Jokes, laughs and embarrassing stories are a few things the Stand-Up Comedy Club plans to turn into comedy gold.

The Stand-Up Comedy Club is an entertainment club where members interested in stand-up comedy can perform and have fun.

Joshua Goeden, sophomore landscape architecture major and president of the newly-formed club, said the constitution for the club was approved in September by the Students’ Association.

Goeden decided he wanted to create a club that was just stand-up comedy, instead of the other entertainment outlets like Cavorts sponsored by UPC.

“When I was in high school, I did entertainment speaking with the speech program, so I came here looking for something kind of like that,” Goeden said.

But he couldn’t find it.

Goeden decided to try and start something he was passionate about, but he was worried there wouldn’t be enough interest in stand-up. There are now nine members in the Stand-Up Comedy Club and more students want to join, Goeden said.

Goeden wasn’t the only person to put the idea of the club into motion. Jacob Cartsen, sophomore agriculture business major and member of the club, helped by putting some of the final touches together.

Cartsen believes that the Stand Up Comedy Club is a great club that was brought to campus. “It’s giving an opportunity for people to get comfortable with public speaking and talking in front of crowds,” Cartsen said.

The members want people to know that this club is a place where students can come listen to others’ comedy or even perform their own work.

Meetings are currently in Honors Hall and typically used as a time for club members to get to know each other. Goeden hopes to use meeting times to have members learn how to write comedy pieces and practice them.

“At the meetings we did a lot of talking about how to write a good piece and how to make sure that it is polished and also mentioned the importance of using personal experiences,” Goeden said.

Members plan to have a few practice events at Einstein’s and Wooden Legs open mic night. Goeden hopes to attend as many of those as possible once everyone has a comedy piece to perform with.

“A big way that we [Stand Up Comedy Club] stand out is that we aren’t an intensive group, we just want to bring people together and have a couple of laughs,” Cartsen said.

Members of the Stand-Up Comedy Club hope to have a performance at the end of the year as a final showcase. There has been mention of asking one of the bigger entertainment outlets to join and hold a weekend-long event that offers a different show each night.

If students are interested in joining the group they can email the club using contact information from the Office of Student Engagement, which is located on Main Street in The Union.

Students can also contact Barbara Kleinjan, club adviser. She can be reached at 605-688-6131 or [email protected].

“I hope that once we get the first performance and practices out there for people to see they will gain interest and possibly join,” Goeden said.