Comedian Chinedu Unaka was welcomed onto the Culp Cave stage by ETSU’s Buctainment on Oct. 4. The evening was quite intimate as there were approximately 30 members in attendance, yet Unaka made it a point to connect with each audience member.
Allie Collins, marketing and recruitment chair for Buctainment, said that Unaka was chosen by members of Buctainment for the event.
“We found [Unaka] at a conference we go to every year called the National Association of Campus Activities,” said Collins. “After we came back we showed our members, like, videos of different comedians we saw and he was the one they voted on to come to campus.”
Unaka started out the night by going around the audience and asking their names, majors and favorite colors. With every member he met, he would begin telling a story about something funny that related to the member. For instance, one of the audience members had a favorite color of red, but their mother-in-law always thought it was purple; therefore, Unaka made it a point to refer to her as “purple” throughout the show.
He also asked everyone on whether they have given a thought to how they will die. Two audience members said they wished to be mauled by a bear because of their cuteness. Unaka said that he would want to go out that way too by giving the bear a giant “bear hug.”
“I want to have my most happiest memory and my worst memory back to back, right before I die,” said Unaka.
Unaka spoke on growing up in a Nigerian household, his experiences of being part of a rap group at the University of Southern California, and how he thought mozzarella sticks were a part of Korean cuisine until he began college.
“One time, my friend ordered some mozzarella sticks at a bar and I said, ‘I didn’t know they had Korean food here!’ and my friend just laughed at me,” said Unaka.
Collins said she hoped the event would allow students to have a chill, relaxing evening and knew that Unaka would help achieve this by keeping the audience engaged. Buctainment is looking into bringing another comedian to ETSU for the spring, but have not narrowed down who they want to come yet, according to Collins.
Buctainment has several events planned for the rest of this semester including a showing of Despicable Me: Rise of Gru being shown on Oct. 13 in the William B. Greene football stadium followed by a game night on Oct. 14 in the Culp Cave.
With homecoming week approaching, the group will be hosting a showing of “Dirty Dancing” on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Amphitheatre. Buctainment is partnering with the Residence Hall Association for a “Murder Mystery” night on Oct. 25 in the Culp Ballroom B.
For more information about Buctainment’s future events please visit their Instagram @etsubuctainment. To learn more about Chinedu Unaka please visit chineduunaka.com and watch his upcoming movie on Dec. 9 “House Party” produced by Lebron James.
