Sarah Storer stood at the front of Marco’s Room in the Memorial Student Center Monday, dancing and mingling with the students that began to file in for her first time presenting on a college campus. As the final attendees walked in, the lights dimmed and Storer took a seat under bright overhead lights at a keyboard and began to play and sing her original song, “Love in Bloom.”

Storer’s show “Masterdating: One Woman’s Musical Journey to Loving Herself,” which featured multi-media presentations, original songs, stand-up comedy and improvisation, was the kick-off event to Students for Reproductive Justice’s Sex Week at Marshall University.

“Dr. Hillary Brewster is one of Sarah’s best friends and she recommended her to come out and do her bit for Marshall,” Students for Reproductive Justice president Jada Williams said.

Storer said she thinks the show is a good fit for a college setting because of the show’s relatable messages.

“I think it’s a really good show for college students,” Storer said. “It’s the stuff I wish someone had said to me when I was that age when you guys are really just now learning who you are and exploring everything that has to do with love and relationships.”

Williams said the event inspired her to look at her problems from a more positive perspective.

“The ‘You’ll Be Fine’ song was important for me because when there’s issues the first instinct is to believe the world is over when in reality you’ll be fine,” Williams said.

First diving into the world of comedy in her first improvisation class in 2005, Storer branched off from there. She performed her first stand-up comedy routine in 2008 and she said she began falling in love with song writing over the last few years.

Storer’s show consisted of various stories she said have actually happened to her, from bad to good and from lighthearted to serious. Her stories ranged from anecdotes about past breakups to her experience of growing up trying to understand sex from the middle of a conservative Christian family.

“The show was originally just pieces and parts of different stand-up and storytelling,” Storer said. “I just wanted to challenge myself to see what it all looked like put together and it kind of worked out perfectly in a perfect storytelling arch.”

Storer was open with the students in attendance, saying that being honest is one of the keys to communication and that comedy helps connect and relay ideas.

“That’s sort of always how I’ve handled pain in my life,” Storer said. “There’s really nothing funny about my sexual debut and the way I was brought up it was really sheltered and awful and I know a lot of people go through that.”

“If I can shed a little light on that and get people to laugh and laugh with me, hopefully I can help someone in a similar situation,” Storer said.

Sex Week will continue with “Sexual Anatomy and Diversity” at 5 p.m. and “Digital Porn” at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Ryan Murphy can be contacted at [email protected].