Tonight’s capstone to the week’s Homecoming festivities will be dominated by the jokes of nationally renowned comedy group CollegeHumor. After an opener by Chapel Hill rock and roll band Roman Candle, the stage will be turned over to CollegeHumor performers for the remainder of the annual Pack Howl concert.

The events of the Pack Howl concert have been uncertain since the Homecoming committee announced this year’s Homecoming would not feature a big-name musician. After receiving extra funding from Student Government, the committee announced it would still be inviting a well-known performer.

The punch line was CollegeHumor, a group best known by students for its skits and parodies viewable on their Web site and YouTube.

Wendy Cernel, a sophomore in graphic design, said she doubted the success of the Pack Howl concert in light of this change in tradition.

“Other colleges have big-name performers coming to their homecomings; more people here probably want a big-name performer too,” she said. “This probably happened because they couldn’t afford [a well-known musician]. It will still be popular because it is Homecoming, but it might not get as many people. Music would get people pumped up more than a comedy act.”

Elissa Clark, a sophomore in public relations, also said she felt a comedy act would not be as popular.

“A concert would just be more fun and more people would be more aware if it was a band. For a comedy act, you have someone talking to you and you have to sit and pay attention to get it,” Clark said. “CollegeHumor is still a big name and people who know about them will still come, but it won’t be as popular as a music performer. If they had more money they would have brought in a band.”

Adam Compton, chairman of the Homecoming committee, said CollegeHumor is still a big name and will still reach a lot of people.

“We looked at what the [CollegeHumor] tour did at other campuses and decided it was right for the Pack Howl concert,” he said. “This will be just as big as the concerts we’ve had in the past.”

“Our goal is to get as many students out there as we can,” Compton said. “Some students don’t like some kinds of music, but comedy will reach all students. We don’t want to do a big-name concert where students won’t come.”

Katie Basinger, a freshman in nuclear engineering, said she agreed with this logic and CollegeHumor might actually bring in more people because of humor’s universal appeal and because the event is free.

“This probably happened because of a lack of money, but it is a good change in tradition. We’ll have to see how it turns out,” she said. “Everyone likes humor.”

Basinger said though many students may be disappointed in the selection, she understood the committee’s decision.

“A lot of students are going to be upset,” Basinger said. “It’s kind of upsetting that it’s not a big name, but [the change] is understandable.”

Sarah Spitzfaden, a junior in biology, said she was not convinced by the Homecoming committee’s justification.

“What if CollegeHumor isn’t the kind of humor people like? It’s the same problem as you would have with musicians,” she said.

“You go from big names and you expect another big name but you feel gypped because you get local bands and comedians instead,” Spitzfaden said. “If they’re good, people might enjoy it, but not as much because it’s not tradition.”