Actor and comedian Aziz Ansari will unleash his humor in Syracuse while performing stand-up on April 13, University Union officials announced Sunday. UU will host ‘An Evening With Aziz Ansari’ at the OnCenter Arena at 8 p.m.

‘We are excited to bring Aziz,’ said Rob Dekker, UU president. ‘We felt this was a great opportunity to use resources in (the city of) Syracuse to put together a great event for students.’

Tickets will be available Jan. 30 through an online presale or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office for $15 to all Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students. More information will be sent to students via email. UU will provide free shuttles to and from the OnCenter and Schine Student Center.

UU normally hosts its performing arts shows in Goldstein Auditorium. However, with the auditorium’s limiting capacity of 1,500 people, UU looked to a larger venue, said Amanda Shaw, co-director of UU Performing Arts. The OnCenter’s capacity of 6,600 allows for a larger audience.

‘We wanted to benefit the students by bringing a bigger name to a bigger arena,’ Shaw said. ‘It gives more students a chance to attend a great show.’

Members of UU plan to promote the show in Syracuse as well as at four nearby schools: Le Moyne College, Cornell University, Ithaca College and SUNY-Binghamton. General admission tickets are $30 and go on sale Feb. 6.

Students had a chance to weigh in on performing arts choices through a UU survey distributed by email to all syr.edu accounts. The fall survey received nearly 700 responses, said Jamie Berman, co-director of UU Performing Arts. More than 53 percent of students ranked Ansari as their first, second or third choice in the comedy category.

Ansari, who first began stand-up in 2001, has since appeared in feature films including ‘I Love You, Man,’ ‘Funny People’ and ’30 Minutes or Less.’ Ansari’s ‘Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening’ aired on Comedy Central in January 2010 and brought him critical acclaim and success. Later that year, Ansari hosted the MTV Movie Awards. Currently, Ansari stars in NBC’s ‘Parks and Recreation’ as Tom Haverford.

‘(Ansari) brings something very different to the table,’ Berman said. ‘It’s a mix of awkwardness and quirkiness. He’s just very subtly hilarious.’

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Published on January 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm