Ball State University student Ryan Ehresman said he found the passion in his life from getting a thrill out of making people laugh.
"With acting you hide behind a character. With stand-up comedy it's just you and the routine you wrote," he said.
Ehresman and his friend Joey Martin started the show because they wanted to start something different that was completely separate from teachers, he said.
"That's what we need to do when we get out of here. I was just trying to fulfill something for me," Ehresman said.
Ball State Stand-Up Comedy Show started at Motini's but now has moved to The Warehouse across the road because Motini's was too small and The Warehouse provided seating and cheaper drinks. The first show was Aug. 20 in the new location and hosted an improv night Wednesday.
The show is open mic stand-up that happens every other Wednesday at The Warehouse starting at 9 p.m. It is open to all ages, there is no cover charge but you must purchase a drink at either The Warehouse or mt cup.
"It is an excellent place to just meet new people who are hilarious or have fun any random Wednesday night," he said.
The first stand-up night consisted of Ehresman, Martin, and Dan Mannerick who was helping with sound.
"Those were real experimental months," Ehresman said about the first couple of comedy nights.
After a lot of advertising brought new comedians from Indianapolis and a lot of recurring students kept coming in, more and more comedians started coming and performing.
"The first show in the new location went great," Ehresman said.
Because it's an improvised show, the comedians are free to say whatever they want to say. The only limitation on the comedians is a loose time limit of five to six minutes. Now that the show has grown, the time limit will be enforced more than in the past, Ehresman said.
He has high hopes for the upcoming year and the bigger location. He would like to get more people involved and going to the shows.
"I am looking forward to seeing who would like to continue this after I'm gone," he said. "I think the people really like it and will continue to like it."
Gary Greenlee, a local comedian, said the audience has significantly increased from the size at Motini's. The size of the crowd has definitely doubled, he said.
Currently, Ehresman has comedians booked all the way into October.
This upcoming year, Ehresman is trying to incorporate as much help as possible.
"Plans, I am always just thinking plans. I'm always trying to figure out ways to get it going," he said.
For the following year, he is looking for people to carry the show after he leaves.
"I want the show to be a show put on by the people, for the people," he said.
Ehresman also added he'd like to incorporate more work from Something Else TV.
All of the comedians and audience members just expect the show to grow over the next year.
Aubrey Catching, a regular attendant to stand-up comedy night, said she expects more structure.
"I'd like to see more stand-up performed at Pruis Hall," she said.
Regular audience member Joe Ferguson also noticed the increase in size.
"It's gone from playing in front of a bunch of our friends to a group of strangers," he said.
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