Last Saturday night’s homecoming entertainment was comedian Iliza Shlesinger, winner of “Last Comic Standing.”

She performed for a sold out house in front of several hundred people in the SURC ballroom.

Students anxiously waited in the crowded ballroom. When Shlesinger finally appeared on stage, nearly everybody erupted into a loud cheer.

Shlesinger stepped onto the stage wearing a simple pair of jeans, a t-shirt and boots, and started with such energy that she hardly took another breath for the rest of the show.

She began to test the crowd with a little self-created Wildcat cheer and a gibe at Western Washington University. Then she went on to poke a little fun at Ellensburg, saying “It looked like Wyoming coming here–hay is an export–I didn’t realize that was a thing.”

Shlesinger also made a play on  U-Tote-Em’s name.

From there, she went on to talk about topics that might be all too familiar to some college students–partying, hangovers, etc.

She also threw in some observations about the fall season and how she is not a fan of pumpkin spice.

Shlesinger did a great job tweaking some routines in order to include bits about Central or college life, demonstrating her awareness of the audience by finding a way to keep older bits fresh and interesting.

The audience didn’t have to wait too long before Shlesinger launched right into her well-known “party goblin” bit.

“We’ve all had a night controlled by our party goblin,” Shlesinger said.

Shlesinger characterized this party goblin with a gollum-like voice and stature.

Though this act seemed to be a crowd-favorite, at points it seemed a bit drawn-out and might have gone over better  with the crowd if she had ended it at its high point.

Nevertheless, Shlesinger, skilled at physical comedy, managed to keep the audience engaged.  

Shlesinger began to pick on audience members, asking students what their majors were. Some audience members cowered in their seats, while others shouted out their majors expectantly as Shlesinger walked down the center aisle.

During this part of the show, Shlesinger spoke to a student who was an aspiring accountant and number-wiz as well as a psychology major. Shlesinger asked her to say a Cindy Lou Who line from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” because of her unique voice.

This was one of the most enjoyable parts of the show as it highlighted Shlesinger’s quick-wit and ability to improvise.

The rest of the show contained more common topics intermixed with some unique observations.

Shlesinger explored some interesting topics like wanting to be a mermaid and women on Shark Tank, where she had another opportunity to use some of her impersonations..

She also touched upon some general issues that comedians often use, such as race and gender.

Shlesinger may have run the risk of losing the men in the audience when she went on to talk about lip liner and “the plight of being a woman.”

For the most part, Shlesinger’s routines were very much geared for the general college population, and it seemed, based on the uproarious laughter throughout her act, that she had the crowd’s full approval.

Shlesinger scored points with her quick-witted charm, ability to pull in details from her surroundings, fast-talking, skilled voices and unique facial expressions.

She closed the show by bringing out her adorable dog, Blanche, and singing “In the Arms of an Angel” from the well-known American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) commercial.

From the looks on the audience’s faces and the sounds of laughter, it appeared that Shlesinger’s performance was a big hit with the crowd, as people leaving the show continued laughing and talking about their favorite bits.