Ryan Ellington performs for Andover students in Kemper Auditorium.
Laughter erupted from the audience at the mention of Gen Z and their “TikTok and Roblox.” A variety of other jokes ensued, from self-deprecating jokes to describing the intricacies of public school bathrooms. The microphone was handed off several times, constantly keeping the show interesting.
The three comedians, who were personally invited to Andover, were Ryan Ellington, Amy Tee, and Jimmy Cash. They typically perform in adult locations; adjusting jokes, often mid-sentence, to a high school audience, was challenging, according to Ellington.
“For us, it was a challenge to adjust our material to work with material that was appropriate for the audience we had tonight. Usually, we’re in different scenarios, and we let a little looser. So, it was a nice challenge to see how we could adjust our material for the situation,” said Ellington.
Despite the material being slightly more PG, the comics still found unique ways to make the audience laugh. For example, janitor/comedian Cash asked about janitors at Andover and was told about Commons Bill, who he then praised in future jokes. Audience member Bella Shmuylovich ’26 commented on her favorite moment in the show.
“The end, when the jokes were matching up, and they were using the crowd work and incorporated it into their jokes… I liked the jokes about the teenage [audience]… I thought all of them were super creative [and] relatable,” said Shmuylovich.
The comedians brought in were all local to the Boston area, each with different stories and jokes, and took turns throughout the night. Tee described this experience of working with the other comedians.
“This is the first time I’ve worked with Ryan, and I haven’t seen Jimmy in a long time. We don’t run in the same circles, so for me, that was the fun part, to watch them connect with the audience and listen to their feedback. I thought that was a lot of fun [and] that was memorable for me,” said Tee.
The night lasted about an hour and concluded with great applause. Aside from laughs, comic Jimmy Cash sarcastically noted what students could take away from the show.
“Stay in school,” said Cash.
