By Kristin Halsey

Comedian Craig Robinson is coming to campus this week, as a result of efforts from cosponsors Platform Personalities and Northern Arts and Entertainment.

Robinson is a native of Chicago and got his start, like many other well known comedians, at Second City.
Lee McClelland, a junior English writing major, is one of the copresidents of Platform Personalities.

“If you look at all the movies he’s done lately and all the recent big comedies like ‘40-Year-Old Virgin,’ ‘Pineapple Express,’ and all those types of college films, he’s in them. Also, being a part of ‘The Office’ is a big one because I know a lot of people that watch it,” McClelland said.

A stand-up comedian and actor, Robinson got his start in 2000 with various appearances on TV talk shows performing his material.

Robinson is best known for his role on NBC’s “The Office,” an American remake of the popular British comedy created by Ricky Gervais, as Darryl Philbin in 2005.

In 2010, Robinson was named as the successor to host “Last Comic Standing,” following comics like Jay Mohr.
With Robinson’s influence on the college community, McClelland said the event promises for students to have a good time.

“It’s electric when you get all those people in a room together and the energy it brings when people are laughing and having a good time,” McClelland said.

Robinson’s mix of music and comedy came from his early start when he partnered with comedian Jerry Minor and formed the musical comedy duo named L. Witherspoon and Chucky.

“I’m looking forward to his brand of comedy. I personally like how he doesn’t just do stand-up; he mixes it with music as well,” McClelland said.

NAE has had experience with bringing many entertainment acts to campus.

Last week, they brought the Second City to campus which is Robinson’s alma mater.

“NAE really focuses on bringing entertainment to campus that people really enjoy,” McClelland said. “With Platform Personalities we tend to focus more on influential people that we don’t commonly get to see that have or are making major impact like we traditionally do.”

Working with NAE to bring entertainment has been a great help, McClelland said.

“It’s nice to bring entertainment to campus and working with a group like NAE to help us out with an event like this is great” McClelland said.

Sarah Leissring, a senior sports science and pre-physical training major and president of Northern Arts and Entertainment, said she is looking forward to working with Platform Personalities on the event.

“They are so much fun to work with. Both of us have been wanting to bring someone from ‘The Office’ up to campus for so long and with funding it makes sense to cosponsor and it makes it easier for both groups,” Leissring said. “We have cosponsored together in the past. For both of us too, it gives us both a good variety on the acts we bring to campus.”

With Robinson’s role on “The Office” and his many movie roles and cameos, he brings a lot of weight with him.

His background has him appealing to a large audience. Both groups are looking forward to students going to the event and packing the arena.

“He appeals to a broad spectrum of people. Although the ‘guy-humor’ type of movies he does does not necessarily appeal to me, his stand up is funny and I really enjoy it,” Leissring said.

Robinson will be appearing in upcoming movies such as “We the Peeples” and “Rapturepalooza.”
“He appeals to a lot of different audiences,” Leissring said.

The event takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5 in the Vandament Arena.

Tickets are $2 for students and $8 for the general public.

For more information, contact Cara Kamps at [email protected] or at (906) 227-6543.