Leslie Jones joins Kean for Unity Week

By Monica Sudfield | Published April 7, 2017

Saturday Night Live (SNL) comedian Leslie Jones filled the Wilkins Theater with laughter on March 16, 2017, as a special guest to celebrate this year’s Unity Week.

Jones’ routine, which incorporated stories from her youth, relationship humor, and audience interaction, was raunchy.

“This isn’t SNL. I’m a bad person,” warned Jones right from the jump. Jones, although best known for her role on SNL, is also notable for her two most recent projects, the new “Ghostbusters” and animated film “Sing”, according to Internet Movie Database (IMDb) .

Many jokes seemed improvised based on what was going on around her and how the audience was reacting. The audience interaction caught many off guard, which was hysterical to watch, according to Junior Jack Tomy, usher for Kean Stage.

A moment that caught the audience, and even Jones herself, off guard was when an audience member kissed Jones right on the cheek.

When socializing with a man in the audience, he took out his phone to shoot a quick Snapchat with the comedian. He then proceeded to kiss Jones on the cheek for the snap with his girlfriend sitting next to him.

Jones immediately made a joke about the situation expressing he would regret that when he gets back to his room and his girlfriend makes comments about how he should “go kiss Leslie Jones.”

“It didn’t feel like I was watching a performance,” said Kaitlin Murphy, Rutgers Junior accompanying her friend who attends Kean. “It felt like she was actually talking to us on a more personal level, which was really cool.”

With last years Unity Week’s big guest performance being a concert featuring Kehlani and Jeremih, a comedy show was fresh, different and unexpected.

“I was interested to learn that this year would be a comedy show, and even more interested once I heard it was Leslie Jones,” said Tomy.

The night started off with an opening act from comedian Jon Laster, host of the first and second “Underground Comedy Festival” in New York City.

Some may recognize Laster’s name from his three seasons of BET’s “Comic View” or even his weekly hosting in Clinton Hill/FT Green Brooklyn at the longest running comedy room ever in Brooklyn, according to standupny.com.

“Opening Acts are a risk because they’re either going to be liked or disliked, but the hilarious impression he made will definitely stick with the audience,” said Murphy.

As stated on the the Kean Website, Unity Week’s purpose, since its commencement in 1997, has been to celebrate the cultural diversity of the Kean community by unifying students, faculty and administration.

Over 200 student tickets were sold, advised Student Org member Alexa Cantres, but the audience varied of all ages. Leslie even cracked a joke about how there were probably random patrons with no association to Kean at the performance because they are “die hard Leslie fans”.

Pulse Coordinator Edward Adams said Leslie was happy to be doing this performance and loves that she can be a part of our University’s Unity Week.

Other events that took place in celebration of Unity Week 2017 included: Unity Week Kick Off; Melting Pot Program; Sex, Love and Happiness; Unity Week: Before I Die Wall; You & Your Money; Trap vs. Hip Hop; Let’s Talk, Real Talk; and English Vinglish.

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