All students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to attend the annual event – set to begin at 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 10 in the People’s United Center on university’s York Hill Campus.

“I will be helping with all thesis and college papers when I get off stage for a small fee,” Vulcano joked in a video message to the university community.

Shannon Flaherty ’22, president of the Student Programming Board, said she is excited to be able to bring back one of the biggest student experience traditions.

“I am ecstatic to be back in person for Wake the Giant this year,” she said. “I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate our first full year back together after the pandemic.”

Given the constraints and uncertainties of COVID-19, Flaherty said her team wanted to make sure they signed a performer who would have the best chance of being able to host a large-scale event this spring.

“A comedian was the natural route with the uncertainty of the pandemic when this event was first getting planned,” she said. “The fact we were able to secure Sal Vulcano is crazy. I've watched “Impractical Jokers” for years and now watch his podcast on YouTube, so I'm very excited to meet him and get to see him perform live.”

Zach Iwatsuki ’24 is the mainstage chair of SPB, and is responsible to ensuring the success of the event.

“While planning the experience, someone came up and told me that almost three-fourths of the student body had never experienced Wake the Giant before,” he said. “I had to think about that for a minute but then it dawned on me that the last Wake the Giant was in 2019. I knew I had to make it special and put my own touch on the event.”

Iwatsuki praised all of the work of his team for making the event happen.

“I am so proud and thankful for them as this event would not be as good as it currently is without them,” he said. “Sal is such a funny guy, and I can't wait to see this event happen live and in person.”

For Flaherty, the event has special significance.

“I am absolutely psyched to celebrate my birthday with SPB’s biggest event of the year — and my last-ever mainstage production at Quinnipiac,” she said.