There is always that one laugh that stands out from the crowd. On the night of April 18th, that laughed belonged to sophomore Candice Reeder.

“Dillon was hilarious, his topics were great for a college crowd, and bottom line, he killed it,” Reeder said.

Reeder was referring to a program put on by UNC Wilmington’s Association for Campus Entertainment (ACE). That night, the Burney Center welcomed the youngest comedian to ever perform on Comedy Central, Dillon Garcia.

ACE discovered the talented comedian when a group of members attended a showcase put on by the National Association for Campus Activities last semester. At the event, musicians and comedians come to showcase their talents in front of those who are involved with campus entertainment. ACE’s Comedy Chair, Staci Alden, took a special interest in Dillon Garcia after his performance.

“We saw him perform at the NACA showcase and kept his name in the back of our minds. We all love Gabriel Iglesias, and since he is Dillon’s mentor, we took interest in Dillon,” Alden said. “We brought Dillon’s name up at the first meeting when we got back and showed videos of his stand up to everyone. After they all saw some of his videos we all decided we needed to have him perform at UNCW.”

Garcia was only 16 when he began his professional career as a comedian, and he has not looked back since. He has opened for “big name” comedians like Dave Chappelle, Nick Swardson, and his idol, Gabriel Iglesias.

Garcia was more than comfortable when it came to his performance at the Burney Center.

“I love performing at colleges, these are my people,” he said. “We’re the same age, they are easy to relate to, so coming up with material is easy which makes my job even more fun.”

Most of Garcia’s material is based on throwing himself into the spotlight and poking fun at himself. And he sure didn’t disappoint. He shared his thoughts on the Twilight saga, told stories of his baseball career during his younger years, gave his two-cents on relationships and defended our generation.

“I don’t get why our parents’ generation hates on ours, after all, they are the people who raised us,” Garcia said.

Garcia also comes from a diverse family, and doesn’t shy away from it.

“I lived with my mom who is half white and half black for the first eight years of my life. Then I lived with my father who is Mexican for eight years. Then from age sixteen to eighteen I lived with my black grandfather. At the age of eighteen I was so confused that I was wearing soccer cleats, baggy basketball shorts and a polo shirt,” Garcia said.

UNCW is one of 38 schools that Garcia has visited on his Dills Chills tour.  He is also a part of the Latin Comedy Tour and Gabriel Iglesias’ tour.

“I have been busy, but I love what I do and I enjoy working with the people I work with,” Garcia said.

As Garcia ended the night, he introduced new material to the UNCW audience. He said he is trying to bring his comedy to another level-a deeper, more intimate level, with more material that involves his family and past.

Dillon Garcia brought much-needed laughs to UNCW students who are entering the final stretch of the semester. However, as of next year, ACE will be combining the music and comedy committees to form the new Special Events committee. Unfortunately, this means there may be fewer chances to see comedians like Garcia at UNCW in the years to come. If Garcia’s show was any indication, UNCW students are going to miss the events put on by the committee.