Standup comedian Hannibal Buress performed in Goldstein Auditorium in Schine Student Center on Thursday. With a resume including roles in “30 Rock,” “Broad City” and “Saturday Night Live,” Buress kept the audience laughing the entire night, joke after joke. Here are four takeaways from the show.

Opening act Joyelle Johnson and Buress both mentioned Syracuse’s Final Four success.

Johnson kept the audience lively when she started out by saying, “I need y’all to clap like both of your teams are in the Final Four.”

Then, asking for applause from audience members who wanted to kill their roommates, she said, “You’re clapping more for that one than for the Final Four.”

Buress took the opposite approach when he took to the stage, explaining how Syracuse is not going to win the next games, quickly followed by maniacal laughter. Even after the crowd booed his negative attitude, he kept laughing, throwing his head back in good spirits.

Seemingly unafraid of college reactions or backlash, Buress spoke his mind about the presidential race.

“Here’s the thing, Bernie Sanders going to die soon, and that’s OK, I think.” While he didn’t make it sound like he wanted Sanders to die, he explained that’s just how it is, and nobody is talking about it.

On Hilary Clinton: “She is the same as a crouton.” Bursts of laughter exploded from the audience. Whether you asked for a salad or not, the crouton is there, he said.

On Ben Carson: “I didn’t like Ben Carson because he looks too much like me.”

Buress said he wants to lose weight and look fit so he can make jokes about a thinner lifestyle.

“I’m only fat if you’ve known me for eight years,” Buress said. He said he wants to make a lifestyle change for the sake of his comedic routine. He imagined how life would be with an alternative build.

“You ever run up two flights of stairs and do something immediately afterwards,” he asked.

Some audience members understood right away and laughed hysterically at the impossibility of doing anything after.

With a DJ on stage for his entire set, Buress used sound effects and rap songs for his jokes.

Together, Buress and the DJ produced the famous first few notes of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.”

“That sounds like one of your friends who just started making beats,” Buress said, which was met with a round of applause.

He spoke about a trip to the DMV and used those notes as his sole response to the DMV employee’s comment of, “You’re going to be 33 on your birthday!”

Published on April 1, 2016 at 12:13 am

tathomps@syr.edu