Comedians keep COB Echo laughing

By Staff Sgt. Natalie Hedrick, 3-3 Public AffairsFebruary 23, 2010

Comedians keep COB Echo laughing
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Comedians Chase Durousseau, and Ray Barnett, sit and eat dinner with Sgt. Crystal Thompson, Company F, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, before their show Feb. 13, 2010, at Contingency Operat... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Comedians keep COB Echo laughing
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Comedian Chase Durousseau entertains Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and attached unit Soldiers and civilians during a comedy show Feb. 13, 2010, at Contingency Operating Ba... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Comedians keep COB Echo laughing
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Command Sgt. Maj. Mark Moore, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, gives comedians Chase Durousseau, Ray Barnett, and Donnie Johnson certificates of appreciation and battalion coins after their ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

"Who here has dogs'"

A few Soldiers in the audience raised their hands.

"What kind of dog do you have," comedian Ray Barnett asked a Soldier. "A bullmastiff' Those are the kind of dogs that, if he gets goin' on your leg, you just let him finish."

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and attached Soldiers and civilians, were treated to the comedic relief of Barnett and two colleagues, Chase Durousseau and Donnie Johnson, during a show Feb. 13, 2010 at Contingency Operating Base Echo.

"This is a big show for us," Johnson said. "It's our way of showing our appreciation for what the Soldiers are doing over here."

Each comedian brought his own dash of spice to the show while still remaining true to the military sense of humor.

"Everywhere we go we pick up new material," Barnett explained. "Even here, I fell the other day and came up with 'Fat Hog Down.'"

During the two-and-a-half hour show, the comedians made light some of the everyday annoyances Soldiers at COB Echo might face, such as cheap toilet paper and non-alcoholic beer.

"We get up-close and personal with Soldiers when we're here," Johnson said. "Most people back home only get stories. They don't know what it's really like."

The comedians agree the experience of entertaining Soldiers while overseas is one that cannot be matched.

"To see the different people here, the Iraqis, the Ugandans, the Americans all here together working for one cause is amazing," Barnett said. "This is my way of giving back. This is my way of serving."