Wearing a Campus Activities Board shirt, comedian Tammy Pescatelli took the stage on Oct. 26.

Drawing on events from her own life, including her travels, Halloween and her bad swearing habit, Pescatelli flooded Taylor Performing Art Center with her comic routine.

She also added bits about her time on the hit NBC series “Last Comic Standing..”

“They wanted me to be a funny Tony Soprano,” Pescatelli said. “I’m like, ‘he cuts off heads.'”

A Sicilian from Cleveland, she spoke about her family, from her twin uncles who looked “like a couple of Joe Pescis,” to her father, a huge guy who wears a rainbow sweat-shirt.

“We got kicked out of Disneyland, the happiest place on earth,” she said.

Pescatelli kept the audience laughing with jokes about Joplin and the area during her hour-long set.

Admission to the performance was free, with members of the Kappa Alpha fraternity taking donations for the United Way at the entrance.

The event brought in more than $800, all of which will be donated.

By quick thinking, CAB booked Pescatelli before she reached her current height of fame.

“This was like a needle in a haystack,” said Julie Blackford, director of student activities. “We can’t bring Chris Rock in.”

Blackford estimated more than 900 people attended the event.

After her performance, Pescatelli stayed backstage to sign autographs and take pictures.

Aside from the celebrity stereotype, she was grateful to the students and members of the community who came out to support her.

Pescatelli wants to make people laugh about things in life and said being on-stage is what she loves the most.

“You have to find your voice,” she said.

Pescatelli got her comic start at an open-mic night.

She said her brothers dared her to do it.

So, she put together an act, auditioned, performed and the rest is history.

Since then, Pescatelli has been a recurring guest on “The Bob and Tom Show,” has been on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and was the master of ceremonies at The Cleveland Improv.

As the master of ceremonies, Pescatelli worked with countless headlining comedians such as D.L. Hugley, George Lopez and Chris Rock.

She said she has worked with almost every big name one could think of.

She has traveled to Florida to entertain hurricane victims and went to Iraq and Kuwait to entertain troops where she said she gained new respect for the American troops.

A 10-year comic veteran, she is grateful for the time she spent on NBC and said the “Last Comic Standing” validates her career with the people who are the most important in her life.

By seeing what she went through, they opened their eyes to intricacies of her profession.

As for Pescatelli’s future, she said she would like to do a television special or sitcom, but plans to tour with “Last Comic Standing” winner John Heffron while staying high profile.

Blackford said Pescatelli’s success serves as positive reinforcement for future comedians.

“[With comedians] it’s a fine line and she walked that line really well,” Blackford said. “She was respectful of everyone, but still funny.”