Shippensburg University had a night full of laughs Thursday when Grant Lyon, a California-based comedian, performed inside the CUB Red Zone as a part of the APB’s After Dark series.
Lyon began telling the crowd about his walk around Shippensburg earlier in the day and that he enjoyed the town’s “old timey” feeling. He asked about the amish and told stories from his college days in California.

Michelle Rodenhaver, a junior at Shippensburg, was one of the first people to arrive to the show and was in the front row.

“I thought he was really funny and he was the first comedian not to make jokes about living in a small town.Rodenhaver said. “Most comedians that come to Shippensburg say, ‘Oh you live in a small town. What do you do, tip cows?’

It’s only funny for so long. I liked that he didn’t use that.”

After Lyon talked about his stroll through town he joked about Shippensburg’s colorful use of puns.
“You guys have puns everywhere. Ship happens! Ha!” he said, which led into a discussion of what Shippensburg’s mascot really is and an audience member yelling, “it is a parrot dressed like a pirate!”

After a segment on birthday presents, Lyon then offered the crowd of Shippensburg students advice on never moving back home with parents after being in college.

He enthusiastically pointed out the pool match going on in the back of the room and explained that he has never had a “pool match opening act” before, while asking details about the game.
The night continued with jokes about the Pittsburgh Steelers to his take on the election coming in November and his taste for old-fashioned CD players.

Lyon’s greatest strength came from how he played off of the audience— whether it was through the crowd’s reactions or what was happening in the room. This could not be more true when a young woman answered her phone during the show and Lyon took the phone from her. He put the person on speaker phone and messed with the guy on the other line. It ended in a room full of laughter and the caller promptly hanging up on him.

“This is why you turn your phones off at comedy shows,” he yelled to the crowd, causing more laughter.

He ended the show with a documentary he made recently that parallels online dating to job interviews that was a bit odd but funny just the same. Although it was unconventional, it was still a good ending to a hilarious night.

As Lyon said after one of his segments, “I got opinions man, I’m gonna say ‘em!” That statement is the summary of Lyon’s performance: a funny and honest way of sharing one guy’s opinions of the world.

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