Which College Has the Funniest Students?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>“My son wants a college where the students are funny. Where should he go?” the father of a high school junior asked me yesterday. </p>

<p>I couldn’t think of any one campus that seems to have cornered the market on comedy. So I quickly looked up some well known comedians, and found that their undergrad alma maters are all over the map … literally. (See below)</p>

<p>So I’m turning to CC members to ask, ““Which college has the funniest students?” (This means “funny” as in ha-ha, not as in “weird.” And it also doesn’t mean fun-loving … as in party school!) </p>

<p>Here’s where some popular comics went to college: </p>

<p>Will Ferrell-USC
Tina Fey-UVA
Keegan-Michael Key –U of Detroit
Julia Louis-Dreyfus-Northwestern
Bill Maher-Cornell
Jordan Peele-Sarah Lawrence
Adam Sandler-NYU
Jerry Seinfeld-SUNY Oswego/Queens College
Jon Stewart-The College of William & Mary
Daniel Tosh-University of Central Florida</p>

2

<p>I think Northwestern has my vote of that list - Chicago is a boom town for comedy in general. I’m not sure, but I think Northwestern also has a Improv troupe that is fairly well supported.</p>

3

<p>Stephen Colbert also went to Northwestern. He transferred there from Hampden-Sydney in Virginia. (Maybe he’d heard that the Northwestern students were funnier. :)) )</p>

4

<p>Columbia College Chicago has a major in that (Comedy/Theatre). I’d say comedians tend to be really smart, so top colleges might be fertile ground. </p>

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<p>Thanks, Ambling. That’s an interesting list and not necessarily places I would have guessed.</p>

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<p>Temple has a Comedy Club but don’t know anything about it (other than it exists). They do have a Facebook group.</p>

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<p>John Krasinski (The Office), Brown - he was in the Out of Bounds sketch comedy troupe there</p>

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<p>Staying with the Office, Steve Carell - Denison University (member of Burpee’s Seedy Theatrical Company - an improvisational comedy troupe at Denison)</p>

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<p>Interesting how so many different schools are represented on the list of alma maters of today’s renowned comics. But how about colleges that didn’t necessarily produce famous funny folks but where students seem to especially enjoy clever banter in the lunch line, even if they end up as engineers or brain surgeons and not on SNL?</p>

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<p>Doesn’t UChicago still have an improv troupe? </p>

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<p>Wittenberg, of course.</p>

<p><em>rimshot</em></p>

<p>I’d say that for the college with the funniest students, you’d have to look not just for colleges with comedy programs or clubs, but for colleges whose entire mission is comedy. So… <a href=“Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College - Wikipedia”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringling_Bros._and_Barnum_%26_Bailey_Clown_College&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>If you’re old enough (like I am) to remember Gary Lewis & The Playboys singing, “Everybody Loves a Clown” in 1965, then you’re probably also old enough to realize that many folks actually don’t. :wink: </p>

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<p>I think that this thread has veered off course (largely because of my original post). I’m not just looking for colleges where students go on to pursue careers in comedy but also for schools where humor seems prevalent every day, in the library or laundry room, even if the grads end up as doctors, lawyers, or stockbrokers (where, of course, a sense of humor will definitely come in handy). </p>