Given our current state of divisive affairs - debate about the war, the ever-intensifying drama between presidential candidates, New York versus Boston - it's somewhat nice to know that there's one thing the vast majority of the American people can agree on: we're in The Office withdrawal.

It's unclear at the present how long we will remain unified as one nation missing Michael Scott, given that the Writers Guild of America and the majors are tiptoeing through informal discussions that could eventually (maybe, if we hold our breath and stand on one leg) lead to an end of the ongoing writers' strike. But a crowd packed into Northeastern's Blackman Auditorium was able to sit back on Wednesday evening and get just enough of a fix to tide it over. For a week or two.

B.J. Novak, Newton native and actor/writer/producer on The Office, came back to Boston for a night of stand-up, and he grinned as he strode out onto the stage to a standing ovation from the audience.

"I've been waiting five years to ask this question," the scruffy-faced Novak said as he greeted the crowd. "How are you doing, Boston, Massachusetts?"

Boston was well, as was Novak. While some in the crowd, overheard prior to the performer's appearance on stage, had been asking each other about whether Ryan the Temp had any stand-up skills, Novak quickly demonstrated the savvy wit that earned him buzz early in his comedy career. Diving into his routine, the performer touched upon a Craigslist posting that had been making the rounds on campus for the previous two days.

"Craigslist Boston. Boston/Cambridge/Brookline. Men Seeking Women. 'An Evening with BJ Novak.' And me," Novak said, reading a print-out of a post calling for a date to the show. At the conclusion of his dramatic reading, he scanned the crowd. "And is the couple from the ad here tonight?"

They were. B.J. Novak brings people together. He calls them out on it. And then he shakes their hands.

Read the complete review after the jump! Photo of BJ Novak and a monkey taken from his MySpace page.

The set that followed showcased the strength that have made Novak-written Office episodes critical and audience favorites: equal commitment to smart comedy and the groaners we hate to admit we love.

The Harvard-honed intellect shone through with quick puns and a children's story featuring the sleuth Wikipedia Brown ("We spend hours and hours with him and we always forget what we were investigating in the first place"), But he also comes across as a guy you'd like to laugh with over a couple of beers and a Sox game ("I bet a crackhouse starts as a really great party.")

Novak busted out a stack of quick-quip jokes to test on the local crowd - 22 were keepers, 7 were tossed into the trash, a solitary joke kept to himself. We think it should have ended at 20-9-1, but who are we to quibble when they guy managed to mention Carmen Sandiego, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and You Can't Do That On Television?

Opener Dan Mintz took awkward charm to a new level with his brief set, proving that a person can say just about anything, no matter how cringe-worthy, and get away with it if he himself squirms enough. A candidate for a new generation's Jack Handy, Mintz's deep thoughts touched upon childhood, aliens and 9/11, and the performer only broke from his contemplative performance style on a few occasions to chuckle at particularly warm response.