By Jenna Duncan and Rob Tokanel, News Staff
Live from Northeastern, it’s Jimmy Fallon’- or it will be.
The former Saturday Night Live star and current host of NBC’s ‘Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’ will perform his standup routine at Matthews Arena Oct. 24 following opener Wayne Federman, the head monologue writer for Fallon’s show.
The event, called ‘An Evening with Jimmy Fallon,’ is sponsored by the Council for University Programming (CUP) the Student Government Association (SGA), the Office of Student Affairs and the Parents and Parents Programs, and coincides with Parents Weekend, which runs from Oct. 23 to 25.
Parents will be allowed to purchase tickets through the myNEU Parent Portal, but otherwise the event will be for Northeastern students only, unlike the usual NU+1 system for large performances.
Tickets will be sold on a three-tiered pricing system, said CUP President Kat Sprague. Balcony tickets will cost $10; lower level seats, $15; and floor seats, $20, she said. Tickets will be available exclusively through the myNEU Portal starting Oct. 1 at 6 p.m.
Seating will be general admission by section and students will have to pick up their tickets the Friday before the show because the Northeastern box office is closed on Saturdays, she said.
CUP had planned to announce the event on Wednesday night, but the news was broken on Resident Student Association (RSA) Vice President for Housing Services Matt Soleyn’s Twitter account. According to SGA President Ryan Fox, the information was put online briefly to view the layout, though it was not directly available through the SGA website, sga.neu.edu, leading Fox and others to believe Soleyn somehow obtained a list of possible links. However, Soleyn said he found the link on Fox’s blog and said it led to a full article, including a promotional poster for the event.
‘Because of Matt’s position within RSA and because many individuals follow him, we thought it was important RSA know how they were being represented, so someone in CUP called RSA president Sean Naegeli and from there it was taken care of,’ Fox said.’
Soleyn then retracted the tweet, followed by a five-tweet-long statement about why it was removed. At the time the tweet was posted, the contract had not been officially signed with Fallon, and if seen, could have put the contract at risk, Fox said.
However, Fallon is now confirmed, and was chosen because of his broad appeal since it will be Parents Weekend, Sprague said.
‘He has a very wide range of appeal, across students that are 18 to parents that are 50, since he has a late night show and did SNL and some popular movies,’ she said.
Sprague declined to say what Fallon’s booking fee was, but said it was less than Jon Stewart of ‘The Daily Show’ cost last year. In addition to ticket sales, funds from the Student Activity Fee will help pay for the show, she said.
While there were issues for many students trying to purchase tickets online for the Stewart show last year, Sprague said there has been an increased effort this year to make sure everything runs smoothly.
‘Ticketing has been working really hard to make sure the system is up and running and working,’ she said. ‘I know we had a lot of problems for Jon Stewart. Hopefully that doesn’t happen this year.’
Some students are pleased with the choice, and enjoy his comedy.
‘I like his dirty humor,’ freshman web design major Rebecca Magnoni said.
Sprague said she expects a lot of students to come to the performance, and hopes it will highlight NU.
‘We wanted to make this a staple for the fall to have a large show because it brings a lot of students out and it really shines a good light on our university, especially with the renovations in Mathews,’ Sprague said.
But others disagreed with CUP and SGA’s choice, preferring Stewart.
‘I don’t watch his show or like his humor,’ said junior marketing major Val Hart. ‘I don’t think he’s really that funny.’
Even those who like Fallon are unsure of if they will attend the event.’
‘I probably won’t [attend],’ Magnoni said. ‘I have a lot of work with school.’
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