Tuesday marked a milestone for campus entertainment at the College of Wooster. The Wooster Activities Crew brought comedian Christian Finnegan to McGaw chapel for a show, over an hour long, full of non-stop laughter. Over 800 community members, faculty members and students filled the venue to see the big-time comedian.
Christian Finnegan has an impressive performance resumÈ. He has appeared multiple times on various talk shows including “Today,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferugson” and “Last Call with Carson Daly.” He has guest starred on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” “The Last Laugh ’05,” as well as “Chappelle’s Show.” However, he is probably best known for his stable commentary spot on VH1’s “My Coolest Years” and “Best Week Ever.”
The Wooster Activities Crew has been bringing comedy acts to the College for many years. Usually, smaller-name comedians, who are trying to make their big breaks by working the college circuit,† find themselves performing on the stage of The Underground in front of 200 Wooster students on a Monday night. Director of Comedy Kali Fencl ’11 knew that a comedian of this caliber had never been to Wooster before and wanted to try something different.
“I chose Christian because I have his CD, ëTwo For Flinching,’ and his DVD, ëAu Contraire,’ and I loved both. He was on a list sent to me by an agency and I knew more people would have heard of him. Compared to other comedians on the list, he was the best bet both talent-wise and financially,” Fencl explained.
Fencl began thinking about bringing Finnegan in July, but did not think W.A.C. could afford his asking price.† Luckily, another comedian canceled in October, allowing Fencl to reallocate money, negotiate with Finnegan’s middle agent and book Finnegan for spring, “I thought he would be a great way to end the year” said Fencl.
Kencl commented that there had been an overwhelming desire from the student body for a bigger comedian to come to campus.† Fencl answered their requests, and the response from the student body has been extremely positive. Stephanie Standera ’11 said, “I was excited to go because he was a bigger name than we had ever had before and I thought he did a really good job at entertaining the whole crowd.”
Bastiaan Van De Lagemaat ’11 stated, “The fact that almost half the student population was in attendance made this event a great success for WAC, but more importantly for the College as a whole. Events like these give you memories that will last until long after graduation and stories you want to share with prospective students.”† Fencl was very pleased with the event and turnout as well, “I kept looking around and everyone was having such a good time. It’s just great to know that everyone left the show satisfied.”
Fencl was pleased with the turnout of the event and how easy Finnegan was to work with, “he didn’t repeat any jokes from his CD or DVD, it was all new material so that was really exciting” explained Fencl. In the near future, Fencl hopes to bring another big name comedian to Wooster, “I don’t want to name any names yet because I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but definitely plan on seeing some great comedians next year.”