The University Board Lectures committee has filled the spot left open by Bill Nye’s cancellation.

Michael Showalter, a stand-up comedian, writer and director, will come to campus

April 2 with his lecture “The Life and Times of a Semi-Famous Basic Cable Sketch Comedian.”

Showalter is most famous for his work on Comedy Central.

He co-wrote the movie “Wet Hot American Summer,” which has frequently aired on Comedy Central.

This movie has a “huge cult college following, said Ryan Kerch, UB Lectures coordinator.

Showalter is also a co-creator and writer for the TV show “Stella,” which aired on Comedy Central two years ago.

Nye was slated to perform this semester before a filming conflict forced him to cancel.

UB had received an additional allocation from Apportionment Board of $22,870 to bring Nye to campus. The allocation had to be returned after the cancellation.

The lectures committee chose to not go with a bigger-named artist and used the money left in the budget instead, said Ceci Brinker, director of student life.

Showalter’s speaking fee is $7,000.

Brinker said UB is disappointed it could not bring Nye but added that Kerch has put a lot of research into deciding on another speaker.

“I think what Ryan (Kerch) is trying to do is make sure that even though that (Nye’s cancellation) was a letdown, to make sure he can bring somebody that the students would enjoy hearing come speak,” Brinker said.

UB is not trying to replace Nye, she said, but Showalter also draws and attracts students.

“I think that was the main thing is to give the students an opportunity to hear a good speaker,” Brinker said.

Showalter has been in the Midwest for the past couple of weeks, so the lectures committee was able to book him with short notice, Kerch said.

“We thought this was going to be perfect for how much time we had to deal with the dates that he was available and how much money we had left,” Kerch said.

Amy Baumgart, graduate assistant for Student Life, said she and Kerch had considered Showalter previously in the year when they were not sure if the AB’s additional allocation for Nye would come through.

“We always had to have a Plan B,” Baumgart said. “He was always kind of there on our back burner. I guess we got to rely on our Plan B.”

But Showalter was not “just a plan B” because if Nye had still come, the lectures committee would still have looked into bringing Showalter another semester, Kerch said.

Kerch said he was glad he got the chance to bring Showalter to campus because he is popular with college students. He is hoping the event will attract students in the theater program and the film studies minor, Kerch said.

The event has already become popular through the facebook event that was created for Showalter’s lecture, he said.

Students are excited, Kerch said. Someone wrote on the event’s facebook page that they “can die happy now.”

“I’m glad we can fulfill people’s dreams,” Baumgart said with a laugh.

Emily Zulz can be reached at 581-7942 or at eazulz@eiu.edu.

Kari Byron, from the Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters,” speaks about her experiences on the show to a packed Grand Ballroom Wednesday night in the Martin Luther King Jr Union. (Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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