OUAB brings SNL comedians, offers competition for opener

Emily Hetterscheidt
Thu, 02 Feb 2017 03:23:02 +0000
Campus, buckeye standup comedy club, colin jost, comedy, michael che, new york city, ohio union activities board, OUAB, saturday night live, snl

While most Ohio State students can’t experience Saturday Night Live from the audience in New York City, they can come close to two of the show’s stars with the Ohio Union Activities Board’s upcoming event.

Saturday Night Live writers and co-anchors of Weekend Update, Michael Che and Colin Jost, will be making an appearance at the Ohio Union on Feb. 23 for an event titled Weekday Update, according to UAB’s Snapchat announcement Tuesday. The announcement also revealed that the winner of an upcoming open mic night will have the chance to be the opening act for the performance.

Bringing in anchors of Weekend Update had a large appeal to OUAB because many former anchors are now big names in the comedy world, said Braden Heyd, a fourth-year in film studies and comedy chair of OUAB.

The event will feature 30 minutes of standup from Che and Jost and will end with a 30-minute question-and-answer session with both comedians.

Heyd said the comedians requested local news stories and material from OUAB ahead of the event.

“There’s a good chance that students will see material that’s tailored to the region and campus, not just them doing their own material that they’ve rehearsed,” Heyd said.

Heyd said that it is both good and bad that OUAB brings in so many SNL comedians. He said as a fourth-year he has had the opportunity to see a large portion of recent SNL cast members, including Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Bill Hader and Kenan Thompson, but some students have requested more variety in the comedy acts, he said.

About 1,700 general admission tickets will be available for the event, and group seating will be available for student organizations that want to attend together.

Heyd said the opportunity for a student to open for the SNL comedians has the potential to boost the quality of the recurring open mic night, while providing a meaningful opportunity to an OSU student.

“They’ll be able to meet the talent and kind of take that with them forever, and I can see that being an impactful experience for them,” Heyd said.

Members of Buckeye Standup Comedy Club will be competing at the open mic, said club president Alex Lacey, a third-year in biomedical science.

“I think that’s something that a lot of people will come out for,” Lacey said.

Lacey said that he is excited for the competition aspect of the open mic night, and he hopes that someone from the club will be represented as the opening act.

The open mic night will be on Feb 8 at 7 p.m. at Woody’s Tavern.

The comics will perform in the Archie Griffin Ballroom and tickets will be available Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Ohio Union info desk. Tickets will be one per a BuckID and a BuckID is required for entrance of the event.