TCNJ News
For Immediate Release
December 14, 2007
TCNJ junior named “New Jersey King of Campus Comedy”
EWING, NJ … Ready to catch a rising comedy star?
Meet Adam Mamawala, junior communication studies major and newly crowned “New Jersey King of Campus Comedy” after winning the final round of the 2007 New Jersey Comedy Festival on Saturday, December 8 at Monmouth University in Long Branch.
“I heard about [the contest] from a friend, and I signed up on the festival’s web site,” said Mamawala. “I’ve been doing stand-up for a couple years now, so I always like to perform whenever I get a chance.”
No stranger to performing, Mamawala laughed his way to the top of last year’s Catch A Rising Star Comedy Challenge, hosted at the College, and earned a spot performing at the Atlantic City club.
The New Jersey Comedy Festival, organized by Dennis Hedlund of Red Bank, a senior member of the Friar's Club, visited New Jersey colleges and selected three finalists from each school to compete in the finals. Jason Cantor, sophomore business major, and Daniel Neyman, sophomore psychology major, also competed. The finals hosted 36 total comedians from 12 schools, judged by Michele Balan, who was one of four finalists on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” Barry Dougherty, the voice of the Friar’s Club in New York City, and Mark Sinodinos, the winner of the 2005 Canadian College Comedy Award.
In an interview last year with TCNJ’s student newspaper, The Signal, Mamawala said, “I'm still surprised when people see me perform and come up to me after the show and say, 'I didn't know you were funny.’ People think of funny situations every day; they just never take the time to write it down. “
And to the winner go the spoils… For his comedic talents, Mamawala not only won the title of King of Campus Comedy, but also $1,000, an opening gig for a professional comedian at The Laugh Factory in New York City, and a trip for two to Cancun over spring break, where he may also have the opportunity perform on MTV’s Spring Break.
“I’ve always thought of comedy as more of a hobby, and I full acknowledge that making it big in comedy is no easier than becoming a professional actor or athlete,” said Mamawala. “However, winning a festival like this and gaining such recognition is flattering, and it certainly makes me think more about doing comedy as a profession. Ideally, I would love to do public relations for a professional sports team.”
He’s getting his foot in the door with that, too. Starting in the spring, he’ll be interning with the Trenton Thunder, the minor-league affiliate of the New York Yankees.
Photo Courtesy of www.newjerseycomedyfestival.com
About The College of New Jersey
TCNJ currently is ranked as one of the 75 "Most Competitive" schools in the nation by Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, is rated the No. 1 public institution in the northern region of the country by U.S. News & World Report, and is one of Kiplinger's Personal Finance's top educational values in the country. In 2006, the College joined an elite group of institutions when it was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. Fewer than 10 percent of the nation's colleges and universities share this honor.
