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The following article was written by me for my Reporting class (JOU 3101). This is my edit of the story and has not been graded yet by my professor. I apologize for any gramatical mistakes, if any exist. Also, see other photos I took last night on my Flickr photo page. On that note, here it is…
By Charles E. Roop
Reporting Student, University of Florida
Hundreds of students and guests crowded into the Reitz Union Grand Ball Room at the University of Florida Thursday night to see comedian and television personality Mo Rocca speak. It was crowded enough that nearly thirty minutes before Rocca came on stage, the seats were full and some students ended up sitting on the floor.
Despite the seating issues, students cheered and cameras flashed when he came on stage.
“I’m here in ‘Gator Nation,’” Rocca said followed by round of applause.
He started off the show with jokes about UF and other schools while showing a computer slideshow of images of his topic.
“I really love everything about UF,” Rocca said. “I love Gatorade, it’s my favorite drink. I adore Tostitos, especially when they are served in a celebratory bowl.”
Afterwards, he went on to explain how he is “an expert on sounding like an expert.”
“I can show you how to sound like you know what you are talking about,” Rocca said. “All you need is a head, I’m going to help you turn it into a talking head.”
Rocca was a correspondent for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and VH1’s “I love…” pop-culture series according to ACCENT, UF’s student-run speaker’s bureau. He also contributed to other programs such as NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and CBS’ “Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.” Rocca even stepped into the political scene and was a frequent guest on MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and CNN’s “Larry King Live.”
Rocca played a clip over the projector from when he was on a segment of Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor.” He warns the audience that his views on the segment’s topic – new Barbie dolls that some, including Rocca’s opponent, claim contain risqué and revealing clothing – are false.
"I think that anyone who gives their kids lingerie Barbie is weird,” he said after the segment was played.
Rocca even gave his thoughts on politics, including the 2008 presidential election.
“Talking about the here and now means that you are (bound to) facts, but speculation is actually fun and easy because no one will remember in November 2008 what you said now,” he said. “You can pretty much say anything you want.”
With the Democratic race, he said that the party should “exploit Republican weaknesses” and “avoid the mistakes of 2004” when they nominated Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to run.
“If the Democrats nominate Hillary Clinton, unless they don’t, and if they do nominate her, she will win unless she doesn’t,” he said.
Rocca switched to presidential gravesites – which he said he was an expert on – by showing the audience his pictures of some of them.
Following the speech and a game, where four audience members got to act as pundits on stage, Rocca took some questions.
Overall, the event was “amazing” with “no problems” according to ACCENT Chairman Andrew Brown.
As for the overcrowding, he said that the attendance was “probably about 1,200.” The capacity for the Grand Ball Room was set at 1,000 and that some people were not allowed in. Brown said that ACCENT apologizes for an estimated 200 people who were left out.
“For tonight, this was the only venue available on campus,” he said. “Mo’s availability and venues availability were tough to match up.”
However, Brown did like the venue.
“It was intimate,” he said. “It allowed everyone to be involved in the interaction.”
If it were held at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, he said, “we couldn’t have done a screen presentation and the comedy factor would have gone down.”
ACCENT paid Rocca $25,000 “all inclusive” to come to Gainesville according to Brown.
Jennifer Haas, a public relations and political science junior at UF who came to watch, was not sure what to expect Thursday night, but said “it was very entertaining.”
“He was always my favorite correspondent on ‘The Daily Show,’” she said. “I just loved his sense of humor. It’s so brilliantly dry and satirical, but it’s really my style.”
