Knock, knock. Who’s there? The Student Activities Board. SAB who? You would be a sorry SAB to not attend the National College Comedy Competition on Monday, March 3, at 7 p.m.

The comedy competition is part of a larger nationwide competition that covers 32 campuses across the country, pitting the winning Saint Louis University comedy team against the likes of Columbia University, Duke University and the University of Missouri.

“We thought it would be a good opportunity for organizations to showcase people [who] might be the comic relief of the organization,” SAB president Ainsley Onstott said.

If you’re not one to perform your schtick in front of live audiences, there is also a comedic film aspect of the competition. Submitted films must be between 15 seconds and five minutes in length and may not include nudity, hate speech, violence or other inflammatory content.

Stand-up comedians will be judged at the live event based on which act garners the most laughs, as determined by audience-member votes. From there, the chosen winners (there will be no more than eight from each school) will form their college’s own comedy team, which will compete against St. Louis-area colleges at Funny Bone (614 Westport Plaza).

The top 16 candidates in each category will have their material posted on rooftopcomedy.com, where registered members of the website can vote for their favorite acts. The top four acts in each category will then present their pieces at the national finals. Two $1,500 cash prizes will be awarded to the winners, one for stand-up comedy and one for comedic short film, as chosen by the audience.

In addition, one winner from the participating schools will be randomly chosen to receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Aspen, Colo., to attend the final performance.

“Besides the Battle of the Bands, SLU doesn’t do a lot for people to show their talents,” Onstott said. “If you don’t play an instrument, this would be a good opportunity to show your skills.”