Comedian Jenny Slate recently visited URI. PHOTO CREDIT: The Ryan Center
Two well-known comedians and Saturday Night Live alum put on a show at Edwards Hall at the University of Rhode Island on Nov. 20, 2022.
The performance started with a recent addition to the SNL cast, Marcello Hernandez, who opened for Jenny Slate, an actress, comedian and author. Hernandez opened his set with stories of his childhood in Miami and his parent’s divorce.
“It was bound to happen because my mother is Cuban while my father is Dominican,” he said.
He moved on to his life in college at John Carroll University in Ohio and the cultural differences between there and life in Miami. That led to joking about the differences between White guys and Latinos. He said that Latinos go all out on dancing while White guys are less. When he talked about how Latinos dance, he did a bunch of crazy dance moves to show that they are open people.
The audience was laughing hysterically throughout, and I just wanted him to keep talking because I loved it. At the end of his set, Hernandez introduced Slate, and she walked on stage while the audience clapped both for him and for the anticipation for Slate’s set.
Slate started her set by talking about her love for the song “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” from the 1994 film “The Lion King.” She said she sings it for every karaoke performance she does and is a big fan of the movie itself.
She continued to talk about movies and talked about the 1991 film “Beauty and the Beast.”
“I got horny when Belle put her hand on the Beast’s paw,” Slate said, causing me and the rest of the audience to laugh and question if my favorite Disney movie was now ruined. I guess I’ll find out the next time I watch it.
My favorite part of Slate’s set was when she talked about her personal life and putting herself out there. She joked about two experiences she had with herself.
The first one was when she was in 7th grade, she had a lisp. It made her so self-conscious that she made herself small. Her mom tried to help her be more open by putting Slate in the orchestra. But, according to her, that made her 7th-grade experience even worse. When the orchestra went on a trip to Canada, her mother said, “don’t forget your laxative!” which she did.
When the orchestra got to Canada, one of the members suggested they order pizza. So, Slate ended up eating a ton of pizza when all of a sudden, she felt a sloshing feeling in her stomach and realized she had diarrhea.
Trying to be very discreet, she got out of her seat and waddled her way down the stairs trying to find a bathroom. It took so long that she had to go all the way across the street from the hotel. But when she got to the bathroom, she fainted. The next thing she knew, she was being carried by a conductor.
“It was like I was being honored by everyone, even the ones who didn’t like me,” Slate said. “But I didn’t like that at all. It could have been a chaperone, and that might have been less embarrassing for me. At the end of the trip, when we got back on the bus, everyone was nodding their heads but gave the impression that ‘Good job, you still can’t sit with me.’”
The other experience was when she had scoliosis but only noticed it as back pain. It hurt so bad that she asked her friend for help.
“I take these CBD droppers that are supposed to relax you,” she said. “[My friend told me] ‘Take 1-3 drops, and it should help you.’”
So, Slate spent her time with her dog in her house ordering Pad Thai for dinner.
“I just kept putting noodle after noodle in my mouth, not noticing what I was doing,” she said.
All of a sudden, she felt delirious and thought her dog was a monster, and it went on until she needed to throw up. So while feeling the excruciating back pain, she walked to the bathroom, but she didn’t get to the toilet in time.
“Instead, I threw up just in front of the bathroom, just right by the door.” she joked.
Afterward, she just went to her room and flopped on her bed and sent texts to her friends before falling asleep. The next day, her friend came over concerned, saying, “Jenny, I liked the texts you sent about the problems with the patriarchy but are you okay?”
“I took 1-3 CBD droppers, like you said.” Slate replied.
“I said 1-3 drops!” her friend exclaimed.
Slate finished her performance by complementing Marcello Hernadez’s opening set, and they walked off the stage.
The night closed out with the song “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” from “The Lion King,” a perfect finish to Slate’s comedic set.