Eight of Ohio State’s funniest students will compete in the Ohio Regional Competition match of the TBS and Rooftop Comedy National College Comedy Competition against Miami University on Tuesday at Go Bananas Comedy Club in Montgomery, Ohio.

“It’s a really good chance for people to open their eyes to a different form of art that people aren’t really familiar with,” said contestant Anthony Recker, a fourth-year in psychology. “There really is an art and a science to the jokes we tell.”

Along with Recker, John Bieber, Xavier Dunson, Rainey Fleming, Matt Gordon, Aaron Nemo, Chris Pilkington and Dan White were selected from the 20 OSU students who competed in the preliminary tryout held at the Ohio Union on Feb. 14.

Each member of the team will perform a three-minute stand-up act to exhibit their talents.

Four comedians from each team will be chosen by a panel of judges and the in-house audience to advance to the next round of the tournament.

The public will vote online on the competitors’ three-minute clips.

Fleming, a second-year in strategic communication, encourages students to support the team by attending the event and voting for the team online as well.

“I think you should always be supportive of your school’s comedy scene,” Fleming said. “We have a lot of strong stand-up comedians in the comedy scene in Columbus … so if our team goes a long way, that would be great for the city.”

Recker agrees that showcasing the comedic talent Columbus has to offer is important.

“For students to vote and vote us on, it can open the eyes of everyone else in the nation to see that Columbus is actually a city where there a lot of comedians that are unrecognized,” Recker said.

Through two rounds of online voting, the top eight teams from across the nation will move on to the Conference Rival Match. In this round, each team will submit a five-minute video roasting their opponent’s team.

These videos will be voted on by the public, with the four most popular teams advancing to the Judges’ Selection Round, where the top four teams will be judged by comedians and entertainers.

This panel of judges will ultimately crown one comedy team winner of the competition and select one MVP from each team to win a trip to TBS Presents Just For Laughs in Chicago.

The four MVPs will also have the opportunity to perform their stand-up act at this festival.

For some contestants, advancing to the final round would provide potential career opportunities.

“All of my eggs are in the comedy basket,” said Nemo, a third-year in English. “I am not programmed to function at a real job.”

Rooftop Comedy will provide free transportation from campus to the competition. To reserve a spot, send an email with your name, school and phone number to [email protected].