In general, stand-up comedy is often hit or miss. A joke lands or it does not. Even the best performers are bound to have a few duds every performance. However, Owen Benjamin will make you rethink that.

Owen Benjamin gave a consistently electric and absolutely hilarious performance at the M-Shop Thursday night.

The night was opened by ISU sophomore Matt Banwart, who used his calm demeanor to land a number of relatable jokes to ISU students. His comedy seemed to match Benjamin’s style perfectly.

Benjamin’s success can be attributed to his less traditional delivery. His performance featured more improv and shorter jokes than most comedians’ long, detailed stories. 

His personality did not change from onstage to off, which made his performance seem more like a conversation with a friend than someone phoning it in.

His improv and audience interaction are major selling points as they ensure no two shows of his will be the same. He constantly poked fun at the audience for their millennial mindsets, while having legitimate conversations with certain crowd members.

Benjamin claims that a major turning point for him was the creation of YouTube. 

“You can find any joke on there. …I like to create moments that are real,” he said.

He takes inspiration from his real life, citing his parents, wife and dogs as his influences.

“Parents made me excited about ideas,” he said. “They taught me the dance of words.”

His performance had the audience laughing constantly with barely a break in between jokes until the finale, where he talked about the lesser known “sexisms against men”. It was extremely raunchy and had me in tears until he had left the stage.

Another strong aspect of the show was how Benjamin addressed social issues. Comedians will often take social issues head on and it can very easily become awkward and uncomfortable. However, Benjamin was able to address social issues, such as close-mindedness in such a way that it never felt forced, only hilarious.

Owen Benjamin is an example that the funniest people don’t necessarily need to rely on the script but rather flourish just by being themselves.