For a second straight semester, the comedy show has been left without a comedian.
Nick Swardson, the host of the Comedy Central program "Nick Swardson's Pretend Time," canceled his performance at Tufts' Spring Comedy Show, which was slated for Thursday evening at Davis Square's Somerville Theater.
Swardson, who had already signed a contract to perform this week, backed out of the performance because of a time conflict with the production schedule for the second season of his television show, according to Entertainment Board co−Chair Austin Glassner, a junior.
"I guess it's just the risk you take when you try to book a TV or film star," Glassner told the Daily in an email.
Tickets for the event, which had already gone on sale, can be refunded at the Mayer Campus Center's Information Booth, according to Glassner.
A replacement for the act was not possible given time constraints, he said.
"Getting somebody to replace Nick in less than a week was really difficult," he said. "We tried, but the artists said they could not confirm with us until Monday. We would have had a show had we been able to get a response by Friday, when we found out."
Selling 900 tickets — the capacity of the Somerville Theater — would have also proven difficult, Programming Board co−Chair Sarah Habib, a senior, added.
The cancellation of this semester's show is the second consecutive withdrawal from a performance date this year. Swardson's decision follows on the heels of comedian Michael Ian Black, who was slated to headline the fall comedy show last semester.
Funds allotted to staging that event were rolled over into the spring show, giving Entertainment Board a wider range of performers to choose from. Now, with Swardson's cancellation, the money that would have gone toward the show is available once again.
The tentative plan is to carry the money from both comedy shows into the next semester.
"Right now we are working with the [Tufts Community Union (TCU)] Senate to get the money to roll over to next year," Glassner said. "That way we can still have enough money to bring in a big comedian next year."
Representatives from Programming Board plan to meet with TCU Treasurer Kate de Klerk, a junior, in the near future to finalize plans to do so, according to Programming Board co−Chair Adam Fischer, a senior.
