derrick tennant – Houghton STAR

On April 3rd, the Houghton campus will welcome comedian and inspirational speaker Derrick Tennant. After losing the use of the left side of his body in an athletic injury, Tennant found how to overcome this hardship through his words. He refers to his optimistic attitude as “[looking] on the RIGHT side” of things.

Tennant debuted his comedic specialties at Houghton this past year at the fall 2013 homecoming SPOT. With the less than delicate references to the effects of his accident and his charismatic attitude on stage, Tennant’s act was well-received. Tennant referred back to this performance, saying, “it felt so good to be home at Houghton again.”

As an alumnus, Tennant described the Houghton campus as being “where it all started,” having provided the environment to foster his comedic gifts. He participated in various public performances during his time at Houghton, such as hosting SPOT.

Current Houghton senior Steve McCord, a communications major with a concentration in visual arts and media communication, played an integral role in bringing Tennant back to campus to perform. McCord first approached Tennant after fall SPOT, offering his creative marketing experience. After various conversations and a trip to Atlanta over this past spring break to film a promotional video, McCord created all the advertising and marketing for Tennant’s return to Houghton. McCord said that it is “easy to work with Derrick because he allows the expression of artistic freedom.”

The work of Tennant focuses on the opportunities that can become available even after hardship. Tennant said he loves to be able to impact and inspire others through his performances. His work also maintains a level of respectability, as cited on his website and through his formation of Bleep Free comedy.

Tennant comments that people seem to believe that if “you are Christian comedian, it means you aren’t funny.” He challenges this misconception through Bleep Free, which promotes acts that are family friendly and essentially clean from swearing as well as sexual references among other things.

Comedy

In the past, Tennant had opportunities to work with corporations such as Chick-Fil-A in addition to performing at smaller or more private venues. Working in such a way has given Tennant flexibility to do what he enjoys. He said he is “blown away” by what a blessing it is to have a career that causes his injury to give him a unique edge and let him share a message.

Tennant will be arriving to campus on March 30th along with other comedian acquaintances. Tennant’s visit will conclude with “Comedy Night” which will take place April 3rd at 8 pm in the Dining Hall. This performance will be video recorded in order to be sold on campus as well as at other venues that Tennant attends.

In looking towards this event and its impact on Houghton’s future Tennant said that he would “love to get more involved on campus.” Although unsure what exactly this would entail, he added that he wanted to “encourage and motivate Houghton students to enjoy life.”

SPOT hosts Hannah Lily and Will Strowe made their way on stage in sweatshirts and sweatbands, in a tribute to Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky”, to kick start the 2013 Homecoming SPOT this past Saturday. A new spin on the structure of SPOT featured student acts of talent along with the usual videos, skits, dances, and songs that elicited laughter – for the most part. This year’s addition of crowd questionnaires filled in the awkward gaps between acts and kept the crowd engaged, while the surprise stage visits of Houghton graduate celebrities “Beardo” and “Dreads” kept the audience on their toes. From ‘What Does the Fox Say?” to raps to German accents, SPOT displayed a broad array of talents and wit from faculty and students alike.

CAB was two for two in their video contributions; their “Valentine’s Day” movie trailer depicted the almost inexhaustible joke of awkward Houghton couples and revealed the identity of stars within our midst. Their “Valentine’s Day” video was followed up by a rendition of “The Hunger Games” in which Sodexo kept a careful eye on the fruit to student ratio. First year students were comforted in their fight against the freshmen 15 by Hanz and Franz’s “Buddy Workout” video. The final contender in the video section, a remake of the recently viral YouTube music video “What Does the Fox Say?,” did not disappoint in its ridiculous hilarity and continuously perplexing question: what does the fox say?

While the SPOT videos were largely accepted as solid contributions to the expected humor of the night, the skits faired a harsher fate. Alumni Derrick Tennant, ‘93, received a mixed reaction to his lengthy stand-up comedy act; half the time the audience was unsure whether to laugh or “aww” at the jokes that more often than not poked fun at his own partial paralysis. Other skits, while possibly written with good intentions of entertainment, made light of serious issues and events that crossed the line into rudeness and insensitivity.

The new inclusion of purely talent acts was most evidently displayed in the dance performances. The audience was impressed by the skills stepped, jigged, lept, and tapped across the stage, such as when a student trio performed a tap from the Broadway musical “Newsies.” And while there was no stepping, jigging, leaping, or tapping done by the goat brought in for Taylor Swift’s song “Trouble”, he was an automatic crowd pleaser.

An historical crowd favorite, Danny Kim came back to his former glory as a “big deal” with a rap performance that, despite slip-ups, was carried off with style by him and Cory Martin. “Matilda Jane” however displayed less style and more confusion – who is Matilda Jane again? And no doubt was left in anyone’s mind what dessert the Hardy twins ask for their birthday. Modified songs from Hercules, Veggie Tales, Pitch Perfect, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon vocalized the musical talents and creativity of various students; and Dean Jordan apparently originated from Mt. Olympus not Philadelphia, as previously understood.

While some acts fell flat of their intended comedic effect, resulting in boredom or downright offense, homecoming spirits created an atmosphere of camaraderie and geniality that encompassed both the audience and performers.