Lots of laughs erupted from the Thompson Student Activities Room on Friday night as comedian Tracey Ashley graced the stage.

A semifinalist on the NBC show “Last Comic Standing,” Ashley knew how to keep the crowd going.  Her jokes ranged from declaring Oprah as president to encountering hippopotamuses at the ATM.

The performance, organized by Student Life, was one of the many events on campus throughout Family Weekend, and a part of Ashley’s tour across the nation.  She performs at colleges regularly and had many stories and jokes about her time at other universities.

“It was relatable.  It was definitely in time, and nothing old or outdated,” Cydni LeaVells, junior, said. “It allows people to know that even though they are at school on their own, there are still opportunities for their families to come and visit them.  It gives them a taste of home.”

According to Tony Cianciolo, assistant director of Student Life, the first step was figuring out which act would be best for the campus.  Any act needs to be affordable, allow for many other acts to come throughout the year and be able to work with the resources that SVSU provides.

“The hardest part is finding which ones students would like at a rate that’s feasible,” Cianciolo said.  “So we could get Dane Cook, which half the student population would love, but that would blow our entire budget for the year, and we would have no venue for that.”

According to Cianciolo, many students ask why the university does not host concerts rather than comedians and other performers.

“We don’t have concerts on campus because figuring out what type of music to bring would be hard because we have such a diversity of students and music taste.  The venues on campus do not support such an act,” Cianciolo said.

However, he also stated that Student Life will be looking into partnering with the Dow Events Center to host a concert that students would be able to attend for a low price.

Despite requests for concerts, students who came to watch Ashley enjoyed her performance.  One such student was Warren Beach, a sophomore.

“At first, I just thought it was all right.  When we got more into it, she was actually pretty funny,” Beach said.  “I didn’t even know she was a comedian.  I thought she was a motivational speaker, so I really wasn’t expecting it to be that funny.”

Some families made it out to the performance, among them Sam Simpson, a junior, with his nieces.

“You look forward to Family Weekend and this kind of stuff.  We brought (my nieces) because it was a comedian and we saw the first one,” Simpson said.

When Simpson asked his nieces if they thought Ashley was funny and if they had fun, they answered with a confident “Yes!”

Overall, students who attended this performance understood the importance of taking advantage of events like this on campus.

“Me and my friends come to these events to stay connected,” Rachel Williams said.  “It’s a chance to meet new people, and it’s a great service to the community.  It’s a good chance to enjoy the actual SVSU surroundings.”