Patrick Keane, a popular comedian, performed at the Ragan Theater as part of UVUSA’s Late Night Laughs event.
Free popcorn and drinks were handed out Oct. 3 as attendees filed into the theater. Once the show began, the audience gladly welcomed Jordan Makin, who works at the UVU public speaking lab, onto the stage.
Makin, who has performed, and headlined, at several comedy clubs around Utah Valley, has been doing shows for around five years. After listening to several comedy podcasts during the time he was receiving his undergraduate degree, he decided to give comedy a try and has been performing ever since.
Makin’s comedy act focused on his family life and upbringing, he made hilarious comments about marriage and the culture of being raised in a religious Mormon household, earning several laughs and cheers of agreement from the audience. His act even included details about how the audience can get away with crime.
Audience member Jarom Harris said his favorite part of the show was Makin commenting on the plus sides of being a balding red head, saying, “I laughed the hardest when he made the joke about having red hair and getting sunburnt. His style kind of reminds me of Jack Black.”
Makin left the stage when the attendees were properly warmed up for the headlining comedian, Patrick Keane, to continue the show.
Keane, a popular comedian that has performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, the “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and Comedy Central, had UVU students rolling in their seats with jokes he curated to better fit UVU culture.
Keane came prepared for the show, pulling out note cards that he quizzed the audience with about Utah and UVU history in a way that had students laughing out loud and on the edge of their seats.
Keane’s routine included elements of his experiences growing up in Orange County, moving to Montana and travelling to Japan. He joked about the culture of drinking, being an uncle, and his experience as an unmarried, 45-year-old with a beautiful girlfriend from whom he constantly needs reassurance that they’re still together.
James Pineda, a biochemistry major and UVU sophomore, said, “I came out to the show because it was free and I love to laugh! I thought it was great, the opener was hilarious and the headliner did good, but I felt some of his jokes weren’t respectful toward women. The rest of the jokes were really good.”
Keane, having never before performed in Orem, changed his routine as he went along, deciding what jokes would best connect with the audience to get them to laugh.
This strategy is common with comedians as not all jokes are well-received by certain audiences. Understanding the culture of Orem and UVU specifically, Keane pulled out his notecards and “pushed the envelope,” as he said, by telling jokes that were a little unorthodox around UVU.
When jokes weren’t immediately understood with raucous laughter by the crowd, Keane would go on to sarcastically explain the punch line of the joke, adding even more laughs through his cynical commentary.
Harris said, “I thought it was funny when he would say, ‘oh by the way, those are called jokes,’ when the audience didn’t immediately catch on.”
Keane recalled the biggest crowd he had performed for, saying he went on stage for a 5,000 member freshman orientation in southern California.
Despite the crowd at the Ragan theater being significantly smaller, Keane said he enjoyed performing in Utah and stopping by UVU, mentioning how he loved the theater itself and thought the audience was a great crowd.
