By Aishani Chauhan ‘20
Cometry to Improve Our Society?
Comedy and poetry. Put them together, and you get Cometry: a group whose mission statement is to blend performance poetry and stand up comedy into entertainment that highlights the similarities, habits, and traits, that people all share, but often go unnoticed. Every Cometry piece or “coem” is designed to tell a story, raise awareness, or deliver an inspirational message, all while making making one laugh. On January 26, 2018, Iggy Mwela and Claudia Martinez of Cometry performed at the Kirby Center for the Creative Arts in front of students and faculty.
Cometry introduced the concept of being “GRAV” or a leader that people always want to be around. To demonstrate a key part of the “GRAV”―vulnerability― Ms. Martinez put on a hat and drew a mustache on her face in order to look like her uncle, and shared stories of her experiences as a child growing in up in a Mexican household and her struggle with coming out as a teen. Iggy Mwela performed an original poem revealing his abusive childhood growing up with an alcoholic parent in an unsafe neighborhood. At the core of this performance was a message to embrace one’s weaknesses, and turn them into strengths. “I was very pleasantly surprised by the impact it left me with. The show was not only very funny and entertaining, but it also sounded like a very important message.” says Leanna Yatcilla ‘20 of their performances.
However, a few students thought that the performance was disorganized and that the message was lost within the comedy; “While Cometry’s aim was to deliver an inspiring message, the disorganization and long length of the performance led to the message becoming lost in the comedy,” said Sophie Guichardan ‘19. Whatever Cometry presented to its audience, it did not fail to emphasize the question, “How can I become a better leader by embracing both my similarities and differences?”
