Going Wild

By Alexis Rufener

Wild Style Comedy is on a mission to eliminate boredom and replace it with laughter on Youngstown State University’s campus.

Wild Style Comedy will present comedy acts and trivia in The Hub in Kilcawley Center May 1 at 8 p.m.

Some may see college as a place for academics and football games as entertainment, but sometimes students find themselves continually bored on campus. Jarrod Brooks had a plan to change that.

Brooks, a YSU student, came up with an idea one day when he was talking with a few friends in his dorm room about what they could do on campus, aside from playing video games and sitting around.

“I like that it brings people out of their dorms … on certain days,” Brooks said. “Each time that we do it, we have a nice audience — 50 to 70 people that show up every night.”

Inspiration for Wild Style Comedy comes from the MTV show, “Wild ‘N Out.” “Wild ‘N Out” is a game show consisting of two teams who play various types of games, likecompeting in freestyle comedy and creating punch lines to use against their opposing team.

Wild Style Comedy will follow a similar format and will offer food and refreshments free of charge during intermission. The event will feature various comedy skits and bits performed by YSU students. Members of Rookery Radio will help judge the event.

During the first couple of months Wild Style Comedy was paired with housing and residence where it drew in 50-70 students. This collaboration allowed for easy advertising for residents to see what was happening on campus.

After those first months, Brooks and Julian Jones, president of the Student Diversity Council, switched gears and began collaborating in hopes to draw in more people from campus.

“A lot of times, I would be talking to people and I would ask them what they would be getting into today and somebody would always say that ‘it’s boring here’ and ‘I have nothing to do besides go into my dorm,’” Brooks said. “I want to get more events going on so campus can be fun.”

For next semester, Brooks said he hopes to branch out from the normal crowd that makes their appearance by inviting people from sports teams and Greek life.

“I like to see people come to watch something that me and friends talked about in my room and it actually came together,” Brooks said. “It’s more opportunity to do something on campus — more events like that, to get more alive.”