CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – “Any married guys here tonight?” asked the comedian on stage. The audience responded with unenthusiastic groans. “Yup, that’s the sound of married guys.”
That was one of the many hysterical bits from comedian Shawn Halpin’s performance at the zone one Morale, Welfare and Recreation theater here, Aug. 20. He, along with fellow comedians Jen Murphy and Justin Berkman, are part of the "Comics at Ease" comedy tour, courtesy of Armed Forces Entertainment.
“We’re here to spread a little laughter and break up the monotony of service members on deployment,” Berkman said. “So far, we’ve done shows in Afghanistan, here, and we will be going to a few other countries as well.”
Murphy notes that out of the trio, she’s the only one who has never done this tour before.
“It’s my first time, and it’s much more than I expected. I thought that we would just come over and basically only do shows for the troops, I didn’t realize how much we’d travel and how interactive it would be.”
Service members had the opportunity to relax, unwind, and laugh for a couple hours as the comedians discussed their relationships, bad decisions, getting older, and walking down the aisle to a "Star Wars" theme song.
“I think it’s a good way of bringing a little bit of home to the troops and helping them get out of their daily routine, and instead listen to our problems and laugh,” Halpin said.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Greg Scher, a Soldier from the 72nd Medical Detachment in Bagram, Afghanistan, missed the show when they performed there, but he was able to catch it while in Kuwait.
“We weren’t able to make it to the show in Afghanistan, because the theater was just too packed,” Scher said. “So I am glad we were able to make it this time, they were really funny.”
Deployed service members, normally, experience high stress levels during the time they are far away from home. Events like these give service members the chance to relax, decompress, and build resiliency in order to maintain a high level of mission readiness.
Scher says that these types of events are great for morale, and that the last time he was here in 2008 – 2009, he got to see Scott Stapp and Five Finger Death Punch perform, which helped him stay ready and resilient during deployment.
Armed Forces Entertainment lists their upcoming events on their website, www.armedforcesentertainment.com. Service members can also visit their local MWR facility, or call the MWR Events center at (318) 430-2481 for more information.