Anyone who saw the Mr. Hawthorne contest would be surprised to learn that Dustin Scully had never done stand-up comedy before that night. Scully performed acts that had the crowd laughing hysterically. Even before his first successful act, Hawthorne’s Mr. Congeniality found that he had a passion for stand-up comedy.

Scully will continue to pursue his passion for comedy because he loves making people laugh. “I like the feeling I get when I do it. It’s like a concert… but I don’t have to sing! It’s perfect!” However, stand-up is a hard gig. Planning is a whole day process. Scully first thinks of a story that he’s told or something that he has said that made several people laugh. He then comes up with jokes to put in between parts of the story. Along with doing this, he watches stand-up for hours to learn new skills and fuel his creativity. He sometimes takes a topic the comedians have used and turns it into his own.

Scully has had a plethora of inspirations that helped spark and fuel his love for stand-up. His father is the biggest. Being a funny man himself, Scully feared he would not be as funny as his father, because, according to Scully, “Funny people don’t find other funny people funny.” However, he finds confidence in the fact that if he has any questions, he can always ask his father for advice.

Dustin also gets his inspiration from the stars. A lot of his favorite actors started out as comedians, which gave him the idea to do stand-up. He enjoys those who he refers to as classic comedians such as George Carlin, Robin Williams, and Eddie Murphy. He also looks to modern stand-up acts including Louis C.K. and Dane Cook’s earlier sets.

Scully performed again at the junior class Spring Fling event on May 17. Unlike the Mr. Hawthorne performance, Scully’s routine was focused less on the school and more on the general observations he’s made.

Over all, Scully definitely plans on pursuing stand-up. Scully knows he has a special gift as he believes that people can’t “be funny…people are born funny.”