In the last 15 minutes of Michael Che’s standup act, he turned his full attention to the front row, where key members of UF’s Student Government were sitting.
Che, a “Saturday Night Live” cast member who came to campus Wednesday night as part of the Accent Speakers Bureau’s event with fellow cast member Kenan Thompson, asked the front-row audience of the O’Connell Center, including Student Body President-elect Smith Meyers and Senate Pro-Tempore Trevor Schaettle, what kind of porn they watched and who they voted for.
Then he got political, asking the students who they voted for in the 2016 presidential election.
“There’s only two answers when you ask a white guy who he voted for,” Che said. “Hillary Clinton or ‘Oh I don’t really wanna talk about that.’”
Though Che got personal with the crowd — he implied Schaettle was sexting and that he and Meyers were old enough to go to jail — Schaettle said he thought it was hilarious.
“I get it, it’s a comedy,” Schaettle said. “I didn’t take personal offense to them, I took no harm to it whatsoever.”
At one point, Che discussed how difficult it could be to tell jokes to a college crowd. He mentioned that the people up front were adults who could drink, go to war or go to jail. When he mentioned prison, members of the crowd of more than 3,000 laughed or gasped.
“This guy could go to prison,” Che said, gesturing toward Meyers and Schaettle. “Like, adult prison.”
Che and Thompson were paid a combined $100,000, according to Alligator archives. Both performed a half hour of standup comedy and participated in a question and answer period moderated by New York Times culture writer Dave Itzkoff.
Fifteen minutes before the doors to the show opened, the line of students wrapped around to neighboring Tolbert Hall. Mia Lestorti, a 20-year-old UF graphic design sophomore, said she lined up for the free event first at 3 p.m.
“I just figured if I was gonna see them and wait in line, I want to be as close as possible,” Lestorti said.
Though Lestorti said she was a big fan of SNL and the sketches, she was excited to hear the question and answer portion.
“You really only get to see their characters, so I’d like to see them as people as well,” she said.
Shane Poole, a 31-year-old Sante Fe College business, finance and accounting sophomore, said he didn’t mind political comedy.
“The thing I like about SNL the most is the comedic spin they put on real-life issues,” Poole said.
“Comedy is that barrier where you can talk about anything and it not be uncomfortable.”
Contact Romy Ellenbogen at rellenbogen@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @romyellenbogen
Michael Che, a cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” performs stand-up comedy at UF’s O’Connell Center on Wednesday night. Che and fellow cast member Kenan Thompson were paid $100,000 for the show, hosted by the Accent Speakers Bureau.
