The crowd wasn’t expecting comedian Nick Offerman to come onstage bare-chested, but the American flag printed shirt he would wear for the rest of his act remained on its peg for a few minutes.
“Partial nudity advertised, partial nudity achieved,” he said, shrugging the shirt on.
Offerman performed to a sold-out venue Saturday evening, with about 2,000 people filling the seats of Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
“I think this happened for three or four shows last year,” said Andrew Holzaepfel, senior associate director of the Campus Involvement Center. “It doesn’t happen very often. We were expecting about 1,200 people, but we got 2,000.”
Offerman structured his show around his top 10 tips for living, such as experiencing romantic love and maintaining a relationship with Jesus. Offerman also showed a different aspect of his comedic talent.
Offerman played a multitude of songs, including a tune he wrote for his wife, actress Megan Mullally. Many of the songs he performed featured risqué humor, in line with the rest of his act.
Some attendees left the theatre partway through the show.
“It’s not going to be everybody’s flavor,” Holzaepfel said.
He added after the show, Offerman came offstage and asked how many people left the theatre, as normally he loses about seven percent of his audience.
Connie Katsaounis, a former student at Ohio University, said she enjoyed the performance. Katsaounis added that she is a fan of Offerman’s show Parks & Recreation.
“He (as a stand-up comedian) reflects the ideology of his character,” Katsaounis said, adding that his opinions on vegetarianism were an example.
Offerman’s humor did not mainly center around jokes, but instead around his views on the world. He said onstage that his performance was different from other stand-up comedians, such as Aziz Ansari and Louis C.K., both of whom star on Parks and Recreation.
Though his role on Parks & Recreation may have attracted many to the performance, a knowledge of the show was not required to enjoy the performance.
“That was actually my first interaction with Mr. Offerman. I don't watch Parks & Rec, so I wasn't sure what to expect,” said Ryan Lombardi, vice president for Student Affairs. “I thought he was generally funny and also had some positive messages in his routine.”
Luckily for Parks & Recreation fans, Offerman closed the show with a rendition of “5,000 Candles in the Wind,” a popular song from the show.
The crowd’s reaction was largely positive with the reference, including one fan throwing a stuffed pony up to Offerman. Offerman set the pony upright, took a knee beside it and then placed it back on the edge of the stage.
@EmilyMBamforth
eb104010@ohiou.edu
