Knock-knock.

Who’s there?

Tony Rock.

Tony Rock who?

Chris Rock’s little brother, of course. He’s one of the two comedians GSB is bringing for the first Fall Event Series on Nov. 13 at Stephen’s Auditorium.

The other is David Cross, an actor and comedian who has appeared in HBO’s “Mr. Show” and the “Men In Black” movies.

Government of the Student Body Vice President Joe Darr said he has been working on the project for months — two months before even requesting GSB funding — and the result is a collaborative effort with Pat Miller, director of the Lectures Program. The time for the performances are still to be announced, as are prices for tickets.

Coordinating the event was harder than expected, Darr said.

One of the goals of the Fall Event Series is to create a sense of community on campus.

“We’re trying to get a diversified act,” said GSB President T.J. Schneider. “I think it’s apparent in everything that we’re doing that we really want to make sure that the campus is together.”

“I think the big thing is these two [comedians] are cutting edge. We tried to get some people students could appreciate,” Darr said.

While Rock has appeared on Comedy Central, Cross — the headliner of the show —ÿhas been in “The Truth About Cats and Dogs” and held guest appearance spots on TV shows “The Drew Carey Show”, “The Howard Stern Show” and “Just Shoot Me.”

“[They] have both proven themselves in other venues. They’re absolutely hilarious,” Darr said.

Rock has been performing comedy for the past two years and recently filmed a pilot show By Jessica Anderson

Daily Staff Writer

Knock-knock.

Who’s there?

Tony Rock.

Tony Rock who?

Chris Rock’s little brother, of course. He’s one of the two comedians GSB is bringing for the first Fall Event Series on Nov. 13 at Stephen’s Auditorium.

The other is David Cross, an actor and comedian who has appeared in HBO’s “Mr. Show” and the “Men In Black” movies.

Government of the Student Body Vice President Joe Darr said he has been working on the project for months — two months before even requesting GSB funding — and the result is a collaborative effort with Pat Miller, director of the Lectures Program. The time for the performances are still to be announced, as are prices for tickets.

Coordinating the event was harder than expected, Darr said.

One of the goals of the Fall Event Series is to create a sense of community on campus.

“We’re trying to get a diversified act,” said GSB President T.J. Schneider. “I think it’s apparent in everything that we’re doing that we really want to make sure that the campus is together.”

“I think the big thing is these two [comedians] are cutting edge. We tried to get some people students could appreciate,” Darr said.

While Rock has appeared on Comedy Central, Cross — the headliner of the show —ÿhas been in “The Truth About Cats and Dogs” and held guest appearance spots on TV shows “The Drew Carey Show”, “The Howard Stern Show” and “Just Shoot Me.”

“[They] have both proven themselves in other venues. They’re absolutely hilarious,” Darr said.

Rock has been performing comedy for the past two years and recently filmed a pilot show for ABC. He has performed on Comedy Central as well as on several other stages, Schneider said.

These comedians are coming to Iowa State for one reason — to entertain students, he said.

In September, GSB passed a bill allotting Darr $40,000 to spend on bringing an act to campus.

“We started out thinking maybe we could get a band, but went more toward comedians,” Schneider said.

Darr said Janeane Garofalo and Dave Atell were two acts they looked into, but booking two acts for the same night is a challenging task.

“We saw the schedules of who was semi-available and started taking a look at them,” Schneider said. “We were really looking for an act that would come in and kind of be on that cutting edge.”

There are many people “who have been around for a long time that are funny too,” Schneider said.

However, on a college campus it is important to take the opportunity to be exposed to new people, he said.

David Boike, GSB finance director, said about $28,000 of the available $40,000 was spent.

“That’s just what the budget fell out to be for these comedians,” Darr said. “We weren’t holding back, but they’re what was available for the money we had.”

Expenses add up quickly, he said.

“What we really did was not to try so much to turn a profit, but to offer the lowest price to students,” Schneider said. “I don’t think we should try to turn a profit off of the students by any means.”

Rock and Cross gave GSB a discount on their services, he said.

“As we go forward with this, I think we’ll still see that theme in the things we do,” Schneider said. “We’re offering competitive prices to the students.”

Boike said the remaining $12,000 will be put back into the account to be used for next year’s event.

“The intent of the original bill was to put $40,000 up as venture capital and use that money and replenish it with ticket sales,” Boike said. “You can’t book someone unless you have the money ready.”

Concessions will be available for purchase by Stephens Auditorium, he said.

One goal of the event is to sell enough tickets to support events in the future.

To do this, GSB will be charging for tickets.

Schneider said tickets will probably be $5 or $6 for students, and higher for nonstudents — but the prices will be comparable to those for Veishea acts.

There are 2,750 seats available for the event, Boike said.

About 1,500 students and 1,250 non-students need to purchase tickets to cover the cost of the event.

“We want to sell out,” Darr said. “It’ll grow every year, hopefully. It’s going to be a huge success.”

— Daily Staff Writer Cavan Reagan

contributed to this article