Melanie Bucoy
NJIT’s Student Activities Council (SAC) hosted this semester’s first Java House Night. Every other Thursday at the Campus Center Pub SAC’s Java House presents a new comedian to perform and all of NJIT community is welcome to join in on the fun. If you stay long enough you may even get to win exclusive SAC prizes from a raffle at the end of each show. On September 10th, we had the pleasure of being presented with an opening act, Kenny Garcia, and the main presenter, comedian Sammy Obeid.
Sammy Obeid, an American-born, Lebanese/Palestinian/Syrian comedian is known for his crude jokes about race and controversial topics, mixed with witty puns that appeal to all, especially for our tech and math-based students. Unexpectedly, Obeid graduated from University of California Berkeley with a degree in Applied Mathematics and a GPA of 3.9. He is well-known for setting a record of performing 1,000 days consecutively, which he completed September 21, 2013. He has appeared in TBS’ Conan, NBC’s America’s Got Talent (up to the Las Vegas round), and The Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay (their first comedian). In addition to his TV appearances, he has been profiled in TIMES and had an article covering him in the New York Times. His debut album, Get Funny or Die Trying, was named a Best Comedy Album of 2013.
Obeid’s schooling background made him more relatable to our students as his sense of humor appealed to students. Right as soon as he stepped on stage, his confidence and interpersonal skills made the audience comfortable and laugh immediately. Active interaction from the audience stimulated a great environment full of laughter and jokes with certain members of the listeners. Obeid cracked many jokes marking on gender differences and humorous racial conflicts he has experienced. To add a bit of variety he even added a few mathematical and scientific jokes and integrated them into puns that attracted the NJIT crowd. As he went on through the night he even transitioned into jokes that appealed greatly to the typical college student. In fact, he was so popular that many in the crowd requested he kept going with more jokes throughout the night.
Overall, SAC’s first Java House of the semester was an ultimate success with NJIT. Obeid’s jokes surely complemented the nature of many NJIT students in the audience. Junior Elbert Salcedo says, “He had quirky and witty puns that kept us thinking on our toes.” This will definitely not be the last successful comedian we will have here at NJIT. Be sure to keep your eyes out for more SAC events so you can join in and experience the fun.
