In the series “Student Voices,” current students write about the reasons they chose Hampshire and how our educational model works from their perspective.
On a recent Monday night, I sat with a group of fellow Hampshire College students in the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton. The five of us who attended are members of a Hampshire stand-up group, and we had come to see Eugene Mirman—a comedian who graduated from Hampshire in 1996. He is now well known for his stand-up as well as his roles on “Flight of the Conchords” and “Bob’s Burgers.”
Mirman’s act included stories of sending strange Facebook messages to celebrities and accidentally eating a wasp in a taco (“Why does this taco hurt so much?”). He showed us some paintings he’d done for his local Whole Foods (including a stick figure against a blue background, which he called “Gender-Neutral Child Learning About the Conflict in Syria”), and he closed the show by marrying a couple from the audience.
After the show, the other Hampshire comedians and I approached Mirman. My friend and I were hovering shyly to the side, but Mirman walked right up to my friend and shook her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you,” he said, to which she responded by screaming excitedly; he screamed back at her. He then asked what her name was and said he wanted to take a picture with her. Overall, he was very friendly and seemed excited to hear that we go to Hampshire and do stand-up.
It’s inspiring to see a Hampshire alum succeed in a field as challenging as comedy. I’m new to stand-up, but it doesn’t take long to learn that writing and performing jokes is a difficult task that requires practice and learning from feedback. Fortunately, Hampshire is a great environment for studying comedy—which is exactly what Mirman did. His Division III (senior) project was an hour stand-up act, which he wrote, promoted, and performed himself. “Hampshire’s way of thinking has shaped my life and career,” he said in his 2012 commencement speech. “The things I did for my Div III are the exact types of things that I did to become a comedian.”
For those who are interested in doing student stand-up in college, Hampshire is an excellent option. Hampshire students design their own majors, which opens the possibility of concentrating in comedy. As impractical as that might sound, Mirman encourages students to follow their passions no matter how outrageous they may seem. “Don’t have a back-up plan. Just do the thing you would like to do,” he said at the conclusion of his commencement speech. “…Whatever your interest, no matter how weird or unattainable or far off it seems, it’s not. It’s completely possible and even likely if you just consistently work at it.”
