Comedians with ties to U of M Crookston perform for students and the community

My dad was the artist behind the flower beds, and I think the coolest thing ever is the fact that in the 40+ years he designed the big UMC flower bed at the front, it was never the same as before.

Ali (Rude) Hormann

Comedians with ties to the University of Minnesota Crookston graced the stage at Evergreen Grill for a private show for students on October 25, 2024. Headliner Ali (Rude) Hormann and feature act Steve Windels, both Crookston High School alumni, were joined by special guest Bo Brorby, who runs the historic Grand Theatre in Crookston and serves as a Golden Eagle hockey videographer, and host Justin 'Funny Juddy' Neal. A public comedy show for the community was also held the next night at the Grand.

Ali (Rude) Hormann

Hormann grew up in Crookston and stayed until going off to college across the river. She worked for the Grand Forks Herald then moved on to Chicago and Seattle before coming back to St. Paul, Minn., where she and her husband live with their three sons. In 2019, Hormann was looking to try something new and having always loved the stage got into comedy.

"The first year was daunting and fun, and I made a lot of great friends," she shared. "Then COVID hit and made comedy a whole new challenge."

"In early 2022, I became the booker, host, and eventual co-producer of Don't Tell Comedy here in the Twin Cities," Hormann added. "It's been an incredible way to meet comedians from all over the world."

You can find Hormann as a regular at Acme Comedy Company, The Comedy Room at Sisyphus, and Camp Bar in the Twin Cities. She's also the co-producer for Don't Tell Comedy and was the first runner up at the House of Comedy in 2021.

Her dad, Jerry Rude, a longtime U of M Crookston employee and alum of 1983 and 1996, worked for the facilities department first as a gardener and retired as the landscape maintenance supervisor.

"He managed the greenhouses, gardens, and grounds, as well as so many more things than I can even remember," Hormann explained. "His dad, Curtiss Rude, had the job before him and that is why the entrance grounds to UMC are called (the) Rude Memorial Gardens."

"I remember the day they were dedicated, I was probably five years old and I just remember it being so windy that I couldn't hear what the Chancellor was saying," she continued. "My dad was the artist behind the flower beds and I think the coolest thing ever is the fact that in the 40+ years he designed the big UMC flower bed at the front, it was never the same as before."

Jerry and his team earned the Crookston Area Chamber of Commerce's Lifetime Achievement Award for Beautification in 2010, plus Rude was a recipient of the University of Minnesota Crookston Torch & Shield Award in 2003.

Steve Windels

Windels, aka "The Beaver Doctor", is a professional wildlife biologist by day and stand-up comedian by night. He grew up in Crookston, on Golf Terrace Drive to be exact, and his parents are Jeannine Windels and the late Harvey Windels. Steve graduated high school and went on to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities for his undergraduate, and then to Texas and Michigan for graduate school. He came back to Minnesota in 2003 to work for the National Park Service.

Steve has always been interested in stand-up comedy and has five older brothers that were all "comedy nerds." He tried stand-up once when he was 19 years old and didn't do it again until he turned 50.

"Some people buy sports cars when they have a midlife crisis; I decided to perform comedy for free in empty basement bar rooms," Windels shared. "I had booked a few comedy shows early in 2024, and, after meeting Ali Hormann at a comedy show, we decided it would be fun to book something in our hometown. And here we are!"

Windels' father, Harvey, a U of M Twin Cities alum of 1955, was an associate professor and animal scientist from 1964 to 1995 for U of M Crookston and the Northwest Research and Outreach Center specializing in sheep and beef production.

"One of my first memories was playing in his office before he would take me to preschool, which I think was in Kiehle Hall," Steve recalled. "My older brothers all had to help with sheep shearing and lambing, but by the time I came around he wasn't doing that kind of work anymore."

"I remember my parents taking me to shows in the theatre or gymnasium, including seeing the cultural phenomenon Up With People in the early 1980s," he added. "I played basketball in high school, and the campus was only a mile from my house so I spent hundreds of hours shooting baskets, running stairs, lifting weights, and playing pickup or league basketball there."

Windels also remembers sectional and regional basketball playoffs held in Lysaker Gymnasium, and having some "pretty incredible memories" playing there as well.

"I am so excited to be performing in my hometown, both on campus and the Grand Theatre, where I have so many formative memories," he exclaimed. "I'm also excited that so many old friends from high school are coming to the show! It's gonna be a mini-reunion!"

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