Canny and witty comedic entertainer Michael Ian Black performed at CSU East Bay Tuesday night, keeping the crowd laughing relentlessly for an hour-long show and engaging students throughout his enthusiastic performance.

Most commonly known for his dry, sarcastically irreverent commentary on pop culture artifacts on VH1’s “I Love the…” series, his “Stella” comedy troupe, and as an occasional contributor to the online edition of McSweeney’s where he writes a column titled “Michael Ian Black Is a Very Famous Celebrity,” Black’s show, many students expressed, was most definitely worth their while.

Black began the show poking fun at CSUEB, questioning the school’s name and location, sarcastically attributing it as a “first rate institution” and paralleling the school to someone who just longed to be called “pretty.”

Consequently then telling the crowd they are indeed “pretty,” Black’s opening set a precedent for a show filled with eccentric quips and off-the-wall comments which ultimately the audience really didn’t seem to complain about.

With jokes ranging from abhorrent for some, or an essentially modern style of comedy for others, the show in the University Theatre Nov. 15 exhibited great humor and a pleasantly received raunchy style of comedy.

Black’s comedic timing was impressive and astute, charming the crowd and transitioning from scripted material to impetuous and spur-of-the-moment jokes effortlessly.

Black displayed a good use of impersonations, political and historical references, varied use of facial expressions, awkwardly funny body language, and adaptability and judgement, which ultimately provided for a well-rounded show.

Talking about sky-diving experiences, strip club occurrences, traveling and hotels, being Jewish, being an “adult,” marriage and children, among others, Black’s humour, though surprising considering his comments and usage of words to explain events, was fairly relatable to college students.

Attendees reacted very well to his sometimes lewd and generally unrestrained stand-up style, as many students attendees represented a generation where comedy has evolved significantly from previous generations of slapstick and screwball comedy to off-color humor like “toilet or scatological humor,” which Black exhibited at the show.

Black ended his set with reading from his 2005 book “My Custom Van,” which left the crowd laughing incessantly, truly the mark of a successful show.

Black closed the show with a short question and answer session, where the majority of questions asked his opinion on other comedians and shows.

Yet, at the very end, after one student asked the comedian what his advice was for college students pursuing a creative career like comedy, Black’s demeanor turned serious as his response gathered a strong applause from the crowd.

“[My advice]? Just doing it,” said Black. “That’s it, that’s all it is, because in your life you will find innumerable excuses why you can’t do it, all of those excuses are ridiculous, and if you want to do it, you should just do it.”

Black ended his time at CSUEB with great cheer and admiration from the CSUEB community, as his creative set followed by a thorough engagement with the crowd finished his time at “Oakland University” with sound guidance from a veteran in the industry.

“It’s a constant struggle to maintain a career in this industry,” said Black. “I’m sure everyone has heard the cliché that it’s not all that glamorous in this industry, and I would say that is true. It requires a lot of internal fortitude and perseverance. But, for all you guys who are interested, yes, you are going to make it.”