Photo by Emily Filocco
Raucous laughter accompanied a night of rowdy humor courtesy of comedian Judy Gold, who performed in the Sharp Theater on Saturday.
Gold is a veteran both on stage and screen. She has performed in shows such as “Nora and Delia,” “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” and “25 Questions for a Jewish Mother,” which she also wrote. She has made appearances on shows like “30 Rock,” “Celebrity Chopped” and “The Big C.” Gold gained her most recognition, however, from writing and producing for “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” which won her two Emmy Awards.
On Saturday, the Ramapo community was witness to her stand-up act. With no opening act or introduction, Gold took it upon herself to take the mic and introduce herself.
“She’s back here in New Jersey, her home state, because she loves you people and she will always be a Jersey girl,” Gold declared of herself before taking the stage.
Gold’s act was centered around the woes of aging, appropriate for the mainly nonstudent audience. She joked about her recent knee replacement, raising her kids and life after turning 50.
A big part of her performance was interacting with people in the audience. Gold often called out members of the audience or asked them direct questions. She worked their answers into her act, often returning to members she called out to poke fun at them throughout the performance.
Audience members like junior Shannon Jirkovsky felt Gold’s conversational style and rapport with her audience made her performance more enjoyable.
“I liked how she interacted with the audience. She kept making fun of the people in the front rows, which was really funny. It made the audience feel like they were part of the act,” she said.
Gold is a self-proclaimed news junkie and threw in some nods to current events, including an obligatory joke about Ebola. The latter portion of her act was largely devoted to making fun of her elderly mother. She talked about how her mother can “make everything about herself, and make everything negative.” In this final bit she told anecdotes about her mom and played an actual voice mail her mother left on her phone: a real crowd pleaser.
“My favorite part was when she made fun of her mother at the end. It reminded me so much of my family,” said Jirkovsky.
Before Gold signed off, she thanked the Ramapo community for supporting live comedy.
“Judy’s show was a great night out,” said Jirkovsky. “I don’t often see live stand-up comedy, so her show made for a nice change. She was hilarious, and make fun of the audience as much as she made fun of herself.”
rking2@ramapo.edu
