Soltanovich cracked students with stand-up performance

Photo: Connor McCourtney

As approximately 100 students piled into Bulldog Theater, they were expecting one of the most entertaining comedic performances of the year. Kira Soltanovich had the full theater roaring with laughter. The recent birth of her child gave her plenty of advice that she wanted the audience to follow: “Pull out!”

Soltanovich has been the voice of “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno’s “Phony Photo Booth” and a regular on Oxygen’s “Girls Behaving Badly.”  The Student Activities Board’s event, which took place Feb. 25, was sponsored as a part of the spring comedy series.

“She was funny,” first-year Alissa Tillotson said. Soltanovich joked about a wide variety of topics such as Russian superstitions, pregnancy and the guy in the front row.

This show was very audience-centered. She had a repertoire of jokes, but she enjoyed engaging with the audience much more. It was clear that students enjoyed the show as much as she did.

Max Cavett, a first-year journalism student, was the brunt of a number of Soltanovich’s jokes. From being made fun of as a racist, a European religion and his young age, Cavett had to put up with a lot.

“At first I was a bit nervous and embarrassed, but I eased up after a bit and had a great time,” Cavett said. Even with the amount of work Cavett was forced to put into the show, he still found Soltanovich engaging and humorous.

“It was still funny. It’s not every day you get to be used as a joke for a comedian,” Cavett said. “I did like it when she realized my hometown was the basis for her earlier joke.”

First-year Annette Blyakher shared a Russian heritage with Soltanovich, so they collaborated on several of the jokes.

“I thought she was hilarious and did a great job interacting with the audience. Her style was a bit inappropriate, but it was still fun,” Blyakher said.

One student was even asked to sing once she found out that he was a theater major. As he sang the all-popular Lady Gaga song “Bad Romance,”students got to enjoy an impromptu pole dancing routine from Soltanovich. As first-year Matt Godkin delicately put it, “I was frightened.”

The event had a great turnout for a fantastic night of student-organized comedy and light abuse. Students only hope that Soltanovich will be around next year to give another hilarious performance.  Final words of wisdom from Soltanovich: “Don’t do drugs, and pull out!”