Last Wednesday, Oct. 12, former America’s Got Talent contestants Adam Grabowski and Eric Dittelman drew a crowd of over 450 students to The University of Akron’s Student Union. The event was organized by the Residence Hall Programming Board (RHPB).

The 9:09 p.m. show started with Grabowski’s standup comedy act. After Grabowski was Dittelman, whose act was mind reading. His performance consisted of props which included a marker and sheets of paper. He kept the audience surprised throughout the performance with his mind reading.

Grabowski auditioned for America’s Got Talent, a popular reality talent show, this year. He got through the audition process but was eliminated during the judges’ cut.

Although not being able to go further in the competition, Grabowski has had a successful career in comedy. He has performed at over 500 colleges across 45 states. An 11-time National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) showcasing artist, he has been voted the nation’s top college touring comedian, and this was his fifth time being at Akron.

Dittelman was on America’s Got Talent in 2012, where he made it to the semi-finals of the show. He was also on the Ellen Degeneres show in which he surprised the talk show host with his mind reading.

Grabowski started the Oct. 12 show by joking with emerging leaders, the UA freshmen who are a part of the first-year leadership development program. He went on to joke about Disney movies and characters.

Later in his act, he paused to talk about about depression and anxiety as part of his “Say It Anyway” campaign.  

“On social media, I read about a girl talking about committing suicide because she got raped, but she was not afraid, she told the cops and with that her story spread out and inspired many people who went through this abuse,” Grabowski said. “The purpose of this campaign is to promote voice and be honest with one another.”

He passed out wristbands at the end of the show.

Grabowski introduced Dittelman for the next part of the show.

This was Dittelman’s first time performing at UA.

“This was a wonderful experience; the crowd was enthusiastic and pumped up,” said Dittelman.

He began by talking about his experience on America’s Got Talent. Then he began his routine. Dittelman told audience members to think of something, and he would guess what they were thinking. Each of his answers was correct.

This event was the last RHPB 9:09 p.m. show for the fall semester, but there will be more coming up in spring. Information can be found on OrgSync.