MU students gather for a fun night of hilarity led by Maggie Winters and Mr. ‘I have purse’ himself, Connor Wood
Jesse Auditorium rang with laughter and resounding cheers of assent on March 12.
Connor Wood, known on the internet as “Fibula,” and Maggie Winters have been all over the country on tour together. Winters and Wood met at a comedy venue where they were both performing.
“We were both doing a show in Chicago and we just hit it off in the green room,” Wood said. “We just matched each other’s energy so well, it was just a vibe fit for us.”
On the second leg of Wood’s “Fibs and Friends” tour, they found themselves at the University of Missouri, thanks to the Campus Activities Programming Board.
Winters opened the show, warming up the audience as she recalled memories in college.
“If I could give a college student any advice today — it would be to drink water. When I hit thirty I started to drink water and I was like, ‘Oh, this is what I’m supposed to feel like.’”
Winters took a very interactive approach with the audience, and the students loved it — even calling her back onstage for an unplanned reappearance at the end of Wood’s set.
Wood took the stage to the popular Role Model song, “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out,” sporting a MU hat and a grin.
He wasted no time — “M-I-Z!” He chanted.
“Z-O-U!” The audience responded.
Wood didn’t miss a beat while performing. His expertise as a comedian — especially one with an audience of young adults — shone through.
Wood also took a conversational style with the audience and he said the response from the students was encouraging.
“I don’t do many colleges but this was fun,” Wood said. The energy was so high, especially for a Wednesday night. People were cool to talk to, people were very responsive. I did some crowd work, obviously a lot of smart people in the crowd. Everyone was really cool.”
The set was followed by a Q&A led by KOMU’s Taylor Freeman. Afterward, Wood joined the audience to answer some impromptu questions from the students.
After the show, The Maneater sat down with Wood for some one-on-one questions.
Throughout the night, Wood expressed his love for the Midwest.
“Everyone’s really friendly here. There’s just this movie set-esque vibe of proper college towns. I think I notice it a lot because my town was not a college town, it was a city,” he said. “So coming to places like this it actually feels like I’m in a snowglobe. I just love it.”
Wood also stated during his set that MU may have inspired an idea for a pilot episode he has in the works, but he declined to give more details.
“It’s very homey and nostalgic — makes me want to go back to college.”
He described the commute into Columbia that MU students can be so (unfortunately) familiar with.
“The speed limit was 500 miles an hour, and we were driving this crappy little car that I was scared was gonna blow off the street. I’m going 80 and people are passing us going 90 — it was kind of scary,” he said. “I moved to New York so I forgot how to drive. I may have a driver’s license, but I shouldn’t.”
Woods and Winters said they were determined to get the full CoMo experience by checking out all of the local haunts.
As the night closed, it was clear that Woods and Winters had provided the MU crowd with some much-needed respite amidst midterm season.
After chatting with several members of the audience, it seemed as though some attendees were avid “Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast” listeners, some had come across ‘Luckily I have purse’ on the internet and some had never heard of “Fibula” in their life.
Regardless of which category the audience members may have fallen into — they all got the treat of attending a hilarious and engaging comedy act right on their own campus.
As Wood and Winters set off to explore Columbia’s local gems, it was clear that their tour was not all about performing but also about embracing the energy of each new place they visit, leaving behind memories and connections along the way.
Edited by Alyssa Royston | aroyston@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Amelia Schaefer and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com