Harris Center to Welcome Weird Al' Yankovic, 8/30-31

A musical parodist in the broad, juvenile yet clever tradition of Mad magazine, "Weird Al" Yankovic is known for adding his own gently satirical lyrics to current hit songs. His shaggy, hangdog appearance, affection for slapstick, and amiable willingness to do seemingly anything for a laugh made him a natural for videos. Yankovic is undoubtedly the most successful comedy-recording artist in the world, with more than 12 million albums sold. His newest tour offering, The Mandatory World Tour, covers his latest album Mandatory Fun (RCA Records), fresh from winning a Grammy and topping Billboard's album chart, for what can be deemed his most successful musical comedy endeavor to date.

As far as what fans can expect from The Mandatory Tour, "I will say, as with all my tours, it's going to be all the greatest hits, and it's going to be featuring a lot of stuff from the latest album, Mandatory Fun. Also we'll try to throw in a few key surprises for the hardcore fans that want to hear something a little different," Yankovic told The Nerdist.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - The Mandatory World Tour will be performed on Sunday, August 30, 2015 at 7:00 pm and Monday, August 31, 2015 at 7:00 pm and runs approximately 2 hours. Tickets are priced at $49-$79; Premium $89. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

Few would have guessed that "Weird Al" Yankovic, who as a shy, accordion-playing teenager got his start sending in homemade tapes to the Dr. Demento Radio Show, would go on to become the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history with over 12 million album sales. Now in his fourth career decade, he has won 4 Grammys (with 15 nominations) and countless awards and accolades for Weird Al classics like "Eat It," "Like a Surgeon," "Fat," "Smells Like Nirvana," "Amish Paradise," and "The Saga Begins." His 2011 album Alpocalypse (featuring the Lady Gaga parody "Perform This Way") debuted in the Billboard Top 10, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards (Best Comedy Album and Best Short Form Video). His 2006 album Straight Outta Lynwood spawned the Billboard Top 10 single "White & Nerdy." The music for this single spent two months at #1 on iTunes and garnered over 150 million hits on the Internet.

Mandatory Fun debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. This is the first time that a comedy album has debuted at #1 on the chart in history, and the first time that a comedy album has reached the top of the chart in over 50 years (the last one being Allan Sherman's 1963 release My Son, the Nut). It was also Al's personal best sales week ever, as well as the largest sales week for any comedy album since 1994. On Spotify, Yankovic set the US record for having the most tracks from one album in the viral top 10 at one time, taking the first 4 spots. The album performed well internationally, debuting in the Top 10 in both Canada and Australia (#3 and #9 respectively). In addition, "Word Crimes" debuted in the Billboard Top 40, making Al one of only three people to have had Top 40 singles in each of the last four decades (the other two are Michael Jackson and Madonna, both of which Weird Al has famously parodied).

Yankovic has certainly set the bar high for himself on this tour saying, "I just want to give people the best show they've ever seen. I want to check my Twitter feed and I want somebody to say, "That was the best show I've ever seen!" That's sort of my personal mantra. I want to give that level of involvement in the show, that people are just transported by it."

For more information, please visit www.WeirdAl.com