The pandemic may be causing increased stress and disappointment. Even though it seems there is no remedy to the pandemic except its end – there are ways to make it more bearable. As many say, laughter is the best medicine, and Comedy Club at MGCI is the place for it. 

In September 2020, Comedy Club was founded to bring more laughter and humour to MGCI students. Alvin Young, the Co-President of Comedy Club said, “I started Comedy Club because I wanted to create a club where people can laugh and have a good time. I also wanted to show people some tools regarding comedy, and for them to better understand it. Humour and comedy is something that I’ve always enjoyed, whether it’s laughing with friends or watching a funny show. I envisioned Comedy Club to be a place for people to exercise their funny bones with their friends, and that’s why I started it.” 

Illustration by Julia Shen

Like most ongoing clubs and activities, Comedy Club is run virtually, in a Discord server. Meeting times are decided based on the availability of members. The current meeting time is on Mondays from 8-9. Even on days with no meetings, members and executives regularly share new jokes and memes in the Discord server. There are exclusive channels in the server for members so they can share new comedic material with others. 

When asked about the topic of leading meetings, Alvin said, “It’s pretty fun to go prepare some of the materials for the meetings since I get the ‘first laugh’, so to speak. Mostly, as a co-president, I don’t do too much leading, just sharing. To be able to share things that other people find interesting and funny always brings joy.” 

During meetings, executives usually prepare a workshop with a slideshow that includes humor tips and examples. The club members can interact and discuss in the server chat, and they are also encouraged to share their own jokes or relevant personal experiences. At the end of each meeting, members can look forward to a fun activity related to the topic discussed. On days when workshops aren’t run, the members typically have a casual meeting with conversations to lift spirits. 

“The part of comedy club I enjoy the most is that the meetings are fun! The slideshows we get are really interesting and the games are super amusing. Also, there’s some really cool anime discussion for some reason which is also cool. Comedy club is great for people that want to relax and just enjoy comedy,” said Comedy Club member Donna Zhang. 

Comedy Club also runs game nights, where members come together online and play online games together such as Skribbl or Codenames. Game nights typically last around 45 minutes. So far, Comedy Club has hosted two game nights, with more to come in the future. 

For the future of Comedy Club, Alvin said, “My vision is just for it to continue as a lively and fun environment. I don’t have a ton of goals, since we’re still a pretty small and close group. Basically, to introduce more tips on how to be funny and to continue sharing comedic material throughout the weeks and during meetings.” 

Colleen Chang, the other Co-President for Comedy Club, said, “In the future, I’m hoping we can build a nice atmosphere for others if they [want to] join too.” 

Anyone interested in seeing a past presentation from Comedy Club can find one here: http://bit.ly/pastpresentation. Students interested in joining Comedy Club can access the Discord server through this link: https://discord.gg/bpzZsVneJr/.