Comedian quips on disability

Review

As with any disability, cerebral palsy is no laughing matter. Comedian Will Marfori begs to differ. Wilson Hall Auditorium filled with laughter Monday night as Marfori took center stage to show students a humorous and inspiring new perspective of a disability.

Marfori was born with cerebral palsy and uses humor to relate his experiences, telling such jokes as, "What [cerebral palsy] means is that I'm the only person in my family who's an Olympian," and "Most people just think I'm drunk" — referring to the slurred characteristic of his voice.

The setting was intimate and conversational as Marfori connected with the small audience with eye contact. He repeatedly responded to the audience's reactions to his jokes, and one time said, "I'm a comedy sniper." Marfori seemed very comfortable with the audience. He tested new jokes on the crowd and talked to audience members during his act.

After several minutes of jokes, he became more serious as he touched more closely on the main point of his routine — "that people with disabilities have the same problems everyone [else] has, and instead of people being scared [of those with disabilities] we should remember the things we have in common."

He illustrated this by mentioning his family, the dates he has been on and memories from college — experiences to which everyone can relate. He wanted everyone to "focus on what [they] can do."

Junior Taylor Kennedy, University Program Board director of issues and cultural awareness, said, "I saw Marfori perform at a conference and [it] made me think [CP is] an issue we can learn about and affects the JMU community."

Sometimes students were hesitant to laugh at someone living with disabilities, but said they still enjoyed the act. Freshman Jeremy Paredes, UPB director of media and public relations, said, "I really loved the whole act. Everything was really funny, and I loved how he used new material. There were definitely times where I was thinking, 'Should I really be laughing?' But then, by that time, I was already crying from laughter — I just didn't care."

Marfori, who performed improvisational acting in college and has been involved with comedy for the past seven years, said, "I just always liked to make people laugh." Comedy was a way to work through his experiences growing up, he said.

"At times in your life you feel ignored, like I didn't belong. But being the center of attention, pushing people's buttons — it's cool," Marfori said.

For the past year, comedy has been his full-time job and he expects to perform 200 to 250 shows this year. He will be traveling to New York to try new venues. "This is my career now; [I want to] see how far it takes me," he said.

Kennedy and senior Sara Whitney, chairperson for Disabilities Awareness Week for the Council for Exceptional Children, organized the event as a part of Disabilities Awareness Week at JMU.

Sophomore Chris Davis said, "He didn't make his disability comically offensive, but was professional [and charismatic with] the crowd. I think he'll go somewhere."