By Claire Leibowitz, EIC
Comedians Will Roberts and Margaret Korinek captivated two 60-person audiences at their Farewell For Now Third Floor Variety Show at Tonic on Saturday, and Magician Max Davidson impressed attendees by remembering everyone’s name, solving a Rubik’s cube blindfolded, and guessing the distance and running routes of random Strava users in the room.
After a successful set of shows in the Fall, the trio came together for one last night before Korinek and Roberts graduate in May. This time, they were accompanied by two hosts–Sam Schaefer, a GW graduate and comedian living in Brooklyn, at the 6:30 pm show, and Frances Laufer, a GW sophomore, at the 9:00 pm show.
Korinek and Roberts worked hard on advertising the show over the span of a few months, and their efforts paid off–attendees were crammed into tables, couches, and seats surrounding the narrow stage, making the venue feel intimate and close as everyone laughed.
At the 6:30 pm show, Sam Schaefer warmed the audience up as host, playing on his angle as a GW grad. His expert use of crowd work had everyone laughing, and he introduced himself with the relatability of blacking out in Tonic when he was a student. He told a variety of jokes, from a recent OCD diagnosis and proof of God, to White people’s obsession with keeping pets alive, to the divorce of his parents. “What am I, 12?” he asked, which was met with pure laughter. Despite his range of topics, Schaefer had seamless transitions and a perfect flow, serving as the ideal host.
During his time at GW, Schaefer said that comedy opportunities like standup were limited. “To be able to come back and not only support a friend, but be part of a scene that I desperately wish I had as a student was a very cool, surreal experience,” he said. His favorite part of the performance was the community that Korinek and Roberts had built for students, especially at an outspoken and activism-centered school like GW, which can be overwhelming. “To have a space where you can respectively and inclusively speak your mind and relate to others in your community on a lighter note I think is equally important,” he said.
Frances Laufer, a GW sophomore who entered the comedy scene last year after seeing Korinek and Roberts perform, hosted the 9:00 pm show. She became active in GW Comedy Nights, a club started by Korinek, and was then asked to host the Farewell show. “It was great to start doing shows through other means and work with professional comedians and performers for the first time,” she said.
It was hard to tell that Laufer was newer to the comedy scene, as her jokes jumped topics from Spring Break in Houston to GW’s small campus, where everyone knows everyone. In fact, Laufer and her friends go through their Tinders together sometimes, trying to cross-reference and ensure that the guy doesn’t have a backstory with a friend or a mutual, like emotional unavailability or even a foot fetish. She brought the relatability of girlhood, even turning her Spring Break’s rose, bud, thorn into a funny story. Laufer was a great host and fit seamlessly with the group.
Following the host of each show was Margaret Korinek, who always brings the perfect amount of feminine flare to the stage. Using “blonde girl math,” she debunked a Harvard study that found sitting for eight hours per day is just as dangerous as smoking a cigarette by explaining that, if she stood all day, a cigarette would cancel itself out–especially as a stand-up comedian. She then disclosed that the study was not real, which earned her even more laughter.
Korinek transitioned into the challenge of dating as a comedian and the pain of a joke-off in Tatte, men’s dirty rooms that warrant hazmat suits, and the D.C. Circulator–which she calls the Twerkulator–clarity after a bad date. As usual, she incorporated honesty into her jokes, an admirable feat that makes her comedy even funnier and complex.
“I love these Tonic shows because we are never limited creatively,” Korinek said. Everyone brings in their own audience, which makes the crowd a “special combination.” Roberts, Korinek, and Davidson all started with smaller open mics three years ago, and they’ve enjoyed getting to see the growth of the shows the longer they’re on the scene. Korinek is the founder of GW Comedy Nights and also performs at open mics around the District, which serve as outlets where she can exercise her comedic skills.
Will Roberts hopped onto the stage next, telling jokes that always come full circle. He shared a childhood anxiety that Osama bin Laden was hiding in his shower in 2012 (after he had already been killed), then connected to it a few minutes later in the set by poking fun at himself. “I look like the kind of guy that has to put on deodorant before bed,” he said. “I always have, though. Even as a kid, I was sweaty. I was worried there was a terrorist in the shower!” Roberts also used honesty in his jokes, ultimately making light of darker situations like not wanting to be too vulnerable in front of a bro, and being told he has an earnest smile by a roommate after asking for a good physical quality about himself. “No one wants to f*ck a guy with an earnest smile,” Roberts exclaimed, which earned him an earnest laugh from the crowd.
Roberts said he loves putting on shows with his friends. “And to see friends and classmates come and support really means a lot to me, truly one of the nicest and best parts.”
Finally, Max Davidson took the stage with an impressive amount of calmness and ease. He asked audience members if anyone used Strava, and he chose three attendees to look up the distance of their last runs or the time it took them to complete a race. While they fished for their stats, he sent around a Rubik’s cube for the audience to scramble and instructed three random members to pick three random Super Bowls. Afterward, he put on a blindfold, started to solve the Rubik’s cube, and proceeded to correctly state the winners, losers, and scores of the 5th, 17th, and 32nd Super Bowls. After the impressive showing, he went back to the task at hand and accurately guessed the distance and times of the runners. Finally, he went through the audience and recited everyone’s name, even remembering small details and facts as he went along.
Davidson’s delivery was an awe-striking performance that even had one audience member shout out “Stop it…I’m so scared right now.”
While he did not reveal any of his tricks, he did reveal why he keeps coming back for all of these shows. “I really enjoy them. Will and Margaret are good friends, and it’s always great to see them,” he said. “My ideal audience is a bunch of young people packed in a bar, and there’s a certain energy you can capture when people are seated really tight in a small room.” While everyone jokes and makes fun of Tonic and GW, he also recalled the nostalgia and how special it is to perform at a place that he’s benefited so much from.
While this is the last show Roberts, Davidson, and Korinek will host together for now, it’s obvious that the community they have created will continue their legacy. Maybe the three will reunite in the future for another series where comedy and magic can interact and shock the audience.
