Comedian provides laughter, words of wisdom

All formality was lost Tuesday night in the University Center Ballrooms, as the comedic calibrations of Loni Love graced the stage. Love's rambunctious, bawdy style was warmly received by UNC students and community members, who gathered en masse to watch her standup routine. 

The evening opened with prize giveaways by University Program Council members to unsuspecting attendees. A handful of lucky people walked away with an iPad, iPod Touch, a flat screen TV and other electronics. Then, Love came out to a makeshift theme song of loud applause and immediately began bringin"I'm here to represent my people," Love said, issuing a loud cheer from some attendees. "No, not black people. Fat people," she corrected, gaining even louder applause.

Gabrielle White, a senior journalism major, said, "A lot of people were very enthusiastic to come to this event, and I've seen her on Chelsea Lately and she was hilarious."
The Ballrooms were packed; a few latecomers were reduced to sitting on the floor. The crowd was immediately at ease with Love, one person even holding up a sign that read "Follow me on Twitter."

Love proved her comedic skill by cracking jokes spontaneously with and about the people in the crowd and calling people on stage for little contests. Men gave their best pickup lines and sang their favorite romantic songs, and then the scene switched and ladies came onstage to give their best pickup lines and do a little seductive dance. Competitors won by noisiest crowd cheers, and after the boisterous and amusing activity, Love held a talent contest. People sang, danced, flipped, spoken word, and had a dazzling time, overall.

Most of Love's jokes circulated around the topics of food and weight, but there were some not so subtle musings upon race, gender and sexuality thrown into the mix. When explaining that Christ was a black man, she recalled the time he was asked if he was the Son of God "and Jesus said ‘I be he.' That's ebonics!"

Love's jokes were, at times, careless as to who she might be offending, but her demeanor was warm and welcoming and her performance in general was peppered with inspirational gems, such as, "It's better to cheat than repeat!" and "find love early, because after 35, you'll be on the Internet!"

Her vivacity was infused throughout her routine: "Always put a positive spin on it. I'm not fat; I'm full. You're not ugly; you have a unique look. You're not stupid; you think different. You're never unemployed, you're always on vacation!"

Elizabeth Pena, a senior human services major, said she was "excited for her to come. Its nice, its different."

Whether Love spoke about everyday topics or famous people like Barack Obama, Kanye West and Tiger Woods, she found a unique and hilarious perspective on everything. She ended her routine with "I Will Always Love Food," a modified rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and welcomed the audience to come meet her and take pictures afterward. Every bit as down to earth as she is entertaining, it was clear that UNC loves that Love.