In a set full of neck tremors, sketchy encounters, drunk muggings and awkward roommate encounters, comedian Ryan Kelly filled the UCA audience with laughter during his SAB-organized performance at the student center March 6.
Kelly, a St. Louis native, follows a self-described wholesome, Midwestern-nice guy brand of comedy – often using his own self-deprecation as a point of humor.
Kelly is also active on social media platforms Instagram and TikTok, having millions of followers on both.
During his hour-long comedy set in the Ronnie Williams Student Center ballroom, Kelly recounted stories of being mistaken for a gang member while going home in South Central Los Angeles.
“One of them looked over at me and yelled out ‘Yo Saber, what’s up?’” Kelly said. “I think you can all look at me and understand I’ve never earned the moniker Saber. At best, a butter knife.”
Kelly said, “I just ran to my car, jumped in and I peeled out. And I’m thinking, there’s a gang member in South Central Los Angeles who looks like me? What could he possibly do for the gang? Gang accountant?”
Kelly often used a fish-out-of-water style of humor in his anecdotes, presenting himself as a typical, friendly Midwesterner placed into unorthodox situations in unfamiliar areas.
For example, Kelly told a story about negotiating with a mugger one early morning in Hollywood.
Kelly said, “So at that point, I’m about to be on the wrong end of being stabbed, you know? So I go, ‘Okay, man. How about this? How about I just give you $20 and you go away?’”
“And he goes, ‘Really?’ because this man is getting excited about the deal like he always wanted to study business in school, but couldn’t afford college so now he’s learning on the fly.”
Freshman Zoey Ellis enjoyed the show, saying “I can’t pick a favorite joke. I laughed at them all.”
Ellis said it was a great experience for the first comedy show she had ever attended.
Kelly also made jokes belittling his size and stature.
When describing the mugging he said, “When it comes to fight or flight, I think you guys can all look at me and understand that I’m a flight kind of guy. I’ve got freaking flyer miles and everything, we’re getting out of here.”
Later in the set, Kelly described living with his high school best friend TJ during his college years — and their ongoing feud over Pringles.
“So I go, okay TJ, you’re a big guy with big hands, so you can have as many Pringles that you can get in your hand from the can on a flat surface,” Kelly said. “Now, TJ is nothing but creative, because we had to add some extra rules like no walls and no ceiling.”
Kelly also described TJ forcing him to sing duets with him at night, practical jokes he would play on him early in the morning and the duo’s uncomfortable first encounter with their suitemates.
He ended the set by describing his time as an employee at Disneyland, where he would dress up as stormtroopers and superheroes.
Kelly joked about being forced to find kids “12 and under,” and the discomfort it caused him, commenting that his initials were already “R. Kelly.”
In his closing statement, Kelly said he does comedy not only to make others laugh but to help himself get through tough times through feel-good stories.
Kelly said he hopes everyone in the audience can find “their own feel-good stories to get them through rough patches.”
