The hot fun of Springfest promises to blaze through cold weather this week.

A small crowd didn’t sour the spirits of Wednesday night’s comedy show, which featured stars Alexandra McHale, Jason Stuart and Shang in “Comedy Cubed” at the Holmes Student Center’s Carl Sandburg Auditorium.

“I have found that the bigger the university, the smaller the audience,” McHale said after her performance.

This year’s Springfest theme is “New Orleans: Mardi Gras Madness.” The events are sponsored by the Campus Activities Board, and the weekend events were put on in conjunction with the Residence Hall Association’s “Lil’ Sibs Weekend.”

Wednesday night’s lineup consisted of a woman, a gay Jewish man and an “angry” black man, meaning the acts were just as diverse as the crowd.

“A gay man, a black woman & same thing,” said Stuart, who just released a comedy album titled “Gay Comedy Without a Dress.”

Each of the acts faces some sort of hardship in being a stand-up comedian, and each has acting experience.

“At the clubs, the guys are real sexist toward female performers,” McHale said. “I like being able to come to college campuses and do shows with other people because oftentimes I am alone on the road, which is hard.”

McHale, who has been doing stand-up for two years, started out in drama as Ophelia in “Hamlet” and various Shakespeare productions.

“There are certain venues that even though I can sell out an entire weekend, they won’t book me because they don’t want to give me a chance,” said Shang, a regular on BET and Comedy Central and scheduled to be in a new movie called “Hustler.”

Shang talked about every topic from sex to simply being in DeKalb.

All Springfest activities are free and include daily concerts at noon at the Holmes Student Center’s Diversions Lounge.

“The Nooners will be in the MLK Commons provided that the weather picks-up,” said Springfest coordinator Mike Corelli.

On Monday, “Meet the Greeks” was open for students to get to know some members of the Greek organization. Among them were Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.

“This event gives the Greeks a chance to get involved in activities other than homecoming,” Corelli said.

Fat Tuesday was celebrated with Big Chair Day. Students posed for a photographer in a 7-foot tall chair.

Other Springfest events such as Friday’s Casino night will continue throughout the weekend.