Elizabeth Pulanco/ Winonan
A part of the celebration for homecoming, Winona State University invited Comedian Heath Hyche for “The Heath Show,” a comedy show sponsored by University Programming Activities Committee (UPAC).
Hyche started the show by telling the audience to forget everything they knew and thought about comedy. This was Hyche’s method of telling everyone that his type of comedy was going to be unique.
Throughout the night, Hyche introduced the audience to various characters who played a large part in the show. A popular character who Hyche introduced was “Dale,” who was the caricature of a redneck. As a southerner himself, Hyche said he has met people like “Dale” in real life. Equipped with fake teeth and camouflage, “Dale” was met with laughs and applause from the audience.
One element of the show that seemed to be the most noticeable was the unlimited amount of energy Hyche had while performing. Sophomore and audience member Izla Fishle agreed.
“During the show, he was very energetic,” Fishler said. “I also really liked the cool costume changes”.
Each character required a new costume, and, after each character, Hyche would run behind a black divider to change for his next persona. Hyche was able to change his appearance within seconds.
Another element to the show was Hyche’s ability to creatively incorporate music and technology into his performance. For the technology, he was able to employ the use of a projection screen to add a background or introduce a new character or sketch coming up.
Along with the numerous characters, Hyche showed off his talent of doing impersonations. In a sketch that poked fun of Discovery Channel documentaries, Hyche did an impersonation of a wildebeest. Unexpectedly, the biggest laughs in the sketch came after the ear fell off of his prop. Once Hyche taped the ear back on, he continued with the skit and made it to the punch line.
Hyche also had an Elvis impersonator up his sleeve.
As a conclusion to the show, Hyche sent the audience off with an impression of actor Matthew McConaughey. He started the imitation with the actors famous saying “alright, alright, alright” and kicked it up a notch when he decided to read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ in the actor’s slow southern drawl.
Sophomore Taylor Larson, who went to the show with a group of friends, thought it was her favorite part of the night.
“I loved the Matthew McConaughey impression,” Larson said.
All throughout the night, Hyche would ask the audience to use their imagination. This helped the audience find humor in the most ridiculous characters Hyche would present.
