Laughs rang out from Baker Ballroom as Victoria Vincent, Ohio University alum, returned to headline the Welcome Week comedy show Thursday night.
Vincent, previously a radiation therapy worker from Columbus, Ohio, is quickly rising through the Chicago comedy scene. She completed her biology pre-med degree at OU and is now a full time comedian. She was one of the Just For Laughs New Faces of comedy in 2022 and recently recorded a set for Don’t Tell Comedy.
Welcome Week is filled to the brim with campus-wide events for students, but for Emma Boring, a freshman studying production design and technology, the comedy show was an exciting highlight of the week.
“I am very excited for the comedian today,” Boring said. “I know that Black Sheep Improv is opening for them so I’m also really excited to see them."
Ahead of Vincent’s set, student-led Black Sheep Improv took the audience on a trip to Radiator Springs – from the Pixar movie “Cars” – and a ride through a round-a-bout to kick off the evening filled with laughs and smiling faces. The short improv set featured character Round-a-bout Rachel, discussions of traffic issues and a grown man’s dreams of being a Girl Scout.
After Black Sheep Improv rocked the stage, OU’s University Program Council member Luke Vanus introduced Vincent as an alum, healthcare worker and comedian. He shared a comment from Vincent about her sweet memories from her time at OU, including setting off the Adams Hall fire alarm.
“(Vincent) is mostly doing this show to get someone to swipe into Shively dining hall,” Venus.
Vincent started her set by reminiscing on her time at OU and her dorm room on South Green. She asked the audience about what kind of jobs they have before talking about working in the radiation field before she did comedy full time.
Vincent’s set was heavy on audience engagement and the crowd in Baker Ballroom was eager to participate. There were bonding moments over being kids and experiencing the woes of dating and dating apps. Although she sometimes shared specific anecdotes of her own life and experiences, Vincent’s jokes kept the crowd engaged throughout the entirety of her show through frequent audience responses and participation.
“I actually like working out,“ Vincent said. "I like that feeling of being close to death but not achieving it."
Throughout her set, Vincent subtly shared harsh, real-life experiences with racism, sexism and mental health, all while keeping the laughs flowing. Vincent and the audience had a lot of shared experiences, however, while discussing college students’ tendency to want to be content creators, Vincent mentioned fears of being stereotyped if she was making content about people and public places. Along with slipping in personal thoughts throughout her set, Vincent’s confidence shone through.
“I like doing comedy, I think I’m pretty OK at comedy,” Vincent said.
If the Baker Ballroom walls could talk about the evening spent watching Vincent’s set, they would say she is pretty great at comedy.
