Stand-up comedy is probably the last career you would expect a Wharton student to choose.
Yet 2001 graduate Aaron Karo decided to give up the well-paid, mundane Wall Street job to do just that.
And last night at a Steinhardt Hall event, he had around 350 people in hysterics.
After tiring of his life as an investment banker, Karo decided to pursue a career in entertainment, starting with his book, Ruminations on College Life.
Ruminations started as an attempt at curing then-freshman Karo's insomnia, as he sent e-mails of amusing anecdotes of Penn life to his high school friends. They forwarded them on to others, and by the time Karo was a senior, 11,000 people had subscribed to the mailing list. The national popularity of his e-mails landed him a book deal.
Going into stand-up comedy, however, was a bold step for Karo.
"I never even thought of it," he said. "I was the class clown... I'd been doing stand-up all my life, but never on stage."
Judging by the reaction of his audience, Karo made a wise decision.
"I thought he was hilarious," Nursing and Wharton sophomore Gretchen Berlin said. "I liked it when he talked about Penn," she added, saying she could relate to Karo's experiences.
After his act, Karo talked about the origins of Ruminations and his feelings about Penn.
"Penn has been completely supportive of me after graduation," he said. "I honestly think Penn is the greatest school in the world."
Karo also takes credit for an infamous Penn tradition.
"April 28, Hey Day, I must have yelled 'show me your tits' 750 times," he said, adding that in his day, no one cared.
Karo in no way regrets quitting his secure job for a more difficult path.
"To all of you who already have big jobs in investment banks lined up.... Why are you doing this? It's so bad."
That statement struck students as both surprising and inspirational.
"I thought that was really risky," Wharton freshman Brian Geiger said. "I can't believe he did that, it's almost like wasting your Wharton education."
While most students found Karo funny, some were worried his profanity and sex jokes might have been a bit strong for a Hillel event.
"Half of the time I was cringing," College senior and event co-organizer Angelika Zilberman said. "The jokes were really, really forward."
Attracting more students into Steinhardt Hall was one of the primary goals of the event for the Hillel organizers.
"We're trying to bring in Penn students to become acquainted with the building," Hillel programming chair Lauren Ordene said. "We're very happy so many people came."
"Hillel's a building for everyone, not only Jews," co-organizer Jennifer Kessler, a College sophomore, said. "It was great that people from [diverse backgrounds] came to this event."
Organizers were particularly delighted with the high turnout, as ticket sales before last night had been slow.
"It went very well," co-organizer, Engineering senior and President of Simply Chaos Avi Gilbert said. "The fact that we could pack a place on a Wednesday night, when people have midterms, is great."
