The lights dimmed in Pruis Hall as 300 students filled the seats waiting for the Comedy Central comedian Eliot Chang to perform his “Easily Excited” college comedy tour.
Upon walking on stage, Chang was welcomed with applause and whistles from the audience. Throughout the night, his jokes ranged from online dating to adopting children.
“I thought that the performance was clever and witty,” JaneseWhitfield, a Ball State student, said. “The material was relatable to the whole audience.”
Chang’s performance kicked off The Asian American Student Association’s month of events.
“It was a positive experience with the Asian-American community,” said Brittany Pierce, a sophomore elementary education major. “He was real. He did not hold anything back.”
Although Chang came to make students laugh, he had a message about the representation of Asian Americans in American media.
“Life is not based on reality,” Chang said. “It is based on the perception of reality. If it is not in the media, it does not exist. Lucy Liu is the only female character you see. In the media, Asian women play sex objects to every race but Asian men.”
Some audience members said they were surprised with his discussion.
“I never thought about how Asian-American women are represented in media,” Whitfield said. “They only have two roles: dictator or vixen.”
The AASA guest also gave advice to the Ball State audience.
“Don’t use racial slurs,” Chang said. “Learn your language and culture. Once you are gone, your children have no reference. Don’t skip class. You should be getting straight A’s. The biggest power you have is choice. You are what you choose to be.”
After the discussion, Chang hosted a question-and-answer session allowing students to text him questions about anything. Chang read the questions aloud and answered them uncensored.
One audience member asked how Chang started his career in comedy.
“I found my calling,” Chang said. “I got lucky. Everything I got was by myself. I called Comedy Central so many times. Singer, comedian, actor — anything in performing, you got to go do it.”
Chang even called one of the students and recorded the conversation.
AASA members said they were pleased with the turn out of the kick off for its month of events.
“I was really surprised with the crowd and their energy since it is Monday,” Romelle Taday, AASA president, said. “He was not afraid to take risks, and we are all adults here.”
The next AASA event is an open mic night Nov. 13 in Woodworth Complex.
