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Laughter filled Schine Underground as student comedians owned the stage with personal anecdotes and stories. Comics connected with students and poked fun at themselves through self-deprecating jokes.

“I feel like being up here is my worst performance since my First Year Players audition, and for reference, I ended up in the hospital after that,” Tim Wong, a Syracuse University junior and comedian, said.

On Thursday night, University Union hosted “JUMPSCARE,” a Halloween-themed student comedy performance and audience costume contest.

Juniors Colin Harkins and Sofia Georgallis, this year’s student show coordinators, hosted the show. They wanted to use the comedians to engage student audiences in a new way.

Before the show, students wrote down anonymous confessions. During their sets, the comedians picked a few to be read aloud as part of their bits. Along with their prewritten jokes, student comedians interacted directly with the audience, doing crowdwork with students who submitted the confessions. Confessions ranged from relationship troubles to jokes about being involved with the Louvre Museum heist.

After an introduction from the hosts, the comics took the stage. Senior Liz Crandall was first up, wearing a bloody Statue of Liberty costume. Her act took inspiration from her personal life, making jokes about her job experience.

“There’s been many ways I’ve disappointed my parents. Not just by being a stand-up comedian, I also worked at Destiny Mall’s Ulta for two years,” Crandall said.

This sarcastic tactic was a hit for members of the audience, which junior Liam Robertson used. Robertson was dressed in costume as a golf caddy and began his set joking about his new mullet haircut, which earned him an enthusiastic reaction from the audience.

“I’m gonna be honest, I was lured here under false circumstances. I was promised money, I am not getting money. I was promised people would laugh, not a lot of you have been laughing. I feel like I’ve been bamboozled,” Robertson said.

Junior Liam Robertson joked about his new haircut during his “JUMPSCARE” set. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer

The hosts scouted students to perform in “JUMPSCARE” by attending sets at The Playground, SU’s student-run comedy club, to reach out to comics directly.

Comedian Jamie Christensen said The Playground was where she got her foot in the door as a student comedian. She did her first performance at one of their “newbie nights.” After the first show, Christensen was eager to go back and do it all again.

“I thought it had gone pretty well, but when I hadn’t heard back after that night, I kept in contact with The Playground organizers and finally got to come back and do another show,” Christensen said.

After the comedians’ sets, audience members participated in a costume contest. Students who dressed up came onstage, and one by one, the audience clapped for who they liked the most. The costume with the most attention from the audience was crowned the winner.

Sophomore Bradley Ellis was proudly sporting his DIY Spider-Man costume where he used fabric paint to exaggerate the spidey emblem. He said he was excited for the first Halloween event of the year. Ellis competed against the other finalist in a dance-off to “Monstermash.” Afterward, Ellis was crowned the winner and accepted his prize of two front row tickets to UU’s next performing arts show.

Freshman Inica Roby came dressed in an inflatable cow costume. She said she was surprised by the event’s turnout and decided to enter the contest to participate in the Halloween theme.

“I was dancing in my cow outfit and was like I should just go and win,” Roby said.

Harkins said the event helped him bridge the performers and audiences together and experiment with the best ways to incorporate students into future shows.

“I’m really, really happy with the final product, I feel like the event really came together in the end,” Harkins said.

Published on October 24, 2025 at 9:40 am