From start to finish, “The Most Races Show” was a marathon of laughter Friday night.
Twenty-year comedian Juan Villareal took the audience in the UC auditorium on a dash through the first days of the movie “Exorcist” — then to his duel with the bank teller about his $12 deposit — leading to trying to pull a fast one and scare his kids with an exorcist only for them to Google it.
Aside from the laughs, Villareal did have motivating advice for his young guests.
“Enjoy life,” the Houston native said. “Be happy. Life’s too short.”
Following Villareal, the back stretch of Friday night’s act was between Native American comedians James Junes and Ernie Tsosie, giving the audience little time between laughs.
The tag-team comedians told UT students about their 10-year ride as a duo.
“I actually feel bad,” Tsosie said. “It’s kind of weird having an anniversary with another man. We can remember ours to the day.”
“We remember what size engine goes on our trucks,” Junes said. “How many pieces our tools have, how much horsepower our chainsaw holds. And we talk to our tools. Ladies, we’re going to let you in on a little secret: we talk better to our tools than we do to you.”
Junes let students in on another secret about the Navajo “sacred ground.”
“Modern-day ‘sacred ground’ is at Walmart,” the Navajo comedian said. “All of the relatives that you thought had passed away are all at Walmart. You’re pushing your cart and all of a sudden you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you here? I thought you died two years ago.'”
Tsosie’s pit-stop in the “modern-day sacred ground” then took a different turn.
“One time I lost my wife in there for two weeks,” the 17-year performer said. “They had to put her on layaway; can you believe that? It took me another two weeks to raise the money to get her out.”
Humor aside, the three comics wouldn’t have made it to Knoxville — a first-time trip for Junes and Tsosie — had it not been without a $10,000 all-in effort by the Native American Student Association, Latin American Student Organization and the Asian American Association, with added sponsorship from the Black Culture Programming Committee, Cultural Attractions Committee and Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity.
It was a networking effort that Diversity & Multicultural Education Associate Director Shawnboda Mead said made everyone a winner on Friday night.
“The idea was to have a multicultural comedy night,” Meade said. “Where everybody can come and have a good time, and so the three groups have done a good job of reaching out and trying to incorporate different programs, different fraternities, and so we have a really good group of students all working together.”
Like Villareal, the comics let guests in on another secret close to the finish: that they “always gotta have a smile on your face, and laughter in your heart.”
“No matter what you’re going through,” Junes said, “you always got to get up, dust yourself off and try it again. Try it again. Try it again.”
