Comedian Lewis Black back in style at Springbrook High

Now in their late 50s, the ‘‘maniacs” and hundreds of Springbrook alumni will be returning to the school Friday to see Black, a stand-up comedian best known for his commentaries on ‘‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” perform a one-night- only show to benefit their alma mater.

For many, including Black, it will be their first time inside the school since they graduated. But the memories remain as fresh as yesterday.

‘‘We had an ideal, boomer high school experience,” said Cliff Figallo, who runs an online community consulting firm and lives north of San Francisco.

Technically, as Figallo noted, the experience began in middle school. Springbrook High School opened in late 1960 with grades 7 through 9, with the ninth-graders becoming the school’s first graduating class in 1964. As a result, the class of 1966 was together for six years in the same building.

‘‘Springbrook seemed very modern, very fresh,” said Stephen Carnahan from his home in Chapel Hill, N.C., where he retired after 30 years as a special education teacher at Oakland Mills High School in Columbia.

Carnahan and others remembered a strong faculty that both nurtured and challenged students. Figallo said teachers introduced him to questioning the Vietnam War.

Just like teachers, world events left an indelible mark on the students. Ray Larson has not been back to Springbrook since he graduated, but can still recall exactly where he was standing outside during a sixth-period gym class when he found out President John F. Kennedy was shot.

The Kennedy assassination was the tumultuous start of events that would help define the classmates’ high school years: the simultaneous crescendos of Vietnam and civil rights; the explosion of rock ’n’ roll; and the beginnings of a counterculture that would bloom fully while they were in college.

Through it all, they vented to each other through their caustic brand of humor while cruising around the neighborhood or hanging out in a basement of one of their homes. Black credits his Springbrook friends and his family for his sense of humor, including his mother, who worked as a substitute teacher at the school while he was there.

‘‘Lewis was one of many who had a wit. He just had his unique way to tap into it,” said Rick Redcay, a percussionist with the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center living in St. Petersburg, Fla., who also created music for Black’s two HBO comedy specials.

Black’s classmates say his intense, frustrated delivery on stage is no act.

‘‘He’s exactly the same as then, except now I have to pay $50 when I got it for free driving around back then,” said a laughing Larson, who has been a high school teacher in Durham, N.C., for 30 years. ‘‘It’s ironic that he hasn’t changed, it’s just that society has caught up with him.”

Black, speaking late last week on his way from Portland, Ore., to a show in Spokane, Wash., fondly recalled his time at Springbrook, where he helped plan his junior prom and graduated as the top male student in his class.

‘‘It certainly helped me prepare for a world I wasn’t prepared for,” he said.

Black sees his show at Springbrook as a chance to return the favor. ‘‘We need to give back to schools,” he said. ‘‘Education is vital, and this opportunity was a good one.”

Springbrook’s 1,100-seat auditorium has been sold out for weeks, and about two-thirds of the audience is expected to be Springbrook alumni, including 150 students from the 1960s, said Claudia Donnelly of the PTA.

Organizers used mailing lists from previous class reunions to get in touch with alumni, and Black was receptive to the idea when approached more than a year ago, Donnelly said.

‘‘He’s been very helpful, very enthusiastic and generous with his time,” she said.

The school’s PTA and Booster Club are sponsoring the $45-per-ticket event and will give Black the choice as to where to direct proceeds. Black said he hopes to distribute them among the school’s clubs and booster organizations, with enough left over to plant some seed money for scholarships.

Black plans to do his regular routine Friday but add a little reminiscing. While he is not worried about performing in front of his classmates, he said it would be strange standing inside Springbrook.

His classmates agreed. Of those interviewed, Carnahan made the most recent return to Springbrook — in the 1970s as a wrestling referee for a match between his alma mater and Northwood High School. Springbrook fans booed him for not calling a pin that would have won the match for the school, he said.

‘‘I got a rather unusual welcome home,” he said with a laugh.

But like Black and others, Carnahan is looking forward to Friday. ‘‘It’s still great after 40 years to touch base with folks you shared those special times with,” he said.