Meeting Juan

It was a Thursday night and it was the first time I was going to meet my conversation partner. Since I am currently in a class focused on humor and comedy, I thought it would be fitting to go to Senseless Acts of Comedy –an improv comedy show on campus—to meet with my new friend. The night started off not according to plan as both of us were late and had no idea what the other looked like. I remember walking up to around three different people asking if they were Juan only to be informed that I was wrong and looked at as if the idea that they could be Juan was out of the realm of possibility. Eventually when he showed up, we quickly introduced ourselves and went into the show. This week’s show was a competition between two teams. The moment I realized this twist in the presentation I began to fill with anxiety. What if this different type of performance would not be funny and Juan’s opinion of me would lower based off of my poor sense of humor? Easily this format could not do justice to the pure comedy that Senseless Acts of Comedy provides. In addition, I was beyond nervous that his sense of humor would differ from mine and that he would be extremely bored at the show. However, that worry and anxiety turned moot as I saw him laughing and enjoying the show as much, if not more, than the enjoyment I received from the show. He found some of the actions oddly funny and understood, from what I gathered, the jokes that even involved our popular culture. The show lasted around forty minutes and although it was without a doubt not their best performance, It did do the cast justice. After the show I introduced Juan to my girlfriend, she was at the show as well, and we began telling each other about ourselves.  Coincidentally enough Juan and I both lived in the same dorm our freshman year—Milton Daniel. Even weirder, we both live(d) on the third floor—something very uncommon for freshman. If I could picture where he said his room was correctly, he actually lives in the room that one of my current roommates resided in last year. We began talking more and more and eventually our conversation developed into sports. I found that Juan and I have a fond opinion on basketball; well sports in general. Eventually we started heading back to our dorms and the night concluded. By meeting with Juan however, I learned that although there may be cultural differences, we really are not that different.  The two of us may have grown up on two completely different parts of the world, but we still talk the same and enjoy a fair amount of the same activities. Heading back towards the subject of humor, I also realized that humor has no boundaries. Two people, nurtured in entirely different environments, still can laugh and enjoy at the same humor. Now whether the laughter engendered from the comic material or presentation is irrelevant because it would be the performer’s actions we as the audience would enjoy. In the future I want to learn more about Juan’s upbringing and what he considers “funny”. In addition, I would love to meet some of his friends. I think the more interesting commentary will develop as he gets to learn more about me and me of him.  I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Juan and I cannot wait for our next hangout.