When standup comedian K-von stepped up to the microphone and asked the audience how they were feeling, he was met with a timid and grumbling response from select members of the crowd.

This only served as ammunition for him.

K-von, former host of the MTV show “Disaster Date,” took this opportunity to mimic the response, as well as ask an audience member about her recent talent show performance and if she received similar crowd results. After that, the crowd of EWU students were roaring with laughter.

“I came in tonight not knowing what to expect,” said K-von. “The audience gave me a hard time in the beginning, and I love that. It’s a good place to start from.”

This led the comedian into participating with the audience, including members who sat further away from the main crowd. He also joked about the proper pronunciation of Cheney.

For student Ahmed Abdirizak, what stood out from K-von’s performance was how the comedian used his humor as a way to remove tensions and stress in the community.

“Comedy is a good platform to take down all kinds of discrimination and not get upset about it,” said Abdirizak. “He hit a lot of different stereotypes and it was great to hear him joke about them.”

With his father hailing from Iran and his mother being Scottish, K-von used this to show his unique heritage by giving himself the nickname, “Harry Pottish.”

“You [got to] hate me for who I am,” said K-von.

Though he wishes his mother would have welcomed him home from school with a warm plate of cookies while sounding a bit more like “Braveheart,” K-von used his heritage as a way to joke about himself.

“If I can joke about myself, I feel the audience can do the same,” said K-von. “Comedy gives you a chance to laugh at yourself.”

K-von’s inspiration to become a standup comedian mostly came from working in sales during the day and needing something to do during the night besides drinking and partying. He ultimately decided to be “in control of the night” by supplying the laughs on stage.

When asked what has been the best piece of advice he received, K-von said, “Some people are born lucky. You weren’t, so you’re going to have to work hard to be successful.”

For Megan Larsen, another attendee who skipped out on dinner to attend the event “on a whim,” the comedy act served as a stress reliever, and allowed her to get away from being proper for a short while.

“This really helped to be able to go somewhere and not be offended,” said Larsen. “To just get away from all the political correctness right now.”

Near the end of his act, K-von talked about how amazing it was to do standup and for the audience to be able to leave their offended feelings at the door and just come to laugh for a while.

Yet during a different college visit, K-von mentioned an encounter with a Caucasian woman who wrote down every time she was offended by something he said, with each time being about an entirely different race than her own. When she spoke up to talk about why it offended her, several African-Americans told her to be quiet. This moment stuck out to the comedian.

“We’re ending stereotypes through comedy,” said K-von.

As the event came to a close, K-von offered up a brief slideshow of comedic images that influenced him to pursue his standup career, including one with a tiny Mr. T, who he dubbed “Mr. t.”

“I really wish every Eastern student could have attended this event,” said Abdirizak. “These events really give us a better sense of community and helps bring us closer together.”

Sidebar: Currently, K-von is preparing for a one hour standup special on May 19, located in Orange County which will be filmed and sent in to Comedy Central.