats," he said.

The end of the show was the most random part of the entire performance; and yet, to the audience, this may have been one of funniest.

Before the show, Buress got three ballerinas from Syracuse to help him with the comedy sketch. In the sketch, Hannibal rapped random lyrics as the ballerinas danced in the background. It seemed to be a last minute comedy bit but soon became part of the audience's favorite portion of the night.

“The ending with the Ballerinas and the gibberish was really funny,” said Roth. “You could just imagine him being like, '…huh…I bet it would be funny if I just had some ballerinas start dancing on stage unexplained.' I thought it was hilarious."

“It was awesome. I loved the ballerinas at the end,” said psychology major Lily Statler.

Altogether, Buress put on a memorable show, helping students forget their worries for a couple of hours.