Mike Siegel jumped onto the stage and energetically began his act. But who knew he had been asleep 45 minutes before he was to appear onstage?
"I'm a little goofy. I just woke up," he said, and the audience laughed.
After the show, he said he had taken a very early morning flight from Los Angeles to Memphis, took another flight to Columbus and then drove a car to Muncie from there.
He said once he made it to campus Friday, he got to his hotel room and went to sleep, waking up 45 minutes before the show.
If Siegel was tired from the long trip, he hid it well.
"Take all the pictures you want," he told the Daily News photographer.
Siegel told some stories about his early childhood, about how his parents were scientists and that his father coached little league baseball.
"I was pitcher because my dad was the coach - shut up," he said quickly, getting lots of laughs from the crowd.
One great thing about this show was the way Siegel immediately got the audience involved. He asked the crowd how many were freshmen, and several people raised their hands.
A student named Jeff told Siegel he was a Tech Ed. major.
"Tech Ed. What the hell is that?" he asked and then said, "You still have time to change that."
After school talk, Siegel switched directions and talked about the city of Muncie.
"This is a cool town," he said, "if you happen to be in the witness protection program."
Siegel kept the energy level high, keeping the crowd laughing, and he sometimes laughed at his own jokes, before and after telling them.
He joked about other college truths - the nightmare of textbook buy-backs, politically correct names for school mascots and jokes about college health centers.
"All they give out is aspirin and birth control," he said.
Siegel encouraged the audience to do lots of traveling before leaving college, and then told of some of his experiences while in other countries.
He throw out a fact that some people might not know about Australia. People there have a different name for beer - "piss."
"I'm trying to cut back on my piss intake," he said. "I'll pour you some, though."
Then the topic turned to sports, and Siegel thanked everyone for coming to watch his routine instead of staying home to watch the Olympics. He talked about ice skating and how both sexes have different reasons for watching it.
But there is also a serious side to the comedian. Before getting into comedy, Siegel said he used to cover high school sports events and write humorous columns.
He said he was always interested in comedy, even when he was working as a journalist. He said he likes to do stand-up because he gets an immediate reaction to his jokes, something that isn't always true with writing.
Siegel said he has played in various clubs around the country while, at the same time, constantly trying to come up with new material for his act.
"The best comics tend to be the ones who write all the time," he said.
But there are disadvantages to being a night-time comedian, according to Siegel. He said the night life sometimes puts a strain on the personal life, and comedians spend a lot of time alone because of constant traveling.
"If you're in stand-up, you have to like being alone a lot," he said.
Judging by the originality of his material and the constant laughs from the audience, in Siegel's case, the sacrifice appears to be well worth it.
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