What: Comedy Caravan featuring Tim Kidd
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Bobcat Student Lounge
Admission: Free
Ohio University’s Blue Pencil Comedy group is readying the Baker University Center stage Tuesday for the latest iteration of the Comedy Caravan standup shows, which will feature the offbeat style of professional touring act Tim Kidd.
Kidd, who has performed in comedy clubs across the country for more than a decade, makes his stop at OU as he nears the end of an extensive U.S. tour that began on Feb. 4 and ends with a New Year’s Eve date in nearby Harrisburg, Penn.
Kidd said that the birth of his son, Zuriah Michael Kidd, this past July has made the long road tour bitter sweet.
“I’ve wanted to be a comedian since I was five,” Kidd said. “But now that it’s happened and I’ve gone on to marry my wife and have kids, all I’ve wanted to be is a dad. The road I’ve chosen makes it hard to do that.”
Tom Sobel, a former OU student who now organizes the shows under the Comedy Caravan name, said that while the time spent on the road can seem daunting to some, comedians such as Kidd who “perform for the love of it” are rewarded with benefits that make the experience worthwhile.
“If you don’t like traveling and driving your car, it may not be the lifestyle for you,” Sobel said. “It can have wonderful advantages for these guys to study and learn about anything they want, because of the travel and hours that they work.”
The student comedians that make up Blue Pencil Comedy, such as Caz Finnegan and Dan Ahrens, will serve as the opening acts, all bringing their own outlooks on life that are sure to resonate with their peers in the audience.
Zac Coleman, president of Blue Pencil Comedy, said that the Comedy Caravan shows present a unique opportunity for the other student comedians and himself to perform new material in a longer-than-average set.
“We try to, at least for the Comedy Caravan shows, come out with our best and new stuff to make the show exciting,” Coleman said. “It won’t be the stuff that we do regularly. It’s a longer set so, the pacing is different — we have the timing to work with as well.”
Blue Pencil Comedy’s lineup won’t be the only performers bringing new jokes to the stage, however, as Kidd will get to try out his latest jokes in front of a collegiate crowd.
“Some of the material I’m performing in OU is new in that I’ve only tried it out a few times, and that was in front of an older crowd,” Kidd said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how a younger crowd receives it.”
jd202409@ohiou.edu
