Actress and comedian Leslie Jones took the stage on January 26 as the star act for the annual LOL @ UIC event. The show, hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and organized by the Student Activities Board (SAB), was held at the UIC Forum, where the 49-year-old performer had the audience roaring with laughter.
Over a sea of blue and white striped winter hats – specially gifted to the show’s early arrivals – Brooklynite Jon Laster warmed up the crowd with jokes on students’ majors, defining Chicago residency, and college parties before introducing the Saturday Night Live (SNL) star onto the stage.
“I didn’t expect to laugh as much as I did,” said David Pisanski, a senior in computer engineering, cited by UIC News in their coverage of the event. “I thought Jon Laster’s opening act was hilarious, especially his girls and their dads bit.” By the time Jon left the stage, the energy in the room was electric, and my roommate Liz and I were already on the edge of our seats, wheezing from laughing so much (and because of my asthma) – but Leslie would give us no mercy.
She strode onto the stage giddy with contagious excitement, bouncing out on the balls of her feet and wearing a huge smile on her face. “I feel free!” Jones shared to the audience, expressing her joy to be doing stand-up again – her self-proclaimed first love in performing. “I love making people laugh!” she explained.
Leslie’s routine included a peek into her sex life, an awkward encounter with Prince, and a call for women to embrace their “crazy,” before ending in a playful interaction with the crowd, where she engaged with students for some hilarious improvisation.
Comments, which included comparisons of her to apes, pictures of her with semen on her face, and pornography, according to a New York Times article, ultimately drove Leslie to shut down her Twitter account, but not before the hashtag #LoveforLeslieJ began to circulate in support of her.
Two days later, however, Leslie returned to Twitter, determined not to give her haters the satisfaction of seeing her quit. Renewed with confidence, Leslie tweeted out:
Perhaps the paired love and support from her fans and getting back into stand-up has contributed to Leslie’s new unwavering confidence and positivity. On January 4, just a few weeks before her performance at UIC, she tweeted:
Rachel Knowles is a senior at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Originally published on Livin' the Chi-Life.
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