By Richard Scanland
LANSING, Ill. (January 30, 2023) – On Friday the Lansing Public Library hosted a comedy night — a mix of stand-up routines and musical comedy targeted at adults and seniors.
A band called Thrown Together opened the night, playing a mix of American music from the 60s and 70s as well as tunes from the British Invasion. They also played in-between acts and to close the show.
The comedians that performed at the event were from a comedy group called Tomfoolery Fun Club, with each comedian bringing their own unique style and flair, making for a diverse comedic experience. The event lasted about an hour and a half.
First to take the stage was a man who called himself “Sharkie.” Sharkie’s style was different from other stand-up comedians. Rather than telling funny, slice-of-life stories or jokes based on observational humor, he made a series of self-deprecating couplet jokes centering around his many failings with women. He closed out his set with a blues song, in which he sang and played the harmonica. Using his own fresh style, Sharkie was rewarded with many laughs from the audience.
Next on stage was Ed Smaron, who combined music and comedy on his guitar. He played a series of original songs, such as “The Ugliest Beach in Town” and “Airplane Mode”, all of which were delightfully absurd and fun.
Next up and the last of the Tomfoolery Fun Club comedians was Soli Santos. Her style of comedy was a more typical stand-up set, complete with funny stories about growing up the only girl in a home full of boys, and her poor experiences with extension lashes in preparation for her brother’s wedding. She was also very physically expressive, moving around the stage and using vibrant hand gestures to enhance her jokes and stories.
After Santos finished her set, a member of the audience and Lansing community, Dave Franklin took the stage — with Tomfoolery’s permission — and sang a funny song in honor of another local couple whose anniversary was approaching.
Finally, Thrown Together closed out the night by playing more hits on their guitars.
The Lansing Library streamed the event on its Facebook page. Though the camera is turned at first, at 11:16, it’s oriented properly:
Tomfoolery Fun Club’s future events can be found on the group’s Facebook page as well as its website.
The Lansing Library will continue to host a variety of community-oriented events, which can be found at www.lansingpl.org or by signing up for the Library’s newsletter. The Library is located at 2750 Indiana Avenue.
This event did not appear on the Lansing Library Event January 2023 Calendar. Where was it publicized?
We are sorry you missed it too! The library included it in their events listing on their website: https://lansingpl.org/events/library-night-stand-comedy. They also purchased an ad in The Lansing Journal, and the ad linked people directly to that web page. I believe the page is no longer active now that the event is over.