Andy Borowitz visits SHU

borowitz.jpg
Andy Borowitz speaks to an audience of about 100 people.

Around 100 people nearly filled Cecilian Hall to attend �An Evening with Andy Borowitz,� on April 20, 2006.

Borowitz is the creator of the daily Internet news humor column �The Borowitz Report.� He also contributes to CNN’s American Morning and National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

His writing can be found in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vanity Fair and at Newsweek.com.

Borowitz is also the author of four humor books including �Who Moved My Soap? The CEO’s Guide to Surviving in Prison.� Also a Hollywood producer, Borowitz was the creator of the hit 1990’s sitcom �The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air� as well as the producer of the movie �Pleasantville.�


By Alexandra Nseir,
Staff Writer

borowitz.jpg
Andy Borowitz speaks to an audience of about 100 people.

Around 100 people nearly filled Cecilian Hall to attend �An Evening with Andy Borowitz,� on April 20, 2006.

Borowitz is the creator of the daily Internet news humor column �The Borowitz Report.� He also contributes to CNN’s American Morning and National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

His writing can be found in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vanity Fair and at Newsweek.com.

Borowitz is also the author of four humor books including �Who Moved My Soap? The CEO’s Guide to Surviving in Prison.� Also a Hollywood producer, Borowitz was the creator of the hit 1990’s sitcom �The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air� as well as the producer of the movie �Pleasantville.�

Borowitz was introduced by Betsy Benson, the vice president of publishing and editor-in-chief of Pittsburgh magazine.

�With the world careening along as it is, we are lucky to have someone like (Andy Borowitz) to poke fun at the world,� she said.

Borowitz began his routine by playfully making fun of the small size of Seton Hill. He also joked that �Seton Hill was recently named by Maxim magazine as the number one party school in Greensburg.�

The rest of Borowitz’s speech revolved around politics and the state of the world.

�I have stopped watching the news, it’s so depressing�Now I just watch Fox News,� he said. �The way they�re talking about Iraq you�d want to move there.�

Borowitz also criticized the U.S. administration through humor: �The war on terror is amazing. (President Bush) declared a war on a human emotion. What’s next, shyness?�

Borowitz continued his jest about U.S. involvement in the Middle East, �(Bush) is going to pull all of the troops out of Iraq, through Iran.� He also made light of domestic issues like education.

� �The No Child Left Behind Act� relentlessly tests students, and if they don’tpass they can’tmove on to the next grade. If they had had this law back when President Bush was in school…� he said.

Borowitz followed his routine with a question-and-answer session where he tackled questions on rising gas prices, Barry Bonds, (�I�m sympathetic toward him now. Everywhere he goes they want to ask him about steroids�he got so mad he threw a car�), the next Supreme Court Justice, Hillary Clinton, pop-culture (�Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had their baby. Good news, it’s a publicist�), the Enron trial, Donald Rumsfeld (�No amount of screwing up can result in him losing his job�), and even the Pittsburgh Steelers, (�Do I think the Steelers will repeat? Yes. I�m not above pandering�).

The audience seemed to enjoy Borowitz’s presentation, even as he skewered everyone in politics, business and entertainment.

�He was funny and topical,� said Pittsburgh resident Leslie Aderson. �Subscribe to the �Borowitz Report� to find out what’s really going on.�

�He was very funny and insightful,� said professor of sociology, Susan Eichenberger.
Few students atttended. A book signing followed the lecture.

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