Cracking jokes, being sarcastic, making people laugh — such is the life of a comic. Bobby Miyamoto embraces the stereotypical lifestyle, but he knows how to bring his own flavor to the art of comedy.

“I’m low-key, sometimes sarcastic,” he said. “I’m not bells and whistles by any means, but sometimes I say ‘low-key,’ and it sounds boring, but I’m not saying that at all. I’m just not yelling and screaming. If I tried to act that way, it wouldn’t come off right.”

Miyamoto will bring the laughter to the IMU Black Box Theatre at 9 p.m. today for a free, Campus Activities Board-sponsored event.

Chatting over the phone from his New York City apartment, he said he did not grow up wanting to be a comedian. He started to do open-mike nights in Los Angeles, where he wrote for a radio syndicator. He thought comedy would be a good springboard into writing or broadcasting, which makes Miyamoto appear to fit outside the typical comedian image.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t watch a lot of standup — I like [television] shows,” he said. “I mean, I like standup, and there are so many funny guys out there, but I don’t have just one guy who is my hero. I like other stuff — like the top shows or Internet stuff.”

Miyamoto said that location plays a key role in comedy writing. Some jokes and bits will only work on the coasts of America, in bigger cities such as Los Angeles or New York City, he said.

“When you go into clubs in New York and stuff, they’re going to be talking about the subways, or the parks, or maybe the museum, where in Iowa, people probably don’t relate to that much,” he said.

“But I definitely think surroundings inspire you to write things. I think a lot of it translates though — people get it. I think [my writing] probably would be different if I lived in the Midwest, though.”

Miyamoto considers himself a club comic, and chuckles when people tell him he appeals to the college-age crowds.

“I don’t know that I do,” he said. “But I do a lot of comedy clubs more than I do colleges, so I don’t know that I appeal so much. I’m more of a club comic than a college comic. It’s weird labeling stuff like that. I’m not really good at it, and I don’t even know if I could define it.”

Miyamoto compared his performance to that of a band — he has a general idea of what he’s going to say but throws in some improvisation.

“When you’re doing the old stuff, once you’ve done it 50 to 100 times, sometimes you forget why it’s funny,” he said. “So whatever’s new will crack me up — maybe not crack the crowd up, but it will make me laugh."