This Wednesday the Student Union Board hosted an evening with Josh Peck in DeBartolo Hall 101.
He is known to most of our generation as half of the titular pair on the Nickelodeon sitcom “Drake & Josh” and to your dad (and pretentious film bros) as the guy who pushes the button in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”
DeBartolo Hall 101 was buzzing with excitement on that Wednesday night. The sight of a packed house, especially at a ticketed event, was a delightful surprise, and it underscored the widespread appeal of Peck. It was a moment of shared anticipation and excitement.
When Peck first came into the auditorium, he tripped on one of the stairs — which I have also done from time to time — and when he got down to the stage, he lightly quipped, “You really need a railing there.”
The interview began, and the moderator (junior Lindsey Lark) gave him a few softball questions about college and whether he wished he had attended. These questions were about his thoughts on the college experience and his personal journey, to which he did have some interesting answers, though he also utilized these early questions to comment on how many toll roads there are between Chicago and South Bend.
The interview then shifted focus to Notre Dame. He spoke a lot about enjoying visiting campus and how much he loves Fr. Pete — though I do have to make fun of him a little bit for misspeaking and calling the “Word of Life” mural “Superbowl Jesus.”
He was a very animated speaker; he spent much of the engagement pacing up and down the stage, often turning to Lark, making her and the audience laugh.
He regaled us with some truly side-splitting stories about his time in sitcoms, doing vlogs with David Dobrik and being a dad. My personal favorite was when he shared how he ended up as the button pusher in “Oppenheimer.” It turns out he wasn’t supposed to do it, but the other guy couldn’t make it that day. His stories were so humorous that they had the entire audience (including me) in fits of laughter.
Peck’s animated and energetic performance was a testament to his skill as a performer. He didn’t just speak, he captivated the audience, making the hour-long talk feel like a brief, engaging conversation.
The other half of the talk was mostly him giving advice, which made him sound like a life coach. He shared advice on learning how to be yourself in your twenties and the importance of self-discovery and self-acceptance, which I found really interesting. I think this definitely resonated with a college-age audience, and even when he talked about his experience being a father, I felt that these stories were told in a way that universal truths could be gleaned from them. However, he had the cadence of a millennial YouTuber. I don’t know if he was speaking like this to try to relate to college students or if he talks like this all the time, but after the first 40 minutes, it started to get a little grating on me.
At the end, he opened the floor up to questions from the audience, which was also interesting, and even after an hour of speaking he was still just as animated.
It was a very engaging event filled with some laugh-out-loud moments, corny advice and great stories. Overall, a pretty good Wednesday evening.
