When “The Office” comedian B.J. Novak asked for a volunteer from the audience during his comedy routine on Saturday night, Weinberg sophomore Barbara Huang quickly raised her hand.
Later, on stage, Novak asked Huang which school she attended. Huang didn’t respond.
“When he asked me a question, I didn’t know what he meant,” Huang said. “I couldn’t think. I was like, ‘It’s B.J. Novak!’ “
Huang was one of many Northwestern students who attended Novak’s Saturday night show at sold-out Ryan Family Auditorium. Despite performing a stand-up routine, Novak’s show was full of the same kind of wit he delivers on “The Office.”
Novak talked about one of his favorite aspects of being on the NBC show: having his face on thousands of airplane TVs.
“I was sitting next to someone who I can tell probably hasn’t seen ‘The Office’ before,” he said about pulling a prank on a fellow airplane passenger. “And then the show comes on, and I’m like, ‘Hey you ever seen this show?'”
After the passenger replied no, Novak would wait until he appeared on the show to deliver his punch line:
“Check it out, dude. That guy’s me!”
The show, which also featured Comedy Central channel comedian Dan Mintz, sold out 45 minutes after tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. at Norris University Center’s Box Office.
Communication freshman Tyler Feder arrived at the Norris box office just after 8 a.m. She said by that time, there was already a group of people standing in line in front of her.
“I bought a bunch of tickets and sold them to people,” Feder said.
Many NU students said they enjoyed Novak’s show, which included everything from a shy puppet to a reading of a children’s story he had written called “Wikipedia Brown.”
“It wasn’t really what I expected,” Notre Dame freshman Tessa Plaschke said. “It wasn’t the same kind of the humor as ‘The Office,’ but it was still fun.”
Plaschke visited NU for the weekend to see Novak as well as her friend, Weinberg freshman Debbie Myung.
Communication freshman Ryan Luong said Novak’s Saturday show was better than he expected.
“I know I see him on TV and I watch ‘The Office,’ but I’ve never really heard him individually and I was really impressed,” Luong said. “I thought it was really funny and it flowed really well and overall I had a great time,”
Novak ended his show by dispensing a bit of wisdom to the audience and talking about someone he considered his hero: Bill Nye.
“Bill Nye could have been the ‘anything guy,'” Novak said. “He could have been Bill Nye the Hot Dog Guy. He would have done fine … Bill Nye the Mattress Guy. Bill Nye the Politics Guy. Whatever. He could have done anything, but he chose science. And now everyone in this room knows how photosynthesis works because Bill Nye made the decision … Bill Nye chose that destiny and that’s what I really admire about (him) … Guys, I hope you go out. I hope you be the anything guy.”
