Joaquin Cruz
Comedian Morgan Jay sings to hundreds of students in an exclusive performance at San José State University’s Student Union Ballroom on Monday evening.
On Monday afternoon, San José State students waited in line up to four hours to watch comedian and musician Morgan Jay perform a free and exclusive show filled with comedic crowd interactions and original songs at the Student Union.
Organized by the Student Union Inc., Jay performed in the Student Union Ballroom following an Aug. 25 Instagram post announcing the performance.
“One of my best friends was raised here, so I actually come here quite a bit. I’ve performed at the San José Improv many times, San José is a kooky city,” Jay said.
Jay said this was his first time performing at SJSU and is the only university he has currently planned to perform at this year.
Jay has amassed over 5 million followers on Instagram and 7.7 million followers on TikTok, according to his social media accounts.
He’s widely known for incorporating crowd work and music in his show while utilizing autotune in a majority of his bits.
“I just wanted to make a show that I would wanna see and it just kind of evolved that way,” Jay said.
Jay said he began doing stand-up, then music and eventually he began to be more interactive with his crowds as he noticed young audiences needed comedy like that.
Alexandra Alvarez, a third-year justice studies student, was the first person in line to see the comedian.
“I was so excited, I went to my roommate and I was like, ‘we have to go see him,’ ” Alvarez said.
Alexis Graesser, the manager of programs and events for Student Union Inc., said the performance venue fit over 600 students.
A line of hundreds of students wrapped around the Student Union, all the way to the side entrance of the Industrial Studies Department building.
“I got offered a (university) show in Florida in front of like 4,000 people,” Jay said. “But the schedule didn’t work out and then also 4,000 people at a university is kind of gonna be a nightmare.”
Jay said he has had experiences with hecklers in younger crowds, and growing up as a class clown he understands their desire for attention but isn’t afraid to call them out.
Gabriel Eblacas, a first-year mechanical engineering student, got in line around 3:30 p.m., 30 minutes after students were able to line up outside the venue.
“I’ll wait in line for hours for Morgan Jay,” Eblacas said. “His shows are usually in really big cities, and then I was like, oh, he’s coming to SJ (San José)? Sign me up.”
Jay’s last performance in San José was in December 2024 at San José Improv, according to the tour dates story archive on his Instagram.
Among classic bits like the performance of his songs and bits like “Lol Haha Lmfao Jaja,” “friend zone,” and “Would You Be My Dad?”
“There are going to be some new bits I do tonight, because I am going to be doing one of my biggest shows in the US in a couple of weeks,” Jay said. “So doing it at a university first is actually a great place to do it.”
His new bit was a poem he wrote which at one point he had to stop in the middle to laugh and said, “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”
Though some students were able to attend, hundreds did not make it into the ballroom.
An overflow room was set up for those who did not make it in to watch Jays show stream live on screens they set up.
Graesser said the overflow room fits a maximum capacity of around 160 people.
Katelyn Rivas, a fourth-year business administration student, waited in line from 4:45 p.m but had to watch from the overflow room.
“Even being in the overflow room was worth it because I was with all my friends,” Rivas said.
Announced in the overflow room at the end was a raffle for one person to meet Jay and another to get his autograph. Rivas won the meet up.
“Meeting him was so surreal because I watch him on TikTok so often I was like what are the chances that I’m meeting someone famous right now?” Rivas said. “I have been bragging to everyone about this experience and will continue to do so.”
Jay’s next performance is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Oct. 6., according to his website.
“San José is like, freak in the sheets and business in the streets, you know what I’m saying?” Jay said. “This place is bizarre, but it’s fun, so it’s cool to be here and I was like, all right, I’ll go to San José.”