The Playground is a venue I co-founded my senior your of college. A kid named James in my comedy writing class called me over Christmas break. He asked if I wanted to help start a stand up venue at Syracuse. I said, "How about we use my basement?" At which point, we had to convince my 7 roommates to get on board with this. Everyone was game, and we got to work. We set up everyone with formal roles and hired a few extra hands. We had security, a bartender, a merch stand, a resident DJ, a photographer, a videographer, and even a green room where our laundry machines were. We went to the thrift shop and decorated the space with tons of chairs and decor. We invested in a sound system and lights. And we built a stage. The club quickly grew quite a following. Everyone would line up outside our house on Wednesday, making a line around the block. This space brought together people from all corners of campus, to feel comfortable and laugh. This experience grew into so much more then I could have imagined. I am so proud of what I helped create. The Playground is still going strong today.