Kumail Nanjiani '01 talks to audience before performance

Kumail Nanjiani '01 talking to Grinnell audience during his 2010 visit.

Photographer: 
Grant Dissette '12

As the campus heads into the second half of the semester, the student-run All-Campus Events Committee (ACE) is serving up helpings of comedy to keep everyone smiling.

Stand-Up Comics Coming to Campus

Need a laugh? Three comics visit Harris Cinema this month. Each act is open to the public and begins at 9 p.m. in the Harris Center.

April 6: Hari Kondabolu

Seattle’s newspaper The Stranger calls Hari Kondabolu “a wise, witty, golden-hearted crusader for both funny jokes AND social justice.” A native of Queens, N.Y., Kondabolu has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, John Oliver’s New York Stand-up Show, and his own half-hour Comedy Central Presents special.

Rescheduled to May 12: Kumail Nanjiani ’01

Kumail Nanjiani ’01 returns to the campus where he says he started doing stand-up “in a tiny room full of my friends.”

Nanjiani, whom Variety describes as “devastatingly funny,” runs the Comedy Meltdown, a weekly show that hosts comedians like Sarah Silverman and Donald Glover, and has performed on several shows, including the Colbert Report, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Conan, and Portlandia.

April 27: Morgan Murphy

Morgan Murphy, says Rolling Stone, “has one of comedy’s best deadpans.” She’s written for Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and is currently a writer for CBS’s 2 Broke Girls.

Films

Catch comedies in the Harris Cinema at 6 p.m. every Friday in April:

  • April 6: Airplane!
  • April 13: Tootsie
  • April 20: Drop Dead Gorgeous
  • April 27: Annie Hall

These films, sponsored by the Films Committee, are open to the public.

More Events for Grinnell Students

Bob’s Underground Cafe is hosting student comedy events at 8 p.m.:

  • April 12: Last Comic Standing (vying to open for Nanjiani)
  • April 17: Comedy Music Showcase Showdown
  • April 26: Dramatic Reading

And Grinnell's comedy improv troupe, Ritalin Test Squad, will start their “24 Hour Improv” at 8:30 p.m. on April 13 in Younker Lounge.

Please note: Due to their location, these events are open only to students.

ACE is a part of Grinnell College’s Student Government Association