H. Jon Benjamin to headline SPB spring comedy show

| Senior News Editor

Comedian H. Jon Benjamin, known for his work as a writer and voice actor for “Bob’s Burgers” and “Archer,” will headline Social Programming Board’s Feb. 15 spring comedy show.

Benjamin, who received an Emmy nomination for his work on “Archer” in 2010, ranked highly on the survey SPB sent out in December, according to SPB Comedy Director and sophomore Samantha Posner. The survey consisted of a list of comedians, compiled by SPB’s comedy director, who fit SPB’s price range and who might be appealing to Washington University students.

While SPB has received flack previously for consistently bringing in white, male comedians, Posner said Benjamin performed better than women and people of color on the survey, which is why SPB is bringing him in. Still, she hopes to add some more diversity to the lineup by bringing in a woman to open for Benjamin.

“What I’m hoping to do, and we’re still finalizing some of the details, is to bring a female opener, which would be nice to see,” she said.

While Benjamin was initially billed on the survey along with Dan Mintz, another actor on “Bob’s Burgers,” Mintz is unable to come due to scheduling issues. As a result, the spending for this show is lower, which leaves more money in SPB’s budget for other, non-comedy events.

“The timing just didn’t work, so we decided to stick with H. Jon Benjamin,” Posner said. “But if I don’t use up my entire budget, someone else [on SPB exec] might be able to use it.”

Some students, however, said they would have preferred to see other performers on the list or don’t consider themselves fans of Benjamin’s.

“I’m satisfied. I would have rather had Eric Andre, but I understand he’s probably too raunchy,” sophomore Ethan Jaynes said.

“I know the shows [‘Archer’ and ‘Bob’s Burgers’], but I’m not really a fan of anything [Benjamin] is in,” sophomore Maddie Lee said.

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