On Nov. 30, deaf comedian CJ Jones came to Oswego State to spread his infectious humor to students.

Jones’ personality and sense of humor filled the room with laughter. He got the crowd involved and had most of the audience laughing by the end.

“He did an awesome job by walking around using a combination of both sign and speaking,” Oswego State student Kim Corrie said. “He brought people on stage which was really nice. I loved how he got everyone involved.”

During his performance, Jones brought five American Sign Language (ASL) 101 students to the stage and had them do some sign language.

After this, he created a game of telephone using sign language instead of verbal communication. This showed that ASL is another language and it gets confused during a game of telephone the same way other languages do.

During his comedy act, Jones told the audience that being deaf or mute is not bad because one can learn sign language like any other language. He made a lot of jokes about when he was younger and people tried to hold him back, saying he could not do things because of his disability. Jones demonstrated that no matter what disadvantages a person has, they can accomplish anything they want.

“When he was telling us about growing up and his story and how he has overcome everything, it was really inspiring to other people,” Oswego State student Kelly Caldwell said.

Caldwell said she enjoyed the performance because Jones did not just teach about the language, he also taught about the culture. As a student who studied sign language, Caldwell said it was nice to learn about the lives of those with hearing loss.

Jones discussed the problems he has had getting a job because people thought he could not do certain things.

“Anything you really want, just go for it because if you care enough you can make it happen,” Jones said. “Anything is possible and you should never doubt yourself because people say you can’t do something, because they’re wrong. You can do whatever you set your mind to.”