Tonight, students and residents of State College will be laughing for a good cause.

The Penn State Marketing Association (PSMA) will hold a comedy show for the ALS Association at Café 210 West at 8 p.m.

According to the ALS Web site, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a disease of the motor neurons affecting the brain and spinal cord and eventually leads to death.

PSMA held a similar charitable comedy show two years ago but wanted this year's show to be connected to those surrounding the event.

"This year we wanted to do another one, but we wanted to pick a charity that everyone had connections to," said Natalie Rogers, event coordinator for the comedy show.

Club President Melissa Schipke lost a friend to the disease.

Drew McLachlan, one of the performers at the event, also knew Schipke's friend, and it was the two of them who suggested ALS for the event, Rogers said.

Other members of PSMA also had personal ties to the disease, and they all agreed to donate the profits to ALS, Rogers said.

"We wanted a charity that there wasn't much done for on campus," she said. "We wanted to raise money for something different."

Schipke's friend McLachlan "has been doing gigs in New York City," Rogers said.

The other two performers -- Jeff Konkle and Tim Dimond -- have been performing at the Pittsburgh Improv, she said.

All of the comedians are "friends of friends within PSMA and Penn State," Rogers said.

Konkle has a sister who is a senior at Penn State, and Dimond is friends with Garrett Bogden, director of the entertainment and event planning division of PSMA, Rogers said.

After being asked to perform, Dimond contacted Jeff Konkle to do the show as well.

"I very rarely get to come back to Penn State ... so I jumped at the chance of that," Konkle said.

The comedy show will feature a lot of variety.

"I do a mixture of stand-up and musical comedy," Dimond said. "If you've ever seen Stephen Lynch, [it's] similar to that ... I write funny songs."

Dimond said his show will feature a rap about a fetus as well as some "guitar stuff." However, because of a cold and a weakened voice, he may have to stick to stand-up comedy.

Konkle said he will talk about war and how it has changed over the years as well as girls, and his "lack of understanding of them"

Rogers said all of the comedians are performing for free, which helps the group give as much money as they can to ALS.

"It's a really good cause and charity, so that eases my conscience for a week or so," Dimond joked. "I love performing. I love the stage. If I can combine those two, I don't need to get paid. It's a win-win for me. There is no reason I would say no."

Tickets for the show are $15. Rubber wristbands for Lou Gehrig's disease will be sold for $5 and raffle tickets for gift certificates are $1. All proceeds from admission and other sales goes to the ALS Association, Rogers said.

Café 210 West is providing a private room and a decently sized stage for the show, Rogers said.

"We chose it because the people there were very accepting of the idea, and they were willing to give us the actual venue at no cost," she said.

Free appetizers will be available for those attending, and drink specials will be featured all night. The doors will open at 7:30 p.m. The show begins at 8.