What's so funny?

In a town that produced such comic legends as Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, and Denis Leary, it's no shock that Boston's comedy club circuit is hot. What may come as a surprise is that two Tufts students just recently made their debuts in this competitive scene at Dick's Beantown Comedy Vault on Boylston.

Junior Jack Byrne, a Psychology major and football player, began his foray into amateur stand-up as a hobby. Freshman Jonathan Silver has performed stand-up for the past three years. He aims to make a name for himself.

The Vault hosts an amateur night every Sunday. Participating comedians are responsible for bringing at least two guests, who pay the cover charge of $7 each. The atmosphere is casual and audience members may enjoy dinner with the show. On the past two Sundays, Jack Byrne has performed among comedians who often have much more experience than he.

Byrne is originally from Massachusetts. He takes the mike at the Comedy Vault for his second stand-up performance armed with a no-nonsense approach and toothy grin. He wears a beaten Red Sox cap and speaks with a slight trace of the Beantown vowel sound. "So... I was thinking about what our bodies do," he opens. He pauses knowingly, allowing the audience to draw some rather graphic conclusions and then launches into a five-minute bit about coughing, snoring, and hiccupping. It works: the audience laughs.

Jonathan Silver performs with an unassuming air. He casually lopes up to the stage and begins his standup with observational humor. He involves his audience in the madness of weather forecasts and Ritz crackers. Silver's composure, coupled with his wry delivery of quirky topics in a slightly self-mocking tone, reflects his experience of three years' performances in comedy clubs in New York City.

Byrne has his turn working in the wings as well: he previously worked as a bouncer at the ImprovAsylym and is currently enrolled in improv workshops there. Now he works as a bouncer/usher for the Comedy Connection in Faneuil Hall, where he will have the opportunity to enjoy shows by big names such as Chris Rock, Jay Mohr, and Dane Cook. Closer to campus, he recently found his way to Stealing the Funny, Tufts' own student-run improv workshop. Ultimately, Byrne sees comedy as a hobby which can improve his public speaking skills and hopes to go into school psychology and coaching.

This is not the case for Silver -- he hopes to continue his stand-up career for as long as possible. His first taste of being a comedian was performing others' jokes in talent shows. Soon he began to develop his own material, which he continues to scrawl in his trusty black notebook. "I write everything down," he says, adding that he avoids bathroom humor whenever possible. "A lot of the lewd stuff I tend not to do. Anyone can talk about doodie." Generally, he relies on subjects that can be funny all the time, but likes to pepper his bits with some topical jokes.

It is Byrne's and Silver's refreshing evasion of the tasteless which set them apart at the Comedy Vault. Cheap jokes and crude content seemed to be contagious. Over the course of the evening, the audience was subjected by the other comedians to an impression of Wayne Brady with plumber's crack, countless masturbation gags, and a set devoted entirely to farting and fat women.

Byrne explains his theory of comedy: "you don't have to force a joke.... The best comedians just talk to you." His down-to-earth perspective allows him to deal with the pressure of performance and entertaining. He remarked, "You learn that it's not going to be great every time. You've just got to get up... the important thing is getting up."

Last semester Silver took the Comedic Theory and Performance at the ExCollege; he and his classmates are now beginning their own sketch comedy group. Eventually, he'd like to see the group become as respected as other performance groups on campus and perhaps one day enjoy a stint as a professional comedian. He simply explained with a shrug, "it feels good to be funny."