Hillsborough’s Adam Mamawala named New Jersey’s King of Campus Comedy
By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
Those with GPS navigation systems know that all directions are politely given by a soothing female voice.
But what if a user could customize the system with different voices, choosing instead more urgent directions from Samuel L. Jackson, of Arnold Schwarzenegger ( “The bridge is out!”)?
For Adam Mamawala, of Bigley Road, this question, and some clever impressions, helped him earn the title of New Jersey King of Campus Comedy when he won the 2007 New Jersey Comedy Festival on Dec. 8.
”I think what separated me from the competition was the fact that I did impressions in my routine,” he said. “The joke was about the fact that I think GPS navigation systems should have customizable voices based on race, instead of the generic English woman’s voice. Branching off that, I talked about the idea of using celebrity voices, so I did an Indian accent, an Irish accent, Samuel L. Jackson, Jerry Seinfeld, Forrest Gump, Kermit the Frog, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Borat.”
The festival featured up to three contestants each from 12 different New Jersey colleges, including Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutgers University, Rowan University and The College of New Jersey, Mr. Mamawala’s school.
”I’ve been doing stand-up for a couple of years, and I always like to perform as much as I can,” said Mr. Mamawala, 20, and a junior at TCNJ. “A friend of mine showed me the competition’s Web site and I signed up online. They were going to campuses all across the state, and TCNJ was one of them, so I decided to give it a shot.”
Mr. Mamawala said that, at each college, contestants had five minutes to perform before being critiqued by judges from the festival. Those in the audience then had the opportunity to vote, and the top three favorites were invited to the finals, held at Monmouth University, in Long Branch.
At the finals, Mr. Mamawala said, the performers were judged by Mark Sinodinos, winner of the 2005 Canadian College Comedy Award; Michele Balan, a finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing; and Barry Dougherty, editor of the Friar’s Club magazine.
”I tend to be pretty relaxed when I perform, but I was more nervous this time than usual simply because the stakes were so high and I wanted to win so badly,” Mr. Mamawala said. “More than anything, I was just really excited for the opportunity.”
The excitement paid off, as Mr. Mamawala walked away from the competition with not only the title, but also $1,000, a chance to open for a professional comedian at The Laugh Factory in New York City, a trip for two to Cancun during spring break and an opportunity to perform on MTV’s “Spring Break.”
”I learned from this competition that it’s good to be modest, but it doesn’t hurt to have high expectations, because occasionally something will work out exactly how you want it to,” he said.
Mr. Mamawala said that his enjoyment of stand-up comedy stems from his love of performing in front of a crowd and being onstage.
”I’ve always considered myself a pretty funny person, but the reason I enjoy stand-up comedy is that I love performing,” he said. “I perform as much as I can, but often that’s only about once a month, sometimes even less.”
Although he said he doesn’t have a specific routine to use when he performs, he was a little nervous about performing certain jokes during the competition with his family sitting in the audience.
”One of my housemates from school was there along with a few of my friends, and my parents were actually in attendance to see me perform,” he said. “It was kind of weird having my parents in the crowd, especially when I cursed or made jokes about my sister. However, it was still more exciting than anything else for them to have been in the crowd, and they’ve been really supportive throughout the whole process.”
In addition to his impressions and family jokes, Mr. Mamawala said his comedy is inspired by life experiences. He said he finds ideas in anything he sees happening around him.
”I get most of my ideas from events that have actually happened to me that I embellish upon, or funny things that I notice in my day to day life,” he said. “Most of my comedy is observational humor, in the same vein as people like Jerry Seinfeld or Mitch Hedberg.”
Despite his love of being onstage, Mr. Mamawala said he does not necessarily have any expectations about sticking with a comedy career in the future. As a communications major at TCNJ, he said he is hoping to pursue a career in public relations for a professional sports team, and is preparing to be an intern with the Trenton Thunder, the minor-league affiliate of the New York Yankees, during his spring semester.
”At this point, I’d like to continue to do stand-up as a hobby, but I don’t have any unrealistic expectations,” he said. “That being said, if I can make some extra money performing or get noticed by the right people, you never know.”
Although he may not be venturing into the world of professional stand-up comedy, Mr. Mamawala can offer some advice to those wanting to at least take part in the competition in the future.
”Stay confident without being cocky or complacent,” he said. “And make sure that what you think is funny is also universally funny.”
For more information on the festival, and rules for participating, visit the Web site at newjerseycomedyfestival.com.