Funny, very funny — Barrington students do standup

Comedy night organized as part of student's senior project

EastBayRI.com ·

Five Barrington High School students helped fill the Bay Spring Community Center with laughter recently.

The students — Thad Lentz, Ian Mellen, Simon Rabatin, Dylan Monti and Evan Weinstein — took turns on stage telling jokes, singing funny songs and recalling hilarious stories as part of Thad's high school senior project.

Barrington High School debate team wins plenty of awards.

"The funny thing is, I never really had a plan to do standup comedy," said Thad during a recent interview.

The idea, he said, came from Dena Davis, the founder of Arts Alive! Barrington. Thad worked for Ms. Davis and Arts Alive! in the past.

"She knows I don't have a lot of shame," said Thad. 

Ms. Davis later suggested Thad work with Bill Simas, who runs Funny 4 Funds, a company that helps organize comedy fund-raisers. 

"Originally, the idea was to do a fund-raiser for Arts Alive!, but it was going to be too rushed," said Thad. "So then we figured we'd do an open mic night."

Thad lined up the Bay Spring Community Center to host the event and started recruiting fellow students to help with the standup. That task proved to be easier than he originally anticipated, although the lineup of young comedians was shifted a bit when two students pulled out of the event.

"I started off with five other people, but two dropped out. Simon was the replacement, and he was great," said Thad.

But the star of the night, said Thad, might have been Ian Mellen.

"He was the funniest," said Thad. "He really gave it his all — he had the greatest one-liners."

Dylan and Evan sang a comedic song, which proved to be a hit with the packed crowd on hand. And Thad referred to his part-time jobs working with kids to fuel his standup routine. 

"I took more of a story-telling approach," he said.

The event ran for about an hour and turned out to be a crowd-pleaser. The sound of laughter echoing through the community center was a welcome addition, said Thad.

"I was anticipating awkward silence," he said. "But I think everyone seemed to like it. 

"I only heard positive things — it was a totally positive experience."

Some of the success is likely owed to Mr. Simas, who provided crucial advice to the young comedians prior to the event. Mr. Simas joined the high school students on a conference call a few days prior to the show, and shared tips on writing their routines and structuring the performances.