Kevin Kan | Staff Illustrator

In hallowed Graham Chapel on Sept. 17, students waited. They were there to see Margaret Cho, famous comedian and actor. This A-lister was a welcome notch in the belt for the Social Programming Board (SPB) — Cho is an Emmy-nominated personality with 274,000 Instagram followers. Most comedy fans know and love her. So why were there only 10 people in the audience?

Maybe Cho packing Graham Chapel to the brim is unrealistic, but there had to have been more WashU students interested in the show than the handful scattered amongst the front pews. In years past, the fall comedy show has had lines that wind around Mudd Field. There has to be an answer for this year’s underwhelming turnout.

SPB’s Fiscal Year 2025 “Performing Arts” budget is $311,479.02. This money goes towards heavy-hitters like Night at the Pageant (NAP) and an A-list comedy show (like Margaret Cho), but also towards a bouquet of more modest events — say, an LA-based improv group performing on campus, or a WashU Football tailgate.

According to Student Union (SU) Vice President of Finance Meris Damjanovic, the cost to host Cho was $60,000. 

But even though Cho was one of SPB’s heavy-hitters, the event noticeably lacked advertising. SPB is known for marketing their comedians through “mystery” posts. In these posts, they will announce that a comedian is coming on a certain date, but will withhold the comedian’s name. This blind suspense may work in building anticipation for events like WILD, but based on the comedy event’s attendance, it’s not a one-size-fits-all model. 

But this mystery mode of marketing is often the only way SPB can market events. 

“If we’re bringing talent and we don’t have a signed contract, we can’t do anything. The most we can do is be like, ‘Hey, there is an event, and it’s in this vein, this style, but we can’t say who it is,” said Abby Sode, who was SPB President at the time of this interview. 

Comedians, and arguably musical acts as well, are known to feed off a crowd’s energy.

At the show, Cho’s opener did a set that was significantly longer than a typical opener’s, meaning less time for the headliner Cho — perhaps a reaction to the atypical crowd, and an adaptation to a smaller audience. While higher attendance may be ideal for the comedian, SPB emphasized that they are more concerned with ensuring a positive experience for students in the crowd.

“Attendance is less of the priority. I think the utmost thing is that the people who do show up enjoy themselves, and they have a good time,” Sode said.

While Cho’s opener was doing his set, someone from their backstage crew came out to take pictures of the sparse crowd, snickering. However, Cho herself was kind and cordial to the skeleton of an audience, performed well, and exemplified her professionalism and experience. 

A scant audience was not always the case for comedy at WashU. The SPB office is lined with photos of Melissa Villaseñor and other SNL stars who have packed the Chapel within the last few years. They are joined by images of comedians who performed a decade ago — a range of humor from Eric Andre to Pete Davidson. Funny guests are a time-honored tradition. But will shrinking crowds spell an end to the countless WashU laughs?

SPB Comedians Chair Yugesh Muralidhar emphasized the successes of other comedy events this semester.

“This semester, we had Margaret Cho — [a] big fall comedy show — but we also are having smaller comedy shows,” Muralidhar said.

“Writer’s Block,” an LA-based improvisational comedy group, performed in Room 458 at Louderman Hall on Nov. 14 for the cost of $5,100, per Damjanovic. There were 61 people in attendance: over six times as many as Cho’s event. A clear imbalance between fame and crowd size.

While SPB doesn’t yet have a definitive answer as to why there are disparities in turnout, Sode hypothesized that it had something to do with life immediately post-pandemic.

“We were the first post-COVID class. It was our first year of college, so everyone was very excited about doing all of the things. [But] it’s on us to pivot and to figure out what it is that the student body wants instead,” Sode said. 

It is unclear how lack of student attendance will impact the funding allocated for future events like Cho’s.

“It’s our mission to create events that the student body wants to go to. And so we’re realizing [that] something is not as effective as it used to be,” Sode said.  

Editor’s Note: At the time of publication, 01/16/2025, Sode is no longer the SPB President, but remains the Vice President of Programming for Student Union.