The Lincoln Theatre presented “Tinder Live! With Lane Moore – Real Life. Plus Comedians” on Valentine’s Day. As Lane Moore, the host of the show, took the stage, she said it was her first show in D.C. To kick off the show, she tossed cards into the audience featuring obscene Tinder pickup lines.

“I’m single, and that’s how I know it works,” Lane said, referencing the dating app and eliciting laughs from the audience. The entire 90 minutes of the comedy show consisted of swiping through Lane’s Tinder matches live, just like the show’s title promised.

She stated beforehand she would be swiping through guys’ profiles solely because she never personally encountered a problem with girls’ profiles and wanted to make a show-worthy performance with those that she knew she would find memorable in a comedic way.

Before swiping live on the projector, she presented a game called “Which one is it?!” with a Lisa Frank cat as the backdrop underneath the game title’s bolded letters.

Then she showed several screenshots of prior matches and conversations that were noteworthy to share with an audience. Some contained hilarious close-ups of people’s faces, others interestingly worded biographies. At one point, Moore showed a guy named Pablo who she said looked like he was “wearing a really high-end yahoo suit in a really high-end prison” due to the lettered outfit and background for his picture.  

After the Tinder shout outs, she brought out panel guests Alexandra Petri from The Washington Post and actress Heather Matarazzo. The panelists sat alongside Moore to help determine who she should swipe for.

As Tinder Live commenced, her very first match ended up guessing they were on the show, which isn’t something that regularly happens. Moore swiped for individuals who had strange bios and didn’t look like general “nice guys,” who she also referred to as the “angels” of the evening.

Moore matched with several profiles, including a pro-wrestler whose stage name is “The Big Bad Wolf” and another profile with a biography that read “Outstanding gentleman! – The Washington Post.” The Post panelist member immediately shouted out, “Fake news!”

Elyse Krachman, 26, attended the show because she said she feels “defiant toward a manufactured corporate holiday,” despite being a romantic.

“I thought the show was hysterical. It’s been a tough year in Washington due to the political climate and it was so refreshing to just have a night focused on goofing off and laughing,” said Krachman, who lives in Arlington, Virginia.

“I think it’s a great way to show the frustration behind online dating. I came out to watch it because my roommate told me about it.” said Wendy Ho, 26, of Arlington, Virginia.

Ho said she heard about the show from her roommate. She thought the performance would highlight the frustrations behind online dating.

“[Tinder] is relatable in the sense that you really have to find the needle in the haystack,” said Ho. “There is also sometimes a trend of the type of men you’ll see on tinder. I think it’s a way, not necessarily good or bad. It’s just another way. You just have to be somewhat thick skinned and accept that just because you connect with someone it could be a dispensable connection to the other person.”

Laura Kendrick, 34, has never used Tinder, but wanted to understand the entertainment value of the app.

“Tinder is more of a spectacle for me and is a reason I came out to see the show,” the D.C. resident said. “I’ve seen a co-worker use Tinder, but I haven’t myself.”

For Moore, the draw of Tinder was the immediacy in finding a person. 

“I have nothing to lose,” Moore said. “Tinder is frustrating, but I wanted people to feel more connected and less alone.”

The goal of injecting comedy through a dating app like Tinder was to create a more light-hearted appeal in the ways we search for love.

“[By doing] this in a group of people, [I thought] it would take the sting out and make people feel lighter,” she said. “And of course I wanted the coolest comedy show in the world!”

Featured Photo Credit: Courtesy of Mr.TinDC’s Flickr account.

Teresa Johnson is a junior journalism major and can be reached at teresajohnson575@gmail.com.