Funnyman Finesse Mitchell visits TTU

by Vondee Langehennig, staff writer

Texas Tech University held its grand opening for the Allen Theater Sept. 7 with an absolutely hilarious, though unexpectedly explicit, comedy show with former “Saturday Night Live” entertainer Finesse Mitchell.

The Atlanta, Georgia born comic was the perfect choice to express the comedic angst of college living since he was being a student athlete and a brother of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity at the University of Miami.  Kappa Alpha Psi is also where he learned and polished his act, winning his first comedy show in 1995. 

Mitchell has made appearances on NBC's "Late Friday," CBS's "The Late Show with Craig Kilborn," and can be seen regularly on BET's "Comic View." After leaving “Saturday Night Live”, Mitchell has appeared at college campuses across the country and the hottest comedy clubs in the United States, such as The Miami Improv, The Atlanta Punchline, ACME Comedy Club in Minneapolis, and in Los Angeles at The Hollywood Improv, The Comedy Store, and The Laugh Factory.

When I first heard about the show, I knew it would be funny. But I wondered what the content would consist of. Many more administrative bodies were there, and I hoped it wouldn’t water down the content of the show.

The beats for “Bring ‘Em Out” came bumping out of the speakers, and I hoped for the best.  Two seconds later I was completely pleased. An attractive couple sitting in the front was his first victim, and I enjoyed the uncomfortable silence from the conservative cowboys in the audience.  But even they couldn’t hold in the giggles anymore.  

Mitchell expressed himself as a product of the hip-hop generation and how Lubbock was a shock.  Shortly thereafter, a hickish “Git ‘er Done” came out of the audience, followed by “boos” from the comic’s supporters.

It was obvious Lubbock had made an impact on Mitchell, since 20 minutes of the performance was dedicated to everything it doesn’t have to offer, such as a decent airport and something more exciting than the brand spanking new Super Wal-Mart.

The TTU campus was also fair game, especially its budget.  Allen Theater was beautiful, but the karaoke-style equipment provided to Mitchell was not up to par with the Super Wal-Mart style speakers and short microphone cord. 

In Finesse’s words, “This is really cute; I was only on SNL.”

After completely destroying Lubbock life, Mitchell moved on to more risqué’ topics that every college freshman can relate to, such as dorm sex, nasty roommates, cheating tips, and how to find a study partner. “You just need to know the 3A’s Asians, Africans, and Arabs,” Mitchell said of study partners.

I can say with certainty that no one in the theater was safe from Mitchell, which made it even better.  Few times during the performance, Mitchell made a quick check of the administrators to see if he was going “too far.” The very moment he received the nod of approval, he immediately took it to the edge, but backed down right in time to keep the administrators happy.

As an overnight celebrity with “Saturday Night Live”, Mitchell got tossed into the limelight with many of his very own favorite stars, such as like Prince, Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, and of course, Brad Pitt.  It was very apparent that Mitchell had his favorites (ahem… Halle Berry) but, the bit about how Prince’s music is so good “you will go gay, even for just a minute” when singing “Purple Rain” was hysterical.

There was definitely no disappointment in the show.  I was more than happy that Mitchell didn’t let the idea of a college campus performance limit his arsenal of material.  His uncensored and very informal production was an obvious relief from the stresses of the first week of school for Tech students and administrators alike.

No matter how far Mitchell pushed the envelope, he stayed true to himself and his own experiences. The performance was more than comedy, because Mitchell was able to incorporate bits of wisdom, such as “take advantage of your college opportunity”, “don’t let the fun times pass you by,” “responsibility is the key to success,” and “love knows neither gender nor color.”