Erin Foley, a comedian, visited Athens Thursday to have lunch with students and perform in Baker Center Theatre.
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Erin Foley kicked off her Thursday evening show with an issue of The Post in her hand. She had one question on her mind.
“The f--k is happening with the bats?” she asked the audience.
Foley referred to the bat problem throughout the performance, but also addressed heavier topics with a lighthearted approach. She moved on to talk about the LGBTQ community in her act, curious if the “Q” stood for questioning or queer. While it can stand for both, Foley, who is openly gay, had advice for those questioning.
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“Just make out with someone. Just do it. Everyone questions,” she said.
The amount of laughter ringing from the theater made the audience seem like a full house, although Baker Center Theatre was only about three-quarters of the way full.
“I think we needed a good laugh so it was just nice to laugh as a community,” said Delfin Bautista, director for the LGBT Center.
Foley discussed her life with the audience, from moving to California and dealing with healthy living extremists to being allergic to gluten, meaning she can’t have “joy” in her life. But the problem with having a gluten allergy is also having a mother as a Catholic schoolteacher.
“I am allergic to the body of Christ … I’m going to sit this one out,” she joked about attending religious services. “My mother will never hear that joke.”
She later explained how she is unable to tell her parents where she is travelling in order to avoid them arriving at a show. Once, she said she was going to Cancun, Mexico. Her mother began to panic and her father refused to pay ransom in the future.
The topic of gay marriage also was on Foley’s set list. She described the conservative people’s views against gay marriage through the imitation of a serious 911 call.
“There are two women. They are very happy. They’re on their way to city hall to get married. They’ve got to be stopped immediately,” she shouted to the crowd in panic.
Foley told her first fart joke in her life and described the problem with being a woman, which includes the “war zones” in the perfume departments and being criticized for not carrying a purse.
She ended the show with criticism of Congress citing the Bible to defend laws and not abiding by the separation of church and state. She said she felt influenced to quote other irrelevant texts. Her primary example included — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
The crowd erupted in applause at the final joke and some members of the audience stuck around for a “talk back.” Students were eager to share their experiences with bats, among other nuisances, such as ladybugs.
Although the show tackled heavier content such as LGBT issues, it also appealed to students who simply love comedy.
“I am here more for the comedy group then the LGBT stuff, but I thought it was really interesting how she meshed the two and brought up issues in a way that it was fun but still making a point,” said Madison Androw, a sophomore studying biological sciences.
@liz_backo
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