The lights in the lower level of the SUB dimmed; a spotlight was shining brightly on a short stage pressed closely up against the back wall. An introduction was given and a short young woman with dark red hair and large thick-wrimmed glasses hopped onstage and grabbed the microphone off its stand.
“Give it up for yourselves for coming out tonight!” Comedian Emily Heller said, looking enthusiastically into the small crowd.
The audience replied with a sparse and haphazard round of applause.
“Man, you guys won’t even clap for yourselves! Have some self-esteem Idaho,” Heller said, “I believe in you.”
The woman onstage was Emily Heller, a 28-year old Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian.
In an event put on by Student Events, Heller performed a concise 45-minute set on the evening of Jan. 16 that was filled with numerous entertaining and, on a few occasions, cringeworthy jokes.
Heller performed a unique style of comedy that could be described as a mix of surreal observational comedy and a light-hearted sense of self-deprecation.
Topics Heller included in her performance ranged from the unappealing aspects of feminism and being a feminist, gaining weight and exercising, and living as a outcast of sorts while growing up in the San Francisco area.
“I was a very uncool kid growing up,” said Heller. “For example: When I was 11, my dad made me these great scrambled eggs with oregano in them. So naturally I took a small tub of oregano, made a necklace out of it, and wore it to school for three months!”
Heller leaned into the microphone, speaking softly into the crowd, “I think what I’m trying to say is that it took me a long time to lose my virginity.”
Heller has been featured on the shows “Conan,” “John Oliver’s New York Stand Up Show,” and the FX Network show “Totally Biased” as host W. Kamau Bell’s warm-up comedian. As a stand-up comedian, Heller has traveled across the nation performing in numerous comedy festivals along such comedians as Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen, Hannibal Buress, and Natasha Leggero.
In addition, Heller co-hosts the podcast “Baby Geniuses” with artist Lisa Hanawalt and currently works as a writer for the FOX show “Surviving Jack.”
