The evening of Oct. 1, Bush Center’s HUB was packed from extra seats in front to overfilled tables throughout as “Laughs on Fox” comedian Zoltan Kaszas from San Diego took the stage. Being a FYSem Throwdown event, the event gathered many freshmen, though well over fifty people attended overall which meant plenty of people were there with a variety of laugh types. Instantly, the room echoed with giggles, guffaws, chuckles and cheers as Kaszas pronounced Hamline as [ham-lahyn] and launched into an improvised routine.

He shared, “I picture a piece of ham… on a clothesline; that could be your mascot!”

The show continued on to cover topics from life in high school, “I was sweaty all the time! It was basically a four year erection,” to the struggles of having a unique name at Starbuck’s and Uggs (the boots that make people look like “stupid poodles”). Throughout the show, he jumped to specific people in the audience, breaking the show into pre-planned segments and impromptu conversations with the crowd that livened the close space.

In part, the conversational style of the show could only happen in a space like Bush’s HUB. Kaszas said on stage of the space, “Doesn’t this feel kinda illegal?” in reference to crowding into the basement space. Then, he followed,“Let’s drink some Koolaid after this!” But, afterwards, he confided that the space gave the show more life.

“It was really fun. In fact, a venue like this is perfect for comedy because it’s small and intimate,” Kaszas said.

Showgoers too appreciated the close space which allowed audience members to interact with the show. Cheers for hometowns from Wisconsin down to Texas started spontaneous conversations from stage to table about why anyone would cheer for Wisconsin if they didn’t live there and how Texans are “rednecks of the South.” Interests, be it knitting or cats, led into jokes and confusion over what a non-Piper thinks “social justice” means and what would happen if knitting and martial arts were combined. Throughout the show, reactions, side conversations, and rambunctious laughter kept the space lively and buzzing with energy.

One first year, Dialyn Thelen, who was called out during the show for knitting a poop-shaped emoji beanie, concluded the show was overall, “very funny, a little wild.”

Whether or not everyone who attended agreed, the intimate basement show brought laughter to Hamline’s campus.