The Boston College community has been buzzing about Will Ferrell's impending arrival ever since it was announced in December that he would be stopping at BC during his Funny or Die comedy tour. Inevitably, though, the next question that followed was, "Is there still going to be a spring concert?"
"I swear that's the number 1 comment I've gotten since December," said Erica Reisenwitz, executive director of campus entertainment of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) and A&S '08, when asked the same question. "I can't give you a yes or no on that right now. Like I said all year when I've been asked this question about any kind of programming, UGBC has been pursuing entertainment options as they present themselves."
In the past, the UGBC spring concert has been one of the most anticipated events on student calendars. In recent years, BC has snagged such acts as six-time Grammy-award-winning rapper Kayne West, and the popular '90s group Third Eye Blind. While a spring concert for this year has not yet been ruled out, it appears that this year's big bid for the spring will be Will Ferrell's Funny or Die comedy tour.
Ferrell, Saturday Night Live veteran and star of such hit comedies such as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Blades of Glory, is promoting his new movie, Semi-Pro, through the comedy tour. Ferrell will also be joined by comics Zach Galifianakis and Nick Swardson, as well as Demetri Martin, who performed at BC last spring. The show will take place at 6 p.m. on Feb. 13 in Conte Forum.
The UGBC placed a bid for the Funny or Die comedy tour last summer when it was first notified that the tour was looking to stop at a college campus in the Northeast. Reisenwitz said that the UGBC began researching who would be touring in the area during the time frame they had been allotted for an event when the comedy tour came up.
"This was an example of a specific tour coming to us," Reisenwitz said. "We were able to put in our bid very early." This is Reisenwitz's third year helping to coordinate such events, which, in her experience, requires a lot of time, research, money, and a little bit of luck.