Spring has sprung, marking the return of Springfest and a week full of laughs and excitement.

Northeastern Council for University Programs, or CUP, hosted writer Colin Jost, along with comedian KC Shornima, for an evening of stand-up comedy to a full house in Blackman Auditorium March 28.

Zoe Leff, a third-year environmental and sustainability sciences major and CUP’s showcase chair of university programming, was ecstatic to see it come together.

“I was looking to bring it for this event and wanted to fill Blackman Auditorium,” Leff said. “It was really helpful that people were excited and as soon as we posted, people were hyped for it.”

Jost is one of the staff writers for the comedy series “Saturday Night Live!” and takes a co-anchor role in their “Weekend Update” segment. During his tenure on the show, he has also worked with dozens of celebrities to craft sketches that land just right. 

The night started with Shornima, who joined the “SNL” family in 2022 as a writer for “Weekend Update” and has plenty of experience performing at clubs and festivals with national headliners.

“I just came out to my coworkers, so that’s been really nice,” Shornima started, playing into the rise in hate against Asians due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I came out as Asian. Since the pandemic started, I’ve been living as a Hispanic.”

Shornima’s writing was full of dry, effortless humor that flowed beautifully. Her sarcastic and witty lines continued to make the audience laugh. She cracked jokes about her relationship history and the complications of pursuing men.

“I think the biggest feminist I’ve ever met is a guy at a bar at 2 a.m.,” Shornima said. “They are willing to give up their right to vote to go home with you.”

When Jost took the stage, he tailored it exactly to his audience, starting by bringing up a list of fun facts about the school. He brought up the hockey team sweeping the Beanpot, along with an email that students received during the first semester titled “Explosion 2” and the over-acceptance of students.

Jost is also a Harvard alum, which brought the heat. When he asked students who the mascot was, one instead called out his alma mater — “Colin, what’s a Crimson?” — and their Beanpot losses this year.

“I don’t have any pride in my school, so it’s fine,” Jost said. “You guys could rip us apart.”

He continued to take the audience through a plethora of stories and experiences that he’s encountered in the past few years. Jost brought up a time when he was in a bar and saw himself on the screen on “SNL” with a subtitle of “mild laughter” below his joke.

“They’re already deaf. Just lie and tell them it went well.” Jost said. “What was even worse — it cut back to [Michael Che] and it said, ‘Now, time for the good jokes.’”

Qin Kramer, a first-year American sign language major, enjoyed Jost’s set of jokes and was excited to be in attendance at the stand-up show. She found that bit to be one of the most memorable moments and noted it was her favorite part of the night. 

“As an interpreting major, it really hit close for me,” Kramer said. “I appreciated his attention to humor regarding the subtitles.”

Jost closed out the show by letting students in on failed pitch ideas, giving them a little insight into his writing process and noting how many ideas go to the table without making it to the screen.

“We’re all winners here, yet I feel that I won the lottery tonight with all of you,” Jost said, thrilled to close out the night, but then added, “… But we lost the Beanpot.”

Springfest’s programming finished on April 1 at Matthews with a concert featuring Carly Rae Jepson and Aminé. CUP expressed that the success of Jost and Shornima’s stand-up event was just one step along the way.

“I’m glad that everyone is showing so much support for comedy,” Leff said. “I know it goes under the radar sometimes but everyone really came out for Colin.”