Oh, and when I was in school, Zach Galfianakis came to OU. So did Mitch Hedberg. So did Doug Stanhope. 3 of the biggest names in comedy in the last 20 years, easily.
When was Mitch Hedberg on campus? I'd love to have seen that.
Winter 2003, I think. I had just seen his Comedy Central special about 3 weeks before, and instantly had a new comic hero. It was an awesome show. They wouldn't let him take his wine bottle on stage with him, so every 5 minutes or so he'd take a 30 second break, come back with this grin, and just keep rolling with the one liners. One of my top 15 college memories probably.
Of the people I talked to who went to the show, I'd say only 50% of them actually went because they knew who he was, and the other 50% were just looking for something to do. He's probably one of the most well known names in comedy now (R.I.P.), but back then, he still had that, "Wait... I think I've seen this guy somewhere before, but I can't remember where," mystique about him. And maybe that's a plus for UPC....you get the chance to say you've seen the big names before they were big names, assuming they do eventually become big names.
But then again, who would you rather see, DMB or Jason Mraz?