Josh Blue brings laughter to campus

Josh Blue captures the audience’s attention at his show. Blue performed at Washburn University on Wednesday, Feb. 23 in Washburn A/B.

With the help of Washburn Student Government Association and Campus Activities Board, comedian Josh Blue performed in Washburn A/B Feb. 24. The audience was welcomed by the opening comedian, Jason Regan.

Regan’s jokes helped the audience let loose and fill the room with laughter. After Regan’s performance, Dajia Coleman, a senior education major, was successful in completing a big part of her capstone project when she was able to introduce the man of the hour.

Blue had the room roaring with laughter with jokes about his life and the people in the room.

“I thought it was really funny. I was laughing the whole time and I am glad that I came and could share the laughs,” said Jaydn Nachtman, a junior history major.

This event was widely advertised on campus, but Coleman also spoke about it in class.

“I was super excited to come,” said Lindsey Pitzer, a senior elementary education major. “I actually heard about this event while it was in the talking stages from Dajia, who is leading the capstone project. Our whole class has been helping from the beginning.”

The performance had a deeper meaning since it was meant to promote inclusion and accessibility on campus as well.

“I think it is important to show everyone as a whole on campus because we are all different,” Pitzer said.

Nachtman agreed that the performance helped to share stories that usually go unheard.

“I think it gave a voice to the voiceless for people who are scared to stand up on campus. It was just a great idea to show that not everybody is the same, because we all have things we struggle with,” Nachtman said.

Recent events have brought light to accessibility issues on campus and both Natchtman and Pitzer understand that improvements have been needed for years.

This performance and the subsequent awareness of those issues would not have been possible without the support from CAB and WSGA.

“Originally, Josh Blue was one of the two people that we had decided between to promote accessibility on campus and how it has been limited, especially [in] the education department,” said Cheyanne Colwell, a CAB member and senior history secondary education major.

The night was still filled with hysterics and the audience was able to enjoy Blue’s act while knowing the deeper meaning of the performance.

“I just thought that it was overall amazing,” Nachtman said. “He brought laughs to people that may need it or may have not needed it, but it was just overall great and I hope he comes back.”

Pitzer agreed with Nachtman on how funny Blue was.

Having a diverse set of performers helps to showcase and support what students are doing on campus while also allowing for a bigger meaning.

“I think having performers like Josh Blue brings an understanding as to what accessibility means to the students here,” Colwell said.

The night came to a close with Blue taking pictures with his many fans and giving a big thanks to Coleman for her hard work on her capstone project.

Edited by Justin Shepard, Ellie Walker