Molly Martinez became not only the first AU student but also the first woman to ever win the stand-up comedy award "DC's Funniest College Student" at the local comedy club DC Improv on April 15.
| Molly Martinez PerformsCourtesy of MOLLY MARTINEZ |
"I think I kind of lucked out," Martinez said. "The day before [the competition], I ran the whole set to my brother, and he proofread it to tell me what was funny. So pretty much the first time I had done that set was at the Improv, and I rehearsed it on the Metro ride over."
Martinez entered the first round of the competition at AU at the last minute, according to Seaton Smith, a professional stand-up comedian who performs at local D.C. venues.
Smith ran the AU round for the DC Improv Funniest College Student competition.
"I had known Molly for two years because she used to go to small shows," he said. "I randomly saw her at the AU competition, and I asked her if she wanted to come up and talk. She said no, but eventually decided to do it. It was a kind of random occurrence."
Martinez spent three minutes preparing a five-minute set, with which she ended up winning the AU competition, she said.
Justin Mushnick, a senior in SOC, also represented AU at the competition.
"[Molly] did very well," Mushnick said. "You could just tell when she got on stage that the audience was focused on her. She's definitely one of the most polished freshmen I've seen compete."
Martinez did the competition more for the experience than anything else, she said.
"I wasn't thinking about winning," she said. "I was thinking about getting through it and having the experience of performing for a comedy club."
During the final competition, other students had better jokes than Martinez, Smith said.
"But she had a better combination of performance with the jokes," he said. "She had a good balance. She was very personable. That's the key in comedy ... so the audience gets to know the comedian as they tell the jokes."
The style of Martinez's comedy includes an air of confidence and relating to the audience, she said.
"I think the formula for a good joke is something that people are familiar with and adding something ridiculous that people don't expect," Martinez said.
You can reach this staff writer at mfowler@theeagleonline.com.
