The niche and spontaneous comedy podcast duo, Enya Umanzor and Drew Phillips, otherwise known as “Emergency Intercom,” performed at the University of Maryland Thursday night during Student Entertainment Events’ spring lecture.
Fans waited to hear the pair’s slices of life and wandering conversation, with some donning merchandise from the duo, including crocheted hats of the “Emergency Intercom” mascots.
Current students and university alumni alike came out to see the duo, including Xavier Hawkins, an alum of this university and longtime fan of Umanzor and Phillips’ content.
“It was just weird and surreal,” Hawkins said. “I’ve been following them since forever. It’s cool to see there’s a lot of other people that actually watch them.”
The pair are best known for their legacy on the internet, once dominating Vine and YouTube, and now podcasts with their eccentric styles of fashion and comedy.
Umanzor and Phillips have since grown a following with their quick quips and satire, paired with the duo’s ability to relate to their audience on deeper conversations, such as mental health and growing up in your 20s.
The show was their fifth college show, according to Umanzor.
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“[A college show] just borders the idea of stand-up because it doesn’t feel as heavy or as intense,” said Umanzor. “For the most part, because we have an understanding that the people who come already listen to the podcast … it feels like sweet community building.”
Their hilarious antics began as soon as they took the stage, with Phillips walking on with his Apple Vision Pro virtual reality headset, referencing a joke from the podcast with Umanzor claiming he never takes it off.
The pair was also not afraid to get deep with their fan base at this university and answered questions during the Q&A that ranged from Umanzor’s experience choosing between college and her passion for content creation, and being each other’s, according to Phillips, “platonic soulmates [and] twin flames.”
“[The show] just feels really freeform,” said Umanzor. “Every show, somebody asks a very intense question during the Q&A, but that’s also kind of sweet. I enjoy hearing what our listeners want to ask us.”
The podcast-style lecture featured topics such as airplane turbulence, Uber debacles, fake Birkin bags, and the famous Diary of a Wimpy Kid statue at this university. The conversation felt like being on FaceTime with old friends as their free-flowing style took many different turns.
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Umanzor and Phillips kept their interaction with the crowd at a high, even recreating a popular Mitski concert video with the audience — drawing someone from the crowd to scream the phrase, “mother is mothering”.
The duo hope to further expand their podcast, possibly into additional forms of media, such as clothing. Phillips said that they are still in the process of world-building, and hopes the podcast is the “nucleus” for the Emergency Intercom brand.
Umanzor also hopes that the podcast incorporates the pair’s friend group into its universe.
“I like the idea of it just becoming more included within our friend group,” said Umanzor. “We have so many friends who make things, or maybe stopped making things, and we’re hopeful that it can get to a point where we’re like, ‘here is incentive to keep creating with us.’”
