‘Daily Show’ correspondents will headline $108,000 semester lineup
Carolina Productions is bringing in the year with a lineup of programming that’s a little funnier than semesters past.
Not counting the movies in Russell House Theater and campus open mics, almost half of CP’s planned events are stand-up or other comedy acts. The Daily Show’s Indecision Tour 2012 with Al Madrigal, Adam Lowitt and John Hodgman headlines the lineup, which also includes “one-man circus” Michael Dubois; OXYGYN’s Jen Kober; another Comedy Central event featuring T.J. Miller, Chelsea Peretti and Matt Braunger; and duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, formerly of MADTV.
And for good reason: CP president Kallie Linsberg said comedy has always been popular with the USC student body.
“From Ralphie May to Rob Riggle and David Koechner, we’ve always been able to fill seats,” she wrote in an email response from London, where she interned at the Olympics this summer. “It seemed like the right move to plan toward that interest.”
Comedy also tends to reach the most diverse crowds, according to Brandon White, CP’s vice president of internal affairs. He said CP crunches attendance numbers and breaks down the audiences by demographic after each event, which the organization is able to do since students scan their CarolinaCards at the door.
“[Comedy shows] are our most consistent and reliable events,” White said.
CP’s comedic coordinator, Andy Farag, who books and schedules those acts, said it makes sense that the comedians draw the biggest crowds.
“A majority of people want a good laugh,” Farag said. “Nobody’s like, ‘Nah, I don’t want to laugh right now.’”
The cost of the fall lineup, however, is no laughing matter — all told, it totaled more than $108,000. The most expensive shows were the Indecision Tour (a $21,500 event for which CP paid only $11,500 by partnering with Carolina After Dark), the Comedy Central event ($20,000), Max Brooks, author of “The Zombie Survival Guide” ($15,000), and Twitter co-founder Dom Sagolla ($15,100).
A major music concert, which hasn’t yet been announced due to a pending contract, is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 4. Past concerts have included The Wailers, Girl Talk, We the Kings, Young the Giant and Josh Turner.
White said one of the analyses CP conducts is a “bang for your buck” rundown comparing how many people show up for performances and how much they cost. In many cases, he said, while show costs may seem astronomical, when they’re divided down, students have paid less to see the event at USC than they would have at another venue.
Eric Bouchard, program coordinator for CP and Carolina After Dark, called the lineup “well-rounded,” even if it’s a little heavy on the comedy. He added that, especially by halving the cost of the Indecision Tour by partnering with the Carolina After Dark, CP has managed to put together a solid semester while keeping its spring budget intact. Those type of co-sponsorships allow CP to bring bigger acts, but Bouchard said the partnerships are difficult to solicit, and they often fall into place by pure luck.
“It’s not something we can really pursue, but as far as co-sponsorship on campus, I’d love to see more of it in the future,” he said.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated the cost of The Daily Show: Indecision Tour. Carolina Productions will pay $11,500 of the show's total cost — $21,500. The Daily Gamecock regrets the error.