Stand-up comedian Sara Schaefer performs at LC

By NOAH FOSTER-KOTH

“You never know what’s going to happen up here,” promised comedian Sara Schaefer at the beginning of her performance at Lewis & Clark on October 23rd, “I come out here all quiet and sweet… and then I unleash!” Schaefer proceeded to entertain LC students with an hour’s worth of material from her comedy album Chrysalis, copies of which were on sale in the Evans Recital Hall after the show.

The majority of Schaefer’s jokes on Friday night addressed the societal pressures placed on women, especially regarding their physical appearance. “I feel like there’s a lot of pressure on ladies these days to have the perfect body, and it’s just never good enough,” she pointed out, “there’s so many body achievements that we need to unlock. Schaefer also described her experiences in school (“to this day, if I look at the periodic table, I barf”) and asked audience members about their academic aspirations. “I thought she did a good job of playing off of the audience without making them uncomfortable,” freshman Madeleine Bentley told the Piolog after Schaefer’s performance.

Schaefer’s comedy style is similar to that of Amy Schumer, in that many of her jokes relate to human sexuality and anatomy. In fact, Schaefer has a cameo appearance on the first episode of “Inside Amy Schumer,” and has also appeared on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” and “Jon Oliver’s NY Stand-Up Show.” Schaefer usually speaks in a smoky, mellow voice during her performances, which make her rare moments of high-pitched anger and hysteria more surprising and more likely to get a laugh out of the audience.

After her performance on Friday, Schaefer spoke to students one-on-one while selling copies of her album. Schaefer also shared her opinion of LC itself: “This is a really nice campus. You should be proud… of your parents. They made it nice for you.”