Mike Birbiglia is a big-time comedian.

He's released four albums, had two specials on Comedy Central and is a regular on talk shows like The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

But even Birbiglia, who will be performing in Alumni Hall on Saturday night, had to get his start somewhere.

Birbiglia's career began when he was a sophomore at Georgetown University, when he won the "Funniest Man on Campus" award.

"If there had been a 'Worst Student on Campus,' I would have won that, too," he said. Because being funny always came easier to Birbiglia than academics, he chose to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.

"I was always a little ADD in school, and comedy was the manifestation of the ADD in a positive way," Birbiglia said. "We'd be reading Peter Rabbit, and I'd be thinking, 'If you're going to name your first kid 'Mopsy,' you shouldn't name your next kid 'Flopsy.' Meanwhile, the other kids were actually reading the book."

Birbiglia said he faced all the challenges that come with starting a career in comedy and in the entertainment industry, the toughest of which was the sheer amount of competition.

"There's a lot of people doing it," Birbiglia said. "You really have to stand out. The best way to make noise is by being unique from other comedians."

Once you've found your niche, he said, the best advice is just to work hard.

"You can never do enough writing and performing," he said. "It's easier said than done, but it's all about practice."

Now that he and his material are more well-known, Birbiglia said he faces a whole new set of challenges.

"There's a demand to write more material," he said. "When you show up at shows, people have heard your CDs. Live, I'm always kind of doing my next CDs, the unreleased stuff. Comedy and rock and roll have kind of a different dynamic with audiences."

Joining Birbiglia on stage this Saturday will be a few comics who are a bit greener than he is.

Jeff Kornberg, the president of the Full Ammo Improv Troupe and organizer of the event, said Birbiglia will open and close the show and emcee between other comedians. Birbiglia will do roughly 50 minutes of comedy in all.

Kornberg, who will be performing musical comedy, said he has been writing songs for six years. He also held auditions to select the three other comics who will be performing: Brandon Gulya, Tim Portnoy and Mike Skurko.

Gulya, a senior English major at Rutgers University, began performing at open mic nights the summer after his freshman year of college and got off to a good start. Now, Gulya performs at clubs in New Jersey and New York, but he is struggling to find gigs consistently.

"Sometimes I'll perform two or three times a week, and then I'll go weeks without a show," he said.

Gulya, who lists George Carlin, Demetri Martin and David Wain as influences, said there have been other obstacles as a new comedian.

"Once I started performing in New York more, I met a lot of tough audiences," Gulya said. "It's not always a supportive atmosphere."

Portnoy, Class of 2007, said when those laughs do come, it makes all the hardship worthwhile.

"The first second I got a laugh," Portnoy said of his first performance ever, last year opening for Michael Showalter, "it was the funnest thing ever."

Portnoy said he only began performing stand-up last year, but he's always been interested in comedy and has been acting since he was in elementary school. His comedic territory is now the city of Boston, but he, too, is having his share of troubles.

"Coming up with material is not easy," he said. "And it's tough breaking into the scene in a big city."

Skurko (senior-meterology) doesn't have the track record of the other performers, but he's still eager to get out there.

"This is the biggest thing I've ever done," Skurko said. "The unique thing about comedy is the more people you have to perform in front of, the easier it makes it. It's hard to get enthusiasm from 10 people, but the laughter created by 1,000 people in Alumni Hall is much greater."

Even if Skurko never makes it anywhere but in State College, he has no regrets.

"It's just a hobby," he said. "If it doesn't turn into anything, that's fine. I had fun doing it. But who knows where it can go?"