By Grace Prust, Ciera L’Huillier, Brooke Caldwell
Maybe some people have heard of John Mulaney, and maybe others have not. The comedian came to the Weidner Center at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) on Saturday, November 19, for his current tour John Mulaney: From Scratch.
Posters for the event had been hung up in the hallways around UWGB. This poster was posted in Mary Ann Cofrin (MAC) Hall. Photo: Grace Prust
The Weidner Center is a space not just exclusively for UWGB events but for events of all types. John Mulaney: From Scratch was a chance for not only students but the community as well to see him live. Pre-sale and general public tickets went on sale in June.
As an actor and comedian with multiple Netflix specials, the stop at UWGB’s Cofrin Family Hall was a much smaller venue compared to the many other stops on his tour. As Cofrin Family Hall at the Weidner Center is a smaller venue, all 2,021 seats had been sold out. The Green Bay stop of the tour opened with comedian Dan Levy (not to be confused with the actor Dan Levy from the TV show Schitt’s Creek) and transitioned to Mulaney to close out the night.
This is not the first time UWGB has welcomed a big-name comedian to campus. In the spring of 2022, The Weidner Center welcomed multiple other comedians. “…just last spring, we had comedians Jo Koy, Sebastian Maniscalco, and Jim Jeffries come through all in the same month,” said Rowan Voskuil, an Arts Management student at UWGB who works at The Weidner Center.
During his set, Mulaney touched on his struggle with his drug addiction, how his intervention happened, his time in rehab, and what his life is like today now that he is sober. Throughout the night, Mulaney interacted with the audience a few times, including a 12-year-old girl in the crowd. He joked with her about if she knew what he would be talking about tonight, referring to his public struggles with addiction. Later, he asked the crowd if anyone had battled addiction as well. He called on a gentleman, and they had a conversation while Mulaney was continuing his current bit about his time in rehab.
Joseph Antilla, a student at UWGB Majoring in Audio Engineering and Information Technologies, says his favorite part of the show was Mulaney’s bit when he read through an interview he had done with GQ magazine… something which Mulaney has no recollection of. “I thought it was funny. He read the question, and then he read his absurd answers out loud, and none of them made any sense.”
Mulaney opens SNL and highlights some of the bits of his routine from Saturday’s show.
Many students were looking forward to this event and were excited to attend. Freshman Devin Strandberg is a fan of the comedian and was excited that he had this opportunity. “I liked finally being able to see John Mulaney on stage for a lower price with phlash tickets.” Like this event and others, UWGB students have the ability to purchase discounted tickets called Phlash Tix. Phlash Tix can be purchased at the University Union Ticketing and Information Desk (UTIC) for any Weidner Center show for $13.00. This is a resource on campus for students to be able to see headliner shows for such an inexpensive price.
“We absolutely anticipate hosting more! Whether we have comedians in our season can depend on a lot of factors, such as scheduling and budget, but you can always expect to see more come up in the future among all our other events,” said Voskuil.