Comedian Jaboukie Young-White flipped through a slideshow of bugs, speculating each one’s sexuality.
“Wasps are straight,” Young-White said. “‘Zaddy’ long legs — gay.”
The crowd of about 450 students cackled in agreement.
Young-White, a 24-year-old comedian who has appeared on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” performed in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom Monday night.
He was paid $10,500 by the Reitz Programming Board. Young-White’s hour-long set was filled with stories of his life growing up gay, living in Los Angeles and Chicago and his experiences in college.
“All these rich parents are, like, paying for their kids to get into school,” he said. “It’s like OK, just, you know, give your kids just a little bit of trauma so they could write something in their college essay.”
He went on to describe the differences between his younger brothers and himself, who he says are much taller than him.
“Me and my brothers are really different from each other,” he said. “I carry myself like an inbred European prince.”
Young-White interacted with the audience, asking individuals their majors and joking about the number of liberal arts students. The floor wasn’t opened up for questions.
Many of Young-White’s jokes dealt with his sexuality, and he followed many of his lines with a giggle.
“My dad was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe my son is gay,’” Young-White said about his coming out experience. “He had a bit of a stroke and a heart attack, and I was like, ‘You’re being such a queen right now.’”
Young-White’s routine was not complete without a “Florida man” joke. Surprised by the gloomy weather he experienced during his stay in Florida, he said it resembles a “Twilight” movie, and that he expected to see a “Florida man vampire.”
The comedian concluded his set with a slideshow with a series of back-and-forth tweets between himself and another user, who criticized Young-White’s sexuality. Young-White called the man a “broke Uncle Phil” from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Suha Zaidi, a 20-year-old UF psychology sophomore, went to the show with a friend. She said she wanted to see Young-White after watching his routines on “The Daily Show.”
Zaidi’s favorite story from the performance was how Young-White talked his way out of getting robbed. He told the students that if you’re annoying enough, the robbers will give you your phone back.
“It’s probably exactly what I would do if I got robbed,” Zaidi said.
Comedian Jaboukie Young-White performs in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom to an audience of about 450 students Monday night. He cracked jokes about getting into college, having his phone stolen and gay insects.
