Two very different comedians brought laughs, claps and, unexpectedly, a harmonica to last night’s Homecoming Comedy show.

Demetri Martin and Mike Birbiglia performed for a crowd of almost 5,000 people at the two-hour event hosted by Student Entertainment Events held in Cole Field House. This was not Martin’s first time at the university, having come to the Colony Ballroom in Stamp Student Union in 2005.

Birbiglia, known for his storytelling, narrative style of comedy, was a surprise hit for those who weren’t as familiar with his work as they were with Martin’s. He told a story about how during his college years, he missed almost every 8 a.m. class of “Introduction to Computers and Networks” except the one before the final — something many college students can relate to. The audience seemed to enjoy his stories, which mainly hinged on the awkward or embarrassing, including a story in which he unknowingly jumped out of a window at a hotel because of his sleepwalking disorder, which was met with uproarious laughter.

Martin delivered his signature brand of mixed-media comedy, incorporating a drawing pad, a keyboard, a guitar and a harmonica to his show. He cracked jokes about customs forms, cargo pants and tree houses in his usual deadpan manner. He also delivered witticisms while playing instruments, including a performance of a song about the things he’s used water balloons for.

Like musicians who save their most famous songs for last, Martin catered to the audience and told his more famous jokes at the end of the show. He learned to play instruments on his own as an adult, never having received any formal training as a child.

Both performers seemed fascinated with the sign-language interpreters throughout the show. Birbiglia repeated certain words, such as “fall,” just to see the signer mime the word, and again incorporated her into his “scrambler” story.

Martin was also curious about the interpreter, saying “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” to see how such a word would look in sign language form.

Martin first gained recognition on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, which showcases up-and-coming comedians. He was a writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien for a few years afterward.

Starting in late 2005, he had a segment called “Trendspotting” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in which he appeared as a “senior youth correspondent” parodying television reporters who talk about what’s “in.”

He was also featured on HBO’s quirky music and comedy show Flight of the Conchords as a keytar player in 2007 after having roomed with duo Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie in 2004. In 2009, he landed a show on Comedy Central produced by Jon Stewart, Important Things with Demetri Martin, that ran for two seasons and incorporated wood paneling, drawing on large notepads, harmonicas and guitars, among other elements.

“One of the things that attracted me to doing that was the challenge of keeping two different rhythms going at the same time. Jokes have a certain meter to them, and then depending on what I’m playing, the meter [changes] … talking over a waltz might be a little different than talking over something in 4/4 time,” he said in an interview.

Birbiglia went to Georgetown University and got his first comedy experience at DC Improv during his time as a student. He said he got his first big break when he appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. That brought on a flurry of specials with Comedy Central. He has a recently-released book, Sleepwalk with Me: And Other Painfully True Stories, and a one-man show of a similar name. He has been featured on NPR’s This American Life.

“A lot of what the book is about and what the one-man show was about was about kind of opening up and telling people your most personal stories. When I was a kid, my dad would always say the phrase ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ about sort of insignificant things … and so I developed this habit of telling stories, and that’s sort of what my show is and what my movie is,” he said in an interview, referring to an upcoming movie project.

Many students after the show expressed surprise at their enjoyment of the opening act.

Mechanical engineering graduate student Rabee Zuberi said of the performers, “I think [Birbiglia] was hilarious. As soon as he came on, he was dropping jokes. I think the first guy was definitely funnier than Demetri Martin, but Demetri Martin has his own style, I mean, he’s kind of slow, and his jokes deliver very slowly.”

“Demetri Martin probably had a higher-paced laugh per minute, but Mike Birbiglia was more stories and fewer jokes,” senior English major Jake Frelick said. “[It was] the best comedy show I’ve seen here since my freshman year.”

wildman at umdbk dot com