The Grand Valley State University student-run organization Spotlight Productions will be putting on a free, open mic style comedy night every third Saturday this fall.

The first opportunity for students to participate will be this Saturday. The event will run from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. and is open to all comedians with any range of experience. Each comedian will be allotted 10 minutes to give their presentation on stage in Area 51, located in the basement of the Kirkhof Center.

“Spotlight Productions was looking for an event that could really bring the community together on a campus where the majority of undergrad students go home on the weekends,” said Nathan Bently, comedy chair.

Spotlight Productions plans to have at least 10 students in attendance and already has 12 comedians signed up to take the stage with more participants expected as the date gets closer.

“We believe at Spotlight Productions that the students’ well-being is super important,” Bentley said. “We want to give the students a space where they can laugh their stresses away. Also, students who would like to compete in our annual ‘Last Laker Standing’ in the winter semester can practice here, free of any sort of judgment.”

Last Laker Standing is a campus-wide comedy competition that takes place during the winter semester featuring student stand-up comedians. The competition breaks down participants into semi-finals that include the top 10 comedians who auditioned. The finals further break the competition down to the top five comedians.

There are three “Saturday Night Dive” events scheduled throughout the year, the first being on Sept. 20 and the rest following on Oct. 18 and Nov. 15.

“After the events pass, we will assess their popularity and then hopefully put (similar events) on this upcoming winter semester,” Bentley said.

Interested students can contact Spotlight Productions for more information via social media @SpotlightGV (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram), or students can contact Nathan Bentley at [email protected].

[email protected]