When he arrived at Penn State in the summer, Will Lewis was disappointed by the absence of a student comedy club.

Taking inspiration from the format of his high school's comedy club, Lewis (freshman-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) took it upon himself to start one -- the Comedy Night Club.

"Basically, the Comedy Night Club is a group of students who get together and put on one massive show with skits, films, improv, fillers, music and stand-up comedy," he said.

The club will also include a subcommittee in charge of putting on smaller comedy shows and events throughout the year. Lewis, president of the club, said this subcommittee would also be in charge of coordinating public comedy stunts, which he referred to as "flash mobs."

A flash mob is "a group of individuals who put on costumes and meet in a public place," he said. "Then, they put on a crazy stunt that makes heads turn. It's completely random."

Lewis said he has already generated interest in the club, recruiting 30 members, even though the group hasn't had its first formal meeting.

The first meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in 102 Thomas Building.

Club member Ryan Schaaf (freshman-premedicine) said he was interested in the club because it plans to donate half of its proceeds to the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.

"The first thing that came out of [Lewis'] mouth was that this would benefit Thon, which got me excited about it," Schaaf said. "It's a charity effort where we get to use what we're good at -- making people laugh."

Lewis said he hoped the first meeting would bring in new members.

"We're looking for anyone who thinks they're funny. We also need people with good ideas. We need people who will go out into public and make fools of themselves," he said.

The main focus of the club will be to organize a big comedy show at the end of the year, probably sometime in April, Lewis said. A six-person committee in the club will decide what ideas will go into the club's main show.

The people who came up with the idea will spearhead the creation of their segment, Lewis said.

"They will have control over their part of the show."

One of Lewis' goals is to generate enough funds to bring in a big name comedian to close the show.

"My dream would be to get Jim Breuer when I'm a sophomore, Dane Cook when I'm a junior and Robin Williams when I'm a senior," he said.

Drew Brennan (freshman-professional golf management), the club's treasurer, said the club would be able to bring in enough revenue from shows and fundraisers to book a popular comedian.

Lewis said he has high hopes for the club's future.

"By the time I'm a senior I want this to be the biggest and best student-run show in Penn State," he said.

People who are unable to attend the club's first meeting, but are interested in the club can e-mail Lewis at wkl5003@psu.edu.