Comedian Sasheer Zamata will headline the winter comedy show on February 20th, Major Activities Board (MAB) announced Tuesday night. Third-year Collin Lapinsky of the University improv group Off-Off Campus will open the show.
Zamata, an actor, writer, and comedian, currently stars on NBC’s famed Saturday Night Live (SNL). She debuted on SNL in January 2014 as the first black female cast member since 2007. Zamata also performs improv and standup comedy, according to her website.
Zamata also stars in “Pursuit of Sexiness,” her own web series, which was named one of Variety’s “Top 10 Web Series” upon its premiere in 2013, according to MAB.
MAB, an RSO which organizes one entertainment event each quarter, announced the winter show headliner in a trailer before a showing of “Happy Gilmore” at Doc Films, which stars SNL veteran Adam Sandler. MAB created “Celebrate SNL” week this year to promote the winter show, releasing a different SNL clip on its Facebook page every day for a week leading up to the announcement.
“[Happy Gilmore] brings our ‘Celebrate SNL’ series to a close by announcing one of the cast members we are most excited about as our headlining comedian,” MAB Chair Natalya Samee wrote in an e-mail.
MAB revived the winter comedy show last year after budget cuts led the group to cancel it in the 2013-2013 academic year. The board also hosts a concert in the fall as well as Summer Breeze in the spring quarter. Last year, MAB moved the comedy show to the Cloisters Club in Ida Noyes, hosting stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress and selling out of approximately 400 tickets on the first day of ticket sales.
This year the show will move back into Mandel Hall. Tickets go on sale Monday, February 9th at 11 a.m. in the Mandel Hall Box office. A UCID is required for tickets, which are $5 for students and $10 for staff. There is a maximum of three tickets per UCID. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the begins at 7 p.m.
