By Mary Ann Georgantopoulos
Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past few days, you all know by now that Jimmy Fallon, former Saturday Night Live star and current host of NBC’s ‘Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,’ will perform his standup routine in Matthews Arena Oct. 24.
This is my fifth and last year at Northeastern, and I must admit, I almost wish I were a freshman all over again. I have been impressed by how much the programming at Northeastern has improved within the past years.
I remember last year when the Council for University Programs (CUP) announced Jon Stewart would make a stop in Matthews Arena. Last October, with all the craziness surrounding the presidential election (primarily Sarah Palin) could we have asked for a more fitting guest? Probably not.’
It goes beyond just stand up comedians who come to NU to crack a joke. Just last week Daniel Mark and John Harris of The Onion were on campus to take us a trip down the satirical news source’s most memorable headlines, articles and videos. How could we forget about last year’s performance by The Capitol Steps, the Washington-based troupe of Congressional staffers-turned-songwriters? The event was beyond hilarious and put on by NUVotes, one of the best student group collaborations I’ve seen while a student here.
Even Springfest last year was memorable. Granted I’m not the biggest Guster or Jimmy Eat World fan, but I went to the concert and had a great time. Over the years there has been a lot of criticism over the Springfest acts. To all the complainers, I just say ‘womp womp.’ Listen, we’re not Boston College who can afford Kanye West. Who needs him anyway? He’s just an outspoken jerk who steals microphones from 19-year-old pop stars, right? I’d also like to remind said complainers that last year Tufts University had Asher Roth as their Spring Fling performer. I’ll take Jimmy Eat World over the ‘I Love College’ guy any day.
Having been at The News for about five years now, I’ve been tuned to be kind of cautious when various organizers tell us (and in many cases, don’t tell us) the price of their events. It actually drives me a little crazy when they do not disclose the amount spent. I’m still on Team ‘No Way Did President Aoun’s Inauguration Only Cost $300,000.’ CUP President, Kat Sprague, declined to tell us Fallon’s booking fee, but said it was less than Stewart’s last year. My initial reaction is to think CUP is hiding something, but when I think twice about it, I kind of don’t care. I’ll happily pay $15 to see Fallon, just like I gladly paid $20 last year to see Stewart. You can’t put a price on fun, now can you?
Our time here at Northeastern is really the only time in our lives that we’ll be able to pay $20 dollars to see a comedian of Stewart’s caliber, or $5 to see Guster and Jimmy Eat World. Outside the Northeastern bubble, these performances cost more. Much, much more.
It took me a bit too long to realize this, but we’ve got it good with the events on campus. I hope more people start appreciating all the acts, instead of acting like Negative Nancy and always finding something to complain about. When this all comes to an end this May, or in a few years for some ‘- you wouldn’t want to regret not doing something. So trust me, the insistent clicking on the MyNEU portal for Fallon tickets (even if system crashes, again) and the long lines outside Matthews Arena for Beanpot tickets next semester will be well worth it.
Have fun this year, Huskies.
‘- Mary Ann Georgantopoulos can be reached at [email protected]
