One word: Jaimeolaez …or Jaime-Olaez. Actually I don’t even know if that’s so much of a word as it is just a collection of English sounds.
Regardless the votes gathered in droves on Saturday night in the HAWC supporting Jamie Olaez and his campaign to be the funniest undergraduate on campus. Facing off against nine other highly talented comedians Olaez was able to separate himself from the competition even in light of the fact that voters had such a hard time voting for him. The final round of voting which took an inordinate amount of time and can indirectly be blamed for a five-minute faux-Barack Obama speech turned out to be a bi-product of Olaez’s hard to spell moniker. Sure the votes came in for him but they came in all shapes and sizes including but not limited to “Highmay Ohlies Himae Olyz” and “Jimay Olies.”
Pepperdine’s annual Last Comic Standing event is deemed a huge success after the events unfolded this weekend. The HAWC was filled to capacity 10 minutes before the show even started everyone anticipating a great night of laughs and presumably bombs. And the comedians didn’t disappoint.
Senior Matt Robinson was the first comedian on stage and though he didn’t finish in the top four his act about metro buses received a large quantity of laughs throughout. Senior Sofia Bien better known as Secretary Lin Wang from “The Randumb Show” video “Television Pitch spoke about her ethnicity and the unfair stereotypes associated with it. Senior Seth Allison, one of the most highly anticipated acts due to his prominence around campus, delivered a strong performance filled with hi-jinks in the same vein of Dane Cook, a set that garnered him enough respect to secure a top-four spot at the end of the night.
Sophomore Hayden Christensen, last year’s runner up, also delivered a very strong performance, though unfortunately it didn’t result in the success needed to make a repeat performance in the lightning round. Junior Karen Wang’s creative speech on the similarities between Pepperdine and Disneyland was a crowd favorite, and helped ignite the wave of female Asians dominating the event (joke that was later touched on by multiple comedians).
By the end of the night, four comedians were chosen by a guest panel of judges to perform one more time in hopes of winning over the crowds vote, and consequently, a $150 gift card. Allison, Wang, Ashley Perez and Olaez each spoke again for another two minutes or so, and by the end, it was clear that, while others seemed to be running out of steam, Olaez kept the jokes coming.
Olaez took home to top spot, with Perez following in a respectable second. Allison and Wang tied for third. Though he’s become a campus celebrity since his victory, Olaez regrettably won’t be able to defend his title next year because he’s going overseas to study in Florence.
With that said, let the countdown begin until the next Last Comic Standing is crowned … 360 days to go.