Comedian Demetri Martin to perform at Pick-Staiger on Feb. 26
On Wednesday night, humorist Demetri Martin will premiere his television show, Important Things with Demetri Martin. But on Feb. 26, students will get the real thing when the multi-talented comedian performs live at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.
A&O Productions announced “An Evening with Demetri Martin” as its Winter Quarter speaker event on Tuesday, and unveiled a new, online system for selling tickets.
“This is the best time to possibly get him here, because he is new enough that it’s a fresh face, and it’s a hip act to go watch, but he’s also not some unheard of guy in a podunk town,” said Weinberg junior Katie Halpern, A&O promotions and public relations co-chair.
Martin was a staff writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and has featured on shows such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
He is known for his offbeat humor and use of a drawing pad up on stage as a “material enhancer” for his jokes.
“He’ll also be playing the piano, I think,” Promotions and Public Relations Co-Chair Barry McCardel said. “Basically what you would see in the normal [show].”
Martin studied at Yale and dropped out of New York University’s School of Law to pursue a career in comedy, said McCardel, a Communication sophomore.
“He said ‘I found what I want to do and I’m going to do it,’” McCardel said. “He is obviously very bright and very talented.”
Long lines for tickets to recent acts inspired A&O to sell tickets online for this event.
“We’re really hoping that this system will not only make it more convenient for students, but hopefully level the playing field a bit,” McCardel said. “Even if you have class you can get on your laptop, get on the Norris Box Office site and get your tickets.”
Tickets will go on sale on Feb. 16 at 10:30 a.m. on the Norris Box Office Web site, and there will be a limit of three tickets per NetID. Students need to register on the Web site in order to buy tickets. The tickets cost $10 for undergraduates and $15 for graduate students.
Halpern said the actual box office in Norris might sell tickets after the first day of online sales, but that it wasn’t certain.
“We may open it up later in the game,” she said. “But if online ticketing is going really well, and we end up selling out, then there’s no need to open up the physical box [office].”
A&O anticipates that the show will sell out rapidly, McCardel and Halpern said.
“What we hope for is that we have the perfect amount of tickets on sale for the perfect amount of students who want to go. Obviously, that’s never the case,” McCardel said. “We’ll definitely have a high demand for these tickets, because he’s so popular.”
The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and doors will open at 7 p.m., said Syd Cohen, A&O chairwoman.
To Speakers and Special Events Director Adam Pumm, who secured the act, Martin seemed like a logical choice.
“I feel that his style of humor is a good fit at Northwestern,” Pumm said.
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Remember when Flight of the Conchords sold out within an hour? Or you can return home.
“I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that’s 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says ‘go outside.’”
Michael McGee
February 11, 2009 at 1:10 am
“I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I’m good at everything.”
AJ Aguado
February 11, 2009 at 1:44 am
“I think they named oranges before they named carrots. What are these? Those are orange – oranges. What about these? Oh, shit. Long pointies?”
Samantha
February 11, 2009 at 1:06 pm
“The worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of charades.”
Michael McGee
February 11, 2009 at 2:50 pm
“If I ever saw an amputee being hanged, I would just yell out letters.”
AJ Aguado
February 12, 2009 at 12:46 am
I thought he was funnier when his name was Mitch Hedberg.
Sajid
February 12, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I just got these new pajamas with pockets, which is great because I used to have to hold things when I slept. — Classic
Taniesha
February 13, 2009 at 2:53 am
Is this event for NU students only?
Katie Trela
February 13, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Because the event is funded primarily by Northwestern Undergraduate tuition money through the Student Activities Fee, it is unfortunately only open to Northwestern students and A&O reserves the right to check WildCards at the door. We know this can be a bummer and are sorry for the inconvinience, but this is really only fair as NU students pay for the event.
Feel free to contact us if you have any more questions!
Barry
Co-Commandant of Promotions and Public Relations, A&O
Barry McCardel
February 15, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Please explain to my why this isn’t in Cahn.
Katherine
February 17, 2009 at 9:54 pm
And why, if our tuition is paying for this, you make it impossible for more than 900 people to attend.
Katherine
February 17, 2009 at 9:55 pm
And why only freshmen were signed up to purchase tickets online automatically. And why tickets were held in shopping carts for twenty minutes, and then were re-released without an announcement to those who were online at 10:35 trying to buy tickets. And why there was no waiting list for those who were on at the right time in case tickets opened up again. And why it seemed like a good idea to sell exclusively online all at once and not, say, stagger the release of tickets so there were no issues with servers crashing or people who had class that wouldn’t allow them to use their laptops at 10:30 that particular morning. And why it seemed like a good idea to spontaneously reduce the number of tickets you could purchase with your wildcard, which messed up a lot of peoples plans. Honestly, why bring someone that popular at all if you’re going to make it impossible or a significant portion of the student body to attend.
Katherine
February 17, 2009 at 10:01 pm