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The Riverside Arts Center is not your typical venue for stand-up comedians, but Michigan natives Vince Averill and Jesse Popp have made their way back to the Great Lakes State to bring a little stand-up comedy to Ypsilanti.
Averill and Popp returned to their old stomping grounds in southeastern Michigan where they got their start in comedy before moving to New York City in 2006.
Averill grew up in Milford and graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in geography and tourism. Popp grew up in Garden City.
“We haven’t been back to perform in a long time,” Averill said before Friday night’s show at the RAC.
The guys said they decided on the Riverside Arts Center because the space was available and they liked the area.
“I’ve always liked Ypsi, for its good and its bad,” Averill said.
Averill said he got into comedy after graduating with his degree.
“I graduated from Eastern and realized with a degree in geography I couldn’t do much but go to work and sleep,” he said. “That’s when I started taking classes at the Second City.”
Popp and Averill met at the Heidelberg in Ann Arbor and the pair decided to make the move to New York. The two have been on Comedy Central and toured countless spots in the Big Apple.
Popp and Averill came back to Ypsilanti with friends Matt McCarthy and Greg Johnson in tow.
McCarthy has appeared on Comedy Central’s “Just for Laughs” and several commercials including McDonald's, Verizon and Guinness. He also made it to the top five in the Doritos’ make-your-own-commercial contest “Crash the Superbowl” for his commercial "New Flavor Pitch." The winning commercial will have the chance to have their ad aired during the game.
Johnson’s weekly show in NYC was awarded the ECNY award, formally the Emerging Comics of New York Awards, for Best Variety Show in 2008.
All four comedians will be performing again tonight at 8 p.m. at the RAC. Averill said more than 100 tickets have already been sold, but there are still some available. Tickets are $12 at the door.