Through student-run show ‘Krab Night,’ SU brothers bring various forms of sketch comedy
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The onstage debut for brothers Aidan and Ryan Micho did not go according to plan. The opening night of their comedy show, themed “safety inspection,” was going well, until suddenly, it wasn’t.
“Nothing says ‘us’ more than the time I passed out from carbon monoxide poisoning and Ryan had to wake me up,” said Aidan, a sophomore.
But Ryan, who graduated last semester, said that there was no better way to start their live performing careers.
The Micho brothers created “Krab Night,” a new student-run comedy show, which features stand-up performers and sketch comics every two weeks. They announce the dates and themes of each show on their Instagram, where audience members can direct message for the venue’s address.
For every show, the brothers come up with a theme for performers to center their acts around. In the first three shows of the semester, the themes were safety inspection night, arts and crafts night and heckler night. The brothers said that the latter, which took place last Thursday, was the most fun and put the comedians in some really funny situations, like being insulted by audience members while they were on stage. They were very happy with how the audience participated as well, they said.
The brothers first became intrigued with sketch comedy when they saw a show at The Second City in Chicago. They thought that the sketch comedy aspect of the show was really unique and something that they wanted to pursue.
“It was like nothing we’d seen before. It was like a combination of sketch and some improv and stuff,” Ryan said. “And we just wanted to have a comedy show that was stand up with some other stuff, as well.”
After that, they started to film themselves doing sketch comedy and posted it on social media. The brothers post videos on Instagram and TikTok under the name “Krab,” which comes from the name of the four Micho brothers — Kyle, Ryan, Aidan and Brendan.
Their original content was more relatable and grounded, they said, and they felt like this was the best way to get traction online, even though they weren’t very confident at the beginning of their careers. Eventually, they even reached one million views on a video inspired by the CBS show “60 minutes.”
Ryan admitted that when they started posting content, he and his brothers were not funny at all. Over time, he said they paid attention to the engagement they would get on each post and see what people responded to. This is how they learned to best connect through comedy to a Gen Z audience online, Ryan said.
Once they got the hang of their social media audience, they took to the stage last semester. But when they first got in front of a live audience, they found there wasn’t much of a reaction to their sketches.
“Nobody was laughing too much,” Aidan said. “And then we just kind of kicked it up a notch and started just being ridiculous and flamboyant, and people seemed to respond.”
The brothers said that one of the best parts of running “Krab Night” is being able to allow other young comedians to perform in front of a live audience. The brothers built the lineups together for each show — they simply reached out to their friends who they thought were funny and could improvise well.
Sophomore Peter Elliot said that he had always wanted to get into stand up comedy and that “Krab Night” has given him a great platform to try out some material. He’s ecstatic that the name “Krab Night” is growing around campus and hopes that the show can start to reach even more people.
“It’s become something that people around campus are talking about and draws bigger crowds each time, which is impressive,” Elliot said.
In just a few months, Ryan and Aidan have been able to create a very special community of comedians, Elliot said. That their ability to find a group of talented people who have a shared focus on making people laugh has led “Krab Night” to find the success it has, he said.
When they first came up with the concept of the show, Ryan said they were unsure where it would end up, but they knew that it would be a good learning experience for the brothers.
Now, they use “Krab Night” to practice live performances and learn how to properly build a comedy show lineup. As they continue to grow the show, the brothers said that they hope to keep building a consistent audience and give the performers new and fun opportunities.
“I think it really is just (about putting) on a funny show, and your friends will tell their friends, and everyone’s gonna hear about it,” Aidan said. “And hopefully, it becomes a household name.”
But for right now, the brothers have big aspirations for the future of their show at SU.
“We’re hoping to get Kent Syverud to come to the show. That’s the goal,” Ryan said.
