Parks and Recreation star and comedian Nick Offerman came to CWU as the annual homecoming entertainment.

Ryan Galindo, who teaches in the Health and Science Department, and his friend Braden Wielick sat atop the mezzanine on the second floor of the SURC. Both men were ecstatic for the show that would proceed that evening. Wielick heard of the show from Galindo and had to catch a plane from San Diego to Sea-Tac to attend.

Last Saturday, Oct. 7, comedian Nick Offerman came to CWU to do his Full Bush stand-up tour. Students, faculty members, friends and families alike lined up to get tickets and seats. The excitement did not stop at all, even with all the waiting.

Even alumni came back to Ellensburg to see Offerman. CWU Alumnus Josephine Beedle drove from halfway across the state for the show.

“I graduated last year, so I just had to come back for this,” Beedle said. Alongside her was Adam Beck, former student, who was stoked about the event. They both had high expectations for the show. Beedle mentioned that she wanted to hear more about his distillery from his stand-up.

When people were beginning to be let into the show, the level of enthusiasm increased. The inside of the SURC Ballroom was filled with chatter of how great the performance was going to be.  

“It’s crowded in the general admission and kind of a squeeze, but there’s a guy behind me who has a weird laugh that makes up for it,” student Alex Brockwell said.

For many, this was their first time attending a stand-up performance. Sam Hamilton was a part of that group. Hamilton was seated in the front row, right in front of the mic.

“I’ve been waiting for weeks and the ticket was definitely worth it,” Hamilton said.

As the lights dimmed, the crowd cheered and Offerman appeared on stage. “Lower your expectations,” Offerman said, rupturing the audience into a frivolous laugh. And so the night of laughter began.

Offerman began by congratulating Central for winning their homecoming game, and mentioned how Washington state “is so goddamn gorgeous.” Offerman told the crowd how he was told to keep his material PG-13.

“If I’m in your sphere, then nothing is PG-13,” Offerman said, and proceeded to do his set with a song.

His set included musical numbers and a range of topics, from his relationship with his wife to social media, from talking about his hobbies to poking fun at political figures and anything to do with sex.

“The poster says full bush,”Offerman said as he continued with his jokes.

The most interesting part of his show that got the crowd’s attention was his song about his well-known character, Ron Swanson. Most people only see him as Ron, but it bothers Offerman; hence the song describing how that was just a character, not him.  

Audience member Tim Feth thought of the show as “…hilarious, edgy, dirty, and the ode to Ron Swanson was amazing. It’s a real reminder that he is a real person.”

Student Logan DeVries had only good things to say about the show that night.

“It was awesome to see how blunt he was and he wasn’t afraid to say what he wants to say.” He did hint at the crowd’s mixed reaction to some of the crudeness of some of his jokes. “I saw his Netflix special, so I was prepared,” DeVries said.

While most of the responses were good, there were a few people who did not appreciate the dark jokes that Offerman made. One student was furious about the joke on suicide that was made. The audience all seemed to die down when the dark jokes were told. Forced laughter was in the atmosphere at times.

Another student, Cisco Rojas, was not afraid to talk about his feelings towards the show.

“I had no expectations, I just knew he’s going to be funny no matter what, but I wasn’t laughing throughout the whole thing. Some jokes I didn’t get. Then it was like: ‘We get it. You do it with your wife,’” Rojas said, in response to the crude humor.

Student Brooklyn Braaten was “Excited as Leslie Knope excited,” at the beginning of the show. But after the show, she was just as concerned about the dark jokes as some of the other students were.

As the show ended the audience began to exit out slowly. Some even stayed behind to try to take a sneak picture of Offerman. With that another homecoming performance came to a close and students will now have to wait until next year for the next big performance.