Comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes had the crowd in tears during her set of her “The Family Reunion” tour. 

The show began at 8 p.m., with opening act comedian Mal Hall coming out for half an hour before Johnson-Reyes. Hall talked about how hard it is to be a millennial parent and growing up with not a lot of money.

Hall talked about finding out he was poor as a kid. When he went to his friend’s house one day, they had no idea what a “ketchup drawer” was, because they had it in a bottle. 

“When my mom took us to McDonald’s, she would order one large fry and then she’d tell us, ‘Go get ketchup,’” Hall said. “We knew what she meant. We’re not getting ketchup for these fries; we’re shopping for the house right now.”

Hall has been doing stand-up comedy for 15 years, and he has his debut one-hour special, “What Are We Doing Today?!” that is set to premiere on Prime Video Oct. 21.

Johnson-Reyes came out on stage saying how beautiful it was to be in Shippensburg. “Although, there is a strong scent of manure here,” Johnson-Reyes said, and the audience laughed. 

She went on to talk about what it is like growing up in a large family, getting older and no longer being referred to as “mija” but instead “tía.” Johnson-Reyes recently became a new mother, and it made her think about how she was an ugly baby growing up. 

“There are some people that think all babies are beautiful…I am not one of those people,” Johnson-Reyes said. She then asked the crowd if anyone has had an ugly baby and a few people even responded saying yes.

“There are 600 of you in this room and only two dads raised their hands, something isn’t adding up,” she said, calling out the silent ones in the audience. “Some of you might not know you had an ugly baby.” The crowd burst into laughter.

During "Gratitude’s and Maditude’s,” a segment she does on her podcast “Funjelah,” the audience filled out paper cards with things they are grateful for and things that make them mad. Johnson-Reyes brought out Hall to help read what the audience wrote. A fourth-grade teacher shared her frustrations in teaching math to a bunch of boys who will not stop laughing at “6 7”. 

Johnson-Reyes has six comedy specials that are streaming over various platforms. She has been touring “The Family Reunion” since mid-July; the tour is expected to end around Thanksgiving.

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