Jim Gaffigan is currently on his Mr. Universe tour and on Thursday night, he will be the star of the show as he entertains about 5,000 people.
Gaffigan, along with comedians Kenan Thompson and Whitney Cummings, will perform at Convo Comedy Night to a crowd that is expected to sell out — 4,677 were sold as of Tuesday night, with a ceiling of 5,000 tickets that can be sold.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show will start at 7:30 p.m.
Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center, expects there will still be a few hundred tickets for sale at the door. Tickets are $5 for students and $20 for non-students.
Holzaepfel said about 80 percent of the tickets sold so far have been to students.
“It was the goal of Zach George and Senate to have a night of comedy that was for the students,” Holzaepfel said. “That was our number one priority — to serve them. So having 80 percent of the audience being students, I would imagine that is where senate would want it to be.”
The lineup will begin with Cummings, followed by Thompson and Gaffigan. Holzaepfel expects Cummings and Thompson’s sets to last around 30 to 45 minutes while Gaffigan’s should be about an hour.
Gaffigan will receive $65,000 for his performance. Cummings is guaranteed $42,000, and Thompson’s pay totals $35,000, according to a previous Post article.
The $150,000 set aside to fund the show comes from the $800,000 in General Fee dollars formerly allocated to the multipurpose center.
The stage will have two large screens showing the comedians broadcasting the comedians’ personas to those sitting in the highest seats in the Convo, Holzaepfel said.
“You have three top notch performers coming to the convo tomorrow at a relatively inexpensive price for students,” said Zach George, president of Student Senate. “Obviously there’s some buzz around it. It’s going to be a good way to round off the year for senate and the university community.”
Tony Keffer, a sophomore studying pre-sports management who purchased his ticket for the comedy night a month ago, said the show is exciting because it’s different than the typical performances OU puts on.
“I’m excited because it’s something different. Ohio hasn’t put on a big comedy show before,” Keffer said. “It’s a chance to go out, have a good time and a laugh a little bit with some friends.”
If You Go
What: Convo Comedy Night
Where: The Convo
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Admission: $5 with OU student ID, $20
dd195710@ohiou.edu
