DeKALB | Amateur comedy in DeKalb is easy to find in the classroom, the fraternity house or at the house party. Local, premeditated comedy is more elusive.

Friday night at The House, six comics and the improvisational comedy group String Cheese Bikini jeered the crowd into smirks, giggles and boisterous cackles.

The crowd at The House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, peaked at about 40 people, despite the approaching Easter weekend. In the sporadic moments when the crowd erupted in laughter, one could feel confidence build in the evolving comics.

The Comedy Fair was hosted by Chris Fair, a senior media communications major who is known for his self-deprecating style.

“I thought it was good,” said junior business major Jake Minol. “We are devoid of stand-up in this area.”

Fair has a sense of humor in all things, with his profile URL, www.myspace.com/topher489, adding together two jarring numbers to make an original joke.

“It would be exciting to get a paid gig out here,” said comedian Victor Marinier from Chicago.

Marinier, along with his roommate, headliner Dean Carlson, got the largest crowd reaction of the evening, especially when he talked about the fallout from the birth control pill Seasonale.

Fans of live comedy in DeKalb have had to travel elsewhere because there are no comedy clubs in DeKalb. Exposure is difficult for local comedians.

Fair believes this market could bear a comedy club or comedy scene if more touring comics were attracted while traveling in and out of Chicago.

“There is definitely a market for comedy anywhere,” he said.

A different brand of comedy, improvisation, gave the show a quick change of pace.

String Cheese Bikini’s witty cast played several games that rendered awkward feedback building to unscripted moments of hilarious reactions.

The show allowed the actors and comics to develop their stage presence and timing, and helped them become comfortable on stage.

“I’m learning things every time,” said Fair, as he continued to question the sequence of his act, acknowledging what played well and what he needed to tweak.

“I am always up for stage time,” Marinier said.