CHICAGO _ The weekend was not entirely sweet at the Gentile Arena for Loyola University Chicago students. Hannibal Buress' Saturday night show at Loyola, a Jesuit Catholic university, was almost cut short after the 35-year-old Chicago comedian made a joke referencing sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church, attendees confirmed to the Tribune.
Buress was to perform a stand-up set as part of Loyola's annual Colossus show, put on by Loyola's student-run Department of Programming in the Gentile Arena, home of the school's basketball teams. He made it a few minutes before his microphone shut off.
Buress opened the set by projecting an email from Loyola about guidelines for the performance, including content restrictions regarding rape, sexual assault, race, sexual orientation/gender and illegal drugs. He then made a joke connecting the rules to the Catholic Church's history of child abuse. And the mic went out.
"We didn't even realize that that happened for a few seconds because everybody was still laughing about the joke," said Samantha Nieto, a Loyola graduate student in attendance.
According to attendees, Buress tried to then perform without a mic, but background music in the arena was turned up and the lights went on. He eventually left the stage. Boos and calls for refunds from the audience followed. Campus safety officers took up places throughout the arena.
"They pretty much shut it down," said William Hansberry, a Loyola freshman.
Buress returned after a break to finish his set, continuing to joke about the content restrictions. According to attendees, he also made a joke about his paycheck for the performance already clearing.
"I just thought it was kind of ridiculous how Loyola encourages us to think in a critical manner, that critiques institutions, and then they're an institution that can't handle the critique," said Hansberry. "The comedian before Hannibal was swearing just as much and had no problem."
Calvin Evans, a Chicago comedian, warmed up the crowd before Buress took the stage.
As reported by the Loyola Phoenix, Student Development administrators made the decisions during the show. Loyola did not return calls seeking comment.
Before Buress' set, DJ Tony Trimm also had his sound shut off. Attendees told the Tribune he was playing rap music _ songs from Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar.
"I got about 15 minutes in my set before they cut me," said Trimm on Twitter. "Thanks Loyola. Saving the world one cuss at a time."
Some students said they were confused about the restrictions put on this year's performance.
"Knowing who Hannibal is as a comedian, you should expect those kind of things from him," said Erika Eringis, a Loyola junior who attended the performance. "So I don't know why they booked him when he's a comedian who jokes about those subjects."
In a since-deleted tweet, sent Saturday night, Buress said, "Weird way to celebrate sweet 16." He responded to Tribune questions with an email with just an expressionless emoji.
