‘Try’ not to have a fun: Lewberger visits BW

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The Yellow Jacket Activities Board invited Lewberger, a comedic musical act, to the Lou Higgins Rec Center on April 23 at 9 p.m. to put on an hour-long show for BW students.  

Lewberger is a three-man comedy band comprised of Keith Habersberger, Alex Lewis, and Hughie Stone Fish. They are based out of Los Angeles, Calif. and have played clubs and colleges all over the country.  

Abby Ernst, a graduate assistant for the student life center, helped bring Lewberger to campus after being a fan of theirs.  

“I brought up [Lewberger] in a meeting when we were discussing what we wanted to bring to campus because I saw on their podcast Keith pitched wanting to come to colleges,” Ernst said. “I pitched it to YJAB and they were all jazzed about it.” 

Habersberger is also a member of the Try Guys, a popular group of YouTubers that try new things. On the channel, some of his most popular shows are “Eat the Menu,” “Chicken Watch” and “Without a Recipe.” 

Lewis is an actor and comedian who can be seen on several TV shows and was cast in the movies “All About Nina” and the remake of “Valley Girl.” 

Stone Fish is an Emmy Award-winning songwriter and a music producer/educator with a nonprofit that brings arts education to his hometown of Syracuse, N.Y. 

Mary Bierman, current president of YJAB spoke about bringing Lewberger to campus said she hoped students appreciated the show. 

“They’re not the most popular band but I hope people leaves saying ‘Oh my gosh, this was amazing,’ but the people who do know them, go crazy, and they’re the ones spreading the word and making it such an amazing event.” 

YJAB has been planning the event for quite some time.  

“Every year we always have something super big at the end of every year,” Bierman said. “So it’s kind of like a big end of year celebration.”  

Jason Luck, the incoming YJAB president, was excited for this big celebration. 

 “I think performances are a really good way to get people together and feel close as a community on campus,” Luck said. I’m looking to make more opportunities of that as we get through this final outbreak of COVID.”  

Lewberger’s music is a mix of everything. They utilized pre-recorded tracks and live music in their set. Their genre of music pulled from many different places including jazz, pop, rock and much more. Some of their songs are original works altogether and others are parodies of popular songs with new comedic lyrics.  

Bierman said one of the reasons YJAB booked the band was because of their eclectic musical style.  

“In the past we’ve done concerts, comedians, now we’re mixing comedy, music, and people who are decently popular,” Bierman said. “I think this is different because we are able to use what people want to see and what they’ve been telling us to bring and use that at these events.” 

The show was very high energy and the audience matched it with enthusiasm. The show did not take place solely on the stage; Multiple times members of the band made their way into the seating area to get the audience involved. Stone Fish commented that Friday’s show was one of the easiest times he had getting the audience involved.  

Ernst noticed before the show she was feeling the excitement of the student body.  

“Getting to talk to people that were excited to come, giving away the shirts people were excited to wear them, and then getting to see how excited all of the YJAB board is about it, you can see it all coming together,” Ernst said. 

Some of the songs that were performed included their more well-known ones “Disney Princess,” “The Vagina Song,” “White People Taco Night” and some that are less known or have not been seen online such as “Sausage,” “Things Got Silly (Eating Chili at a Gay Bar),” “The Wicked Waltz” and “Why Can’t Santa (Give Presents to the Little Jewish Children).” 

Ernst and the YJAB team, as well as a few lucky student Meet and Greet raffle winners were able to meet and interact with the band prior to the show.  

“Getting to meet Lewberger before today was a source of excitement, they’re just absolutely fabulous and so nice,” Ernst said. 

Overall, the BW students gave Lewberger a warm reception and in return, Habersberger, Lewis and Stone Fish provided a humorous show. Ernst said she hopes the concert showed the value of what YJAB provides.  

“I hope people know that your university has groups like the Yellow Jacket Activities Board that is bringing fun things to campus,” Ernst said.   

Lewberger received a standing ovation when they competed on “America’s Got Talent” in 2021 after singing a song to get Terry Crews to take off his shirt and were finalists on NBC’s “Bring The Funny” in 2018 with their song “Locking the Car.”  

Their most recent comedy special, “Lewberger: Live at Lincoln Hall,” can be found on Amazon Prime; their podcast “Celebrity Theme Song” can be found on all streaming platforms.