Laughter erupted from the M- Shop Tuesday night as students performed for their peers in the annual Veishea Says I’m Funny stand- up comedy competition.

After many side-splitting jokes and hilarious anecdotes, Joey Ficken, a marketing major came out on top.

“I started doing comedy since January of 2010, so a little over two years [ago],” Ficken said. “This is my third time doing VSIF. Last year, I placed and I was really surprised that I won.”

Ficken said his hand shook as he took the release form to get paid his $25 prize money.

“I never win anything so I was really excited,” he said.

“Joey has improved a lot since the first year he did VSIF,” said Connor Nolan of SUB. “His stage presence has gotten better and so have his jokes.”

Ficken’s joke forming process is very organic.

“I’ll be with my friends and start to think ‘How can I turn this into a joke?’ or sometimes, they just come to me,” he said.

Ficken performs around Ames and Des Moines, and dreams about doing stand up comedy as a career.

“It’ll be hard, but I want it to work,” Ficken said.