VOA慢速英语--学习与笑声相伴的喜剧演员学生

For College Student Comedians¹, Laughter Comes with Learning²

At a comedy night at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, members of the school’s Stand-up Comedy club bring lots of laughter to their classmates.

They give funny speeches, tell jokes and make humorous body movements.

These college student comedians may feel unsure of themselves at first. But the experience is highly⁴ enjoyable. Their humor³ entertains and helps ease⁵ the stress of crowds of busy, young people.

Yet club member Ariella Shua says comedy is serious work. The students write all their own material. Then, in weekly club meetings, they try out that material.

“Whoever is reading, we read all of the material, and then we would go joke by joke and see what works⁶ and what doesn’t,” Shua told VOA. “So, it starts as an individual project for yourself and becomes a group effort.”

Shua joined the club last year. She says she has become a better observer⁷ of what is going on around her ever since. She says she does not go anywhere without bringing something on which she can take notes.

“Whenever I just have a thought in my head that seems like, ‘Oh, this is strange,’ or when I see something or overhear⁸ someone saying something in the library, I just write it down,” Shua explained. “Later, when I’m trying to write my own set, I go walk through that … to see if there is anything in there that I can use.”

Every school wants their students to perform as best they can in their studies. But colleges and universities across the United States urge their students to explore their abilities and develop interests beyond their field of study. Joining an on-campus⁹ club is a good way to do that.

Comedy Club president Nicholas Scandura finds that writing is one of the many skills he has developed since joining the club.

“Writing jokes is really fun,” he said. “It takes a lot of critical thinking."

The club gives its members a sense of community. When they meet, they share funny experiences, tell jokes and laugh.

“It’s just a nice, relaxing break,” Scandura said.

Over the past ten years, stand-up comedy clubs have become common on college campuses¹⁰ in America. He said now everyone wants to do it because the culture of stand-up has gotten a lot of media attention and become more popular.

Last year, Harry¹¹ Kuperstein joined the club and discovered it was a natural fit. Noticing the funny qualities of different situations improved his way of looking at the world. Becoming an active member also helped him work on the future skills he will need as a medical doctor.

“Talking to patients as a doctor; I think that … having jokes ready to go might help smooth these interactions¹² and make you a better public speaker,” he said.

Club member Alex Hecksher Gomes studies computer science. He thanks the club for helping¹³ him develop his own style and learn some secrets of writing good comedy.

“Not always tell the truth. Sometimes, it’s funny to go after your imagination,” he said. “Also, don’t always go with your first idea. I definitely¹⁴ thought some things that I said were funny, and then looked back. And where I got to with the joke was a lot funnier than when I started.”

Despite the group meetings, rewrites and rehearsals¹⁵, some ideas just are not funny.

Club member Benjamin Monteagudo said performing in front of a group of students does not mean comedians will not receive strong criticism¹⁶. Last year, they came up with an idea to keep the audience involved and get their opinions.

“We called it ‘Tomato Show,' where if you were performing very badly on stage, we just let the audience throw tomatoes at us to kind of roll with the joke," he said. “So, we spent our entire budget on a big box of foam¹⁷ tomatoes. There were 200 to 300 of them. We gave them to the audience, and it was the best show ever.”

I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

comedy – n. things that are done and said to make an audience laugh

joke(s) – n. something said or done to cause laughter

stress – n. a state of mental tension¹⁸ and worry caused by problems in your life or work

campus – n. the area and buildings around a university, college, or school

relaxing – adj. helping you to rest and to feel less tense, worried, or nervous

interaction(s) – n. exchanges where people talk or do things together

rehearsal(s) – n. an event at which a person or group does an activity, such as singing, dancing, or actin, again and again in order to prepare for a public performance

audience – n. the people who attend a performance

tomatoes – n. round, soft, red fruit that are eaten raw or cooked and that is often used in salads, sandwiches and sauces

foam – n. a soft material that is used to make many products

1 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 humor   

n.(humour)幽默，诙谐

参考例句：

• He is distinguished for his sense of humor.他以其幽默感著称。
• American humor is founded largely on hyperbole.美式幽默主要以夸张为基础。

4 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

5 ease   

n. 安乐,安逸,悠闲; v. 使...安乐,使...安心,减轻,放松

参考例句：

• His mind was at ease and he felt confident in the future. 他心情舒畅,对前途很有信心。
• You should ease up on the child and stop scolding her. 你应该对那个孩子宽松些,不要再骂她了。

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 observer   

n.观察家，观察的人，观察员

参考例句：

• I can see you're a careful reader as well as a careful observer.我能看出你既是一位细心的读者，又是一位观察者。
• I want to attend the conference only as an observer.本人只作为观察员身份参加会议。

8 overhear   

vt.无意中听到，偷听到

参考例句：

• I happened to overhear what he said.我碰巧听到他说的话。
• They stepped aside so that their child could not overhear their conversation.他们走到一边去，不让孩子听见他们的谈话。

9 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

10 campuses   

n.（大学）校园（campus的复数形式）

参考例句：

• University campuses are often the bellwether of change. 大学校园往往引领变革的新潮。
• Sport looms much larger on US campuses than in China. 体育在美国大学比中国大学突出得多。 来自互联网

11 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

12 interactions   

一起活动( interaction的名词复数 )； 合作； 互相影响； 互动

参考例句：

• Only then will we be able to design appropriate interactions and interfaces. 只有那时，我们才能够设计合适的交互行为和界面。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• These interactions are typically supported by clear cursor hinting. 一般来说，清晰的光标暗示辅助支持这样的交互。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

15 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 criticism   

n.批评，批判，指责；评论，评论文章

参考例句：

• Some youth today do not allow any criticism at all.现在有些年轻人根本指责不得。
• It is wrong to turn a deaf ear to other's criticism.对别人的批评充耳不闻是错误的。

17 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

18 tension   

n.(紧张)状态；拉(绷)紧；张力，拉力

参考例句：

• I could feel the tension in the room. 我可以感觉到房间里的紧张气氛。
• Relaxaion is better than tension. 缓和比紧张好。