Comedian Leslie Jones performed at the Keith-Albee Sept. 20 and filled the theater with smiles and laughter.

The Saturday Night Live superstar was opened by Kenny Mock, an upcoming comedian out of Columbus, Ohio. Mock showed a great difference in Jones’ style of comedy, but he was a hit with the students.

Junior Langley Sonnenberg said, “I loved the opening act and thought he helped prepare the audience for Leslie Jones’ material.”

Sophomore Kailey Stuart also felt Mock was a great opening act.

“I thought that Kenny was very funny and really got everyone excited for Leslie,” Stuart said.

Mock’s set included jokes about his family size, his “momma’s scheduled whoopins” and getting lost on his way into town.

Jones opened her performance by stating “This isn’t going to be anything like SNL,” and by the end of the show, the audience agreed.

Close to the end of the show, Jones got off stage and walked through the audience meeting and making fun of the crowd, all in good fun. Sonnenburg experienced this first hand when Jones talked to her about her 10-page paper due the next day. Jones cracked a few jokes about why Sonnenburg was at her show rather than writing. Jones didn’t stop with just students. She made her way through more of the crowd to discover a woman sitting alone since her husband was out of town. In good spirits Jones took a video with the woman to send to her husband.

“I think my favorite part was when Leslie made a video with a woman from the audience to send to her husband,” Stuart said.

Sonnenburg also said she “especially loved the audience participation at the end.”

Freshman Evan Allen also said he liked the show and the audience interaction, but he also felt there was a flaw in her show.

“I thought she sometimes spent too much time walking back and forth across the stage for dramatic effect,” Allen said. “But other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

After the success of Jones’ show, Stuart said she is excited or the rest of the Marshall Artists Series shows.

“I would also like to go see the Broadway shows ‘Kinky Boots’ and ‘Chicago,’” Stuart said.

Although Jones did not perform anything in SNL fashion, the crowd loved the performance just the same. She exited the stage while the crowd’s cheering made it impossible to hear the music playing in the theater.

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