After a summer full of tragedies across the country, students arriving on Trinity’s campus could definitely use a good laugh to get themselves into a positive mindset for the beginning of a new academic year, and there is one man more than able to provide just that. Comedian Michael Palascak will perform at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 25, in Laurie Auditorium to wrap up Welcome Week 2012.

Palascak grew up in the Midwest, eventually spending most of his time in Wabash, Indiana, a city whose claim to fame is that it was the first electrically lighted city in the world.

After college, Palascak moved to Chicago in the hopes of making a living off a career in comedy. He took sketch and improv classes at The Second City and at The Annoyance Theatre and Bar. Palascak’s first show, a one-person sketch called “Pursuing Happiness,” was about people who moved out of their parents’ house, started a successful career and got married, which Palascak himself has yet to do.

Palascak first emerged onto the professional comedy scene on The Late Show with David Letterman, although that was not his television debut; when he was nine years old, he appeared on Chicago channel WGN’s The Bozo Show, a locally produced children’s television program.

He has also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and he made his Comedy Central debut on season three of Live at Gotham.

Students should mark this event down on their calendars as Palascak is sure to entertain before classes really get into gear for the semester. For more information on Palascak and his comedy, visit his website at www.michaelpalascak.com, follow him on Twitter @michaelpalascak or like him on Facebook.