Comedian and actor Nick Swardson aims for his stand-up to make the audience feel like they’re hanging out in his living room.

Swardson will perform 8 p.m. today at the Egyptian Theatre, 135 N. Second St. Tickets are $39.50.

Northern Star: When did you first know you loved performing?

Nick Swardson: I would say in junior high. I did a play, and I didn’t really think anything of it. I took theater [classes] because I thought it would be an easy grade, and I was bad at everything.

I did ‘Our Town,’ where I played this drunk piano player, and I got super into it. Afterwards my mom was like ‘Geez, you were really good. It was really funny.’ I said ‘Really? I don’t think it was supposed to be funny.’ She was like ‘Yeah, your director came over to me after and said “Nick got really into that, I think he’s got something.”’ That was my first kind of click that something was there.

I was always a goofy kid and was small and grew up in a tough school. I kind of had to be funny and make people laugh so I didn’t get stabbed in my face.

NS: Besides performing on stage, do you have any tricks for preparing for improv [or] ways of getting the juices flowing?

Swardson: You just get used to it. There’s nothing you can really do to prepare for it. You just go up there and be in the moment. The more you do it, the more you get used to people yelling out, going with the flow and experimenting.

I try not to be hungover or anything. The more sober I am, the more in control of the show I am. If I’m a little drunk or hungover, it can kind of derail the show — just like in any situation.

Most people think I go up on stage hammered or I get drunk on stage. People will send me shots, and I won’t take them so they boo me and I’m just like ‘Well, then boo me. Do you want a better show or a worse show?’ I can do all these shots and slur my way through, but I’d rather put on a good show.

NS: Do you prefer improv or do you like having what you’re going to say lined up?

Swardson: I like both. I mean, I like having a set act to work around but also being completely malleable on jokes I’ve previously done or doing new jokes — working with people yelling in the crowd. Sometimes I go out into the crowd. It’s the best of both worlds where I can do both. I can improvise within my structure.

NS: When you go into the crowd, do the audience members freak out that you’re there?

Swardson: There’s certain bits in my routine where I’ll ask the crowd questions and it’s nothing crazy. I never attack the audience or make fun of them. But people do forget that it’s a live show. I will point to someone and ask ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’ and they’ll just stare at me. It’s like, ‘You’re at a live show right now. I’m not on TV; it’s live.’ They tend to forget that so it’s always really funny to me when they do that.

NS: You’ve worked on a lot of different films. What’s one that always stands out and you think of first when you look back?

Swardson: I would always say “Grandma’s Boy” because that was the first movie where I was writer, producer [and] star of, well co-star. That was kind of the little movie that could. We didn’t have a big budget, and we didn’t have a lot of expectations. I’m always really proud of that movie and that’s the one where I’m most received from.

People are always ‘“Grandma’s Boy!” Oh my god, “Grandma’s Boy.”’ So it’s always had a soft spot in my heart in certain ways.

NS: You’ve worked with the likes of Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell and so many other hilarious people. How have these people inspired you in your performances?

Swardson: All these people I work with I admire so much, so it’s great. I pick up different things from all of them. They all have their own styles. The main thing is that they all commit, which is the key to comedy — pure commitment. I always thought it was cool with Will Ferrell in ‘Old School’ where he’s streaking, and he’s pretty much naked and he’s just totally committed.

He’s totally out of shape and has his gut, but he’s so committed. I remember when I did ‘Bucky Larson’ and I had to be naked and all this crazy stuff and I just completely committed to it. Even though I looked psychotically ugly with these buck teeth, wig and [being] ridiculously pale — I was the most unattractive person — but I was like, ‘I don’t care, I’m just going to go for it and don’t care how I look. I just want to be the funniest and commit to this scene to make it the best scene.’

NS: What is the best advice you’ve been given?

Swardson: The best advice I’ve ever got was when I first was starting out. Everyone told me to move to New York, not Los Angeles, first. It was the best I ever got. Because I was really young and new to comedy, I needed to kind of experience more instead of going to Hollywood right away and getting thrown into that whole mess of auditioning and craziness — just to go and really grind my teeth [and] experience what it’s like to bomb and do tough gigs … . It completely changed everything.

NS: You’ve played a lot of different characters. What would you say was your favorite to play?

Swardson: I would say Terry from “Reno 911.” Just because the entire show was improvised and nothing was scripted. So every day we showed up on set, we had no idea what we were saying. So I would just show up and they’d be like, ‘OK, we’re going to be at the taco stand, and we’re going to ask you if you’ve been doing people’s taxes,’ [and the] camera would start rolling and we’d make it all up. There was not one line in that entire show or movie that was written. Everything was made up. All those guys are incredible improvisers.

NS: Who is one comedian you haven’t met yet but would love to work with, and would you want to write the concept yourself?

Swardson: Steve Martin. I’m a big Steve Martin fan, and it would be incredible to work with him. If the project was good that someone else wrote and it was a fun role and a good pairing … I would love to write something. It’d be kind of intimidating to write for him. It would probably be easier to me to have something someone else wrote and he had approved.

NS: Where do you find the material for your shows?

Swardson: It’s kind of all over the place. Every special I do, I tell true stories. So there’s a couple stories that I have that are true that I just stumbled upon while going through life and then this happens. Then the rest of it is just observational … . But my material is always all over the place. I don’t always have clean segues, it kind of just jumps around.

NS: From when you started to now, what would you say has changed the most?

Swardson: I think the more you perform and the longer you’ve been doing this business, you just find more and more of your voice. You get more and more comfortable. That’s the main thing: You start to ease into who you are as a person. You’re always growing, but I feel like I’ve definitely secured who I am in my place in comedy and what I can do.

NS: Do you have any upcoming projects fans should be on the lookout for?

Swardson: I have a movie called “Hell & Back” with Danny McBride, Mila Kunis, Susan Sarandon. That should be coming out early next year. It’s a rated-R stop-motion movie from the guys who did “Robot Chicken.” We’re really excited about that. I’m also developing my own show for Comedy Central. I can’t really tell more about that. We’re still fine tuning it, but it will be great. A lot of great people are attached or involved.

NS: What can people expect from the show at the Egyptian Theatre?

Swardson: It’ll be a fun, intimate [and] romantic night with Nick. It’ll be a fun show. It’s really laid back. It’s hard to explain, but it’s just as if a bunch of people were in my living room. I just talk to people; I talk my jokes out. It’s hard to explain, but it’ll be a fun night.