Laughs and a good time for all
The Janesville Area Foundation hosted an evening of laughs, hysterics, and good times at its “Comedy Night” at St. Ann Parish Center on Saturday, October 12. About 170 attended the event.
There was admittedly a hitch in the initial plans. Mary Mack, who was the main act of the night, had to back out of the show due to her mother passing away the week before. Taking her place was Tommy Ryman, a Minnesotan comedian who has recorded TV specials and was a semifinalist on the NBC show “Last Comic Standing.”
The event started with a happy hour with food provided by Infinity Catering, which included a pulled pork meal, crostini, spinach and artichoke dip, and fruit and veggie trays. Wiste’s Meat Market provided meat and cheese trays.
The night began with the hometown favorites, the Trinity Lutheran Church Ladies – Up From the Basement. The six performers of the group originate from Trinity Lutheran, with all the members either teaching or having some involvement in the church. The six based their humor on their Christian values, making fun of short-form texting like “ftfy” (fixed that for you) and even sharing their love for all things potatoes with “The Potato Song,” featuring Sheryl Williams or “Aurietta” on the accordion.
Although not part of the comedy night roster, Janesville Area Foundation President Sam Steffel shared his own joke about the death of the composer for the “Hokey Pokey.” The punchline? It was hard getting him in his casket. They had to put his right foot in, and right foot out, and right foot in…maybe he should take on a side hustle as a comedian because that got the crowd laughing pretty well.
Ryman joked that he had two tough sets to follow, thanks to the performances of the Church Ladies and Steffel’s quick one-timer. However, he held his own and did fantastic, sharing stories about the difficulties of living on a street with a half in the name, the things he sees in the family group chat, how he broke a collar bone carrying groceries in the middle of winter, and many other hilarious bits. Although Mack was unable to make it, Ryman filled her shoes well.
The night ended with everyone merry and sides aching from laughing so hard. The JAF thanks its sponsors Infinity Catering and Wiste’s, for providing the food. You can’t go wrong with family-friendly Christian humor from the Church Ladies or Ryman’s occasional self-deprecating jokes about having no eyebrows or getting jump scared by hairless cats.
