Philosophy and history junior Will Goree will be the opening act for comedian Thomas Middleditch at Holmberg Hall at 7 p.m. June 30.
For the last two years, Goree has performed stand-up at Comedy Fight Night, a stand-up comedy event put on in the fall semester by the Union Programming Board (U.P.B.).
Despite the fact that Comedy Fight Night was actually Goree’s first experience performing stand-up, Goree won both runner-up and crowd favorite. Goree said he found out about the show through his work as a member of U.P.B.
“I was doing U.P.B. and the event got announced at the beginning of the year," Goree said. "I thought it sounded really cool and I had never done anything like comedy before, so I started writing jokes and got my friends together to run my jokes by them and rehearse and I’m really grateful they let me do that.”
Goree was not a Middleditch fan before being asked by Summer Session to open the event, however, he quickly became familiar with Middleditch’s starring role in the HBO comedy “Silicon Valley.”
“I started watching Silicon Valley after the show got announced, I’m almost done with the first season right now and it's really funny, he’s just a hilarious actor, it’s just a really funny performance," Goree said.
The university sponsors this event every summer, making admission free for students. Previous talents who have performed for the Summer Comedian event include Chris Hardwick of “The Talking Dead” and Hannibal Burress of “Broad City.”
Chloe Tadlock, a sports management senior with Summer Session and the president of the Campus Activities Council, explained in a press release why the event has maintained its popularity.
“The best part about bringing in a comedian is that it gives us an opportunity to attract a wide range of audiences," she said. "Everyone enjoys a good laugh which is why we enjoying bringing comedians to campus."
