Grand Valley State University is collaborating with comedian Barry Brewer to present a stand-up comedy show to entertain the GVSU community and showcase Brewer’s rising career and unique talent.

The comedy event will take place Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 8 p.m. on the East Lawn of Kirkhof.

Spotlight Productions is GVSU’s only student-run programming board. The organization has been responsible for on-campus events and programming since 1983 and is in charge of providing a diverse array of both educational and entertaining programs for the GVSU community.

Spotlight Productions started planning this event back in March, believing that having a comedian do a stand-up show at GVSU would bring plenty of laughs to kick off the new school year.

“It has been amazing to see my comedy chair and executive board put this event together,” said Andrew Travis, graduate assistant for Spotlight Productions. “Spotlight has been working very hard on this, and we hope the campus community comes out for it.”

Barry Brewer was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and began his comedic career in 2001. He has since traveled the country—and abroad—performing at colleges and the nation’s top comedy clubs. As a stand-up comedian, Barry has performed on several high-profile platforms, including national television networks such as Comedy Central, BET and TV One. Brewer also expanded his talent into the area of film in “The Parking Lot” and most recently “The Perfekt Plan,” which he wrote, executive-produced and starred in.

“Barry Brewer is different than other events at Grand Valley because his career is in the building process,” said Aurora Reese, comedy chair for Spotlight Productions. “He is on his way up, and I’m really excited to be a stone in the furthering of a really great comedian’s career. I think it’s really cool when you see an act who wasn’t really big yet have a really successful event at Grand Valley, and then their career shoots up from there.”

This event will serve as an opportunity for returning students and incoming freshmen to have some fun and relieve stress before the semester kicks into high gear.

“I think it’s important for Grand Valley to have this event because the first week of the academic year will be starting up,” Reese said. “And I think it’ll be a much-needed laugh for students who are already beginning to feel stressed about what the year has to hold, and if they’re not stressed, it’s a great place for students to have something to do while their schedule isn’t too hectic.”