The Onion, Michael Ian Black, Kevin Lyman scheduled for Fall 2011
Big names in comedy headline the Carolina Productions fall schedule, and student talent will be on showcase throughout the semester.
The student-run events and entertainment organization has booked comedians Maz Jobrani, Michael Ian Black and Doug Benson for the upcoming semester. Other notable acts on the CP calendar include appearances by The Onion staff, Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, “The Naked Roommate” author Harlan Cohen and dance groups 61Syx and Step Afrika, as well as a “Heads vs. Feds” debate over the legalization of marijuana.
All CP events are free to students with their CarolinaCard and are funded by students’ activity fees.
Kallie Linsberg, head of CP’s Special Programs committee, said this fall’s events were planned out a semester in advance. She said CP’s six committees have tried to spread out their budgets to allow for more acts that offer students a greater variety of entertainment rather than just a few expensive performances.
“We still have the same amount of money to spend, but we’re trying to be more conscious of how we spend it — not that we were unconscious before — but we’re trying to have more of a variety of acts,” said Linsberg, a second-year sports and entertainment management student.
According to CP President Lee McKagen, the organization’s overall programming and operating budget of $511,730 for the year is exactly the same as last year’s. Comedians Jobrani and Black come at price tags of $14,000 and $15,000, respectively, while the “Heads vs. Feds” debate is costing the university $9,000.
“This is more of a student-showcase semester,” Linsberg said.
Hosting more student acts means CP will shell out less money on professional performers. Linsberg estimates her committee will spend less than half of its allotted budget this semester.
CP will present its annual USC’s Got Talent on Nov. 1 and Battle of the Bands on Nov. 2, in addition to regular student-showcase events such as Acoustic Café and Spoken Word Wednesdays.
Details about CP’s annual fall concert, scheduled for Sept. 29, have not yet been announced due to contract negotiations. But organizers expect the event to once again be its biggest student draw of the semester, not to mention the most expensive. While the organization cannot yet announce the performer, McKagen said CP is looking at a “genre we haven’t tapped into recently” that comes “highly suggested by student surveys.”
“We try to go with what’s hot right now,” said McKagen, a fourth-year hospitality management student.
The Russell House Theater hosts CP’s weekly lineup of new movie showings. The fall movie schedule leads off with showings of “Rango” at 6 p.m. and “Scream 4” at 9 p.m. this Thursday through Sunday. Summer blockbusters “Water for Elephants,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” “Bridesmaids” and “The Hangover Part II” are a few of the highlights among nearly 30 yet-to-be-released titles coming to USC this semester.
A full schedule of upcoming events can be found in the CP calendar, available at the CP office in the Campus Life Center, located on the second floor of Russell House.
CP will hold open forums for student input Sept. 20 and Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. in Russell House room 315. All students are also invited to join one or more of CP’s six committees as a general or VIP member.
“If you just show up at our committee meetings, you will have a say in who gets to come [to campus],” Linsberg said.
CP will hold interest meetings in the Russell House Ballroom Sept. 7 and 8 at 6 p.m. For more information on CP events or how to join the organization, visit cp.sc.edu or contact McKagen at sacppres@mailbox.sc.edu.