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Automotive Professor Kyle Schrock isn’t ready to give up his seven-year day job, but at the same time he’s serious about nurturing his fledgling comedy career.

Stand-up comedy implies a fusillade of jokes.

That’s not Schrock. He’s more of a storyteller, whether the clean comic has a five-minute set, like in Niles, or 25 minutes to amble on about “falling off” the Appalachian Trail hiking it last summer.

“As a kid, I remember telling people I wanted to be a comedian when I grew up,” Schrock said in February, two days after “Saturday Night Live’s” 50^th anniversary.

Comedy “is not very stable. It’s hard to have as a real job,” though he has started opening for pros.

Schrock’s influences include Nashville’s Nate Bargatze, “The Nicest Man in Stand-Up” for avoiding profanity, sexual humor and controversial topics. Schrock went to Fort Wayne in May to see Bargatze perform.

“A guy I opened for in Goshen came up with Nate,” Schrock said. “He is a professional New York City comedian. It’s all he does.”

Schrock tested the water for his act at a fundraiser for his church.

That led to competing at Niles’ Underground Laugh Lounge in the former Carnegie library that had been Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce.

“I ended up winning that,” Schrock said. “They had a competition called Funny Over 40 with roughly eight comedians a night for four weeks. The top two made it to the finals the fifth week. I won my week and the finals.”

“A lot of funny people I know say they couldn’t get up on stage,” Schrock said. “I don’t know if I’d have done very well if I’d pursued this before I was a teacher. I like having a good time and injecting laughter into everything. It’s hard to fall asleep in class when you’re laughing.”

His turning point toward laughter

The oldest of three, he chose laughter’s path after a high-school house fire in 1992 claimed his brother’s life.

“Not to get dark,” he said, “but the single thing that shaped my life was my youngest brother passing away in the fire. That kind of changed my mindset on things and altered my brain chemistry immensely. There are two routes after a major event — fall into a deep depression or try to make light to cope. I chose comedy and really started honing my craft, if you will. I’ve said a lot of stupid things in my life trying to be funny and had to take a lot of things back. At my last show, I told a joke the first night and didn’t get the laughter I thought I was going to, so I left it out the second night.

“I think roasts are terrible. I can’t stand watching people rip on somebody, even though the jokes are hilarious. The person getting roasted might seem like they’re okay, but that stuff hurts.”

Schrock’s stories “are about 90-percent truth. Obviously, you embellish a bit. The club in Goshen (Funny Farm) is a clean comedy club. They don’t want R-rated stuff, so I talk about life things. I haven’t touched things I’ve learned as a teacher yet. I have another set in Goshen coming up in April” and had to pass on two dates in May which conflicted with SMC’s graduation and his daughter’s wedding.

With his comedy career not yet a year old, Schrock pondered comedians he admires, such as Jerry Seinfeld, and steered clear of politics from the start, although he enjoys Dave Chapelle, who starred in Chappelle’s Show, a satirical sketch series on Comedy Central for three seasons beginning in 2003.

“The way he tells jokes, it’s like he’s out there just talking with the audience instead of presenting,” Schrock said.

“I like sketch comedy,” like SNL. “I always felt that people who felt the glory days of SNL were a long time ago are the ones who don’t want to change with the times. Your sense of humor should evolve as a person evolves. My wife and I had this conversation during the 50^th anniversary. Lorne Michaels has run the show the whole time except for a few years.”

He began watching SNL in the ’90s when the cast included Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Farley and Norm Macdonald.

“Those guys will forever be my favorites, but I love the new shows as well. It’s still funny. Kenan Thompson is hilarious. He’s been on the show for almost 20 years, which is wild to think about.”

Sets expand from five to 25 minutes

“When I started, I got five to seven minutes in Niles,” Schrock said. “I did a second set at my church and did 12 minutes. I ended up doing 25 minutes in Goshen. I try to reference previous jokes into the story I’m telling. I don’t write anything down, although as most new comedians do, I use a cue card. It’s an index card with ideas to refer back to if I get lost. But for the most part I don’t use it. I can tell like four stories with little jokes interjected here and there.”

“For five minutes, you’ve got to bring it, be funny right off the bat and keep being funny,” Schrock said. “Some comedians think the crowd is laughing all the time when they really weren’t. Some comedians think the crowd isn’t laughing enough when they really are. I’m the latter.

“My wife will tell me after the show I did a really good job, they were all laughing, but I don’t hear it. I have two daughters in college, and I do like to pick on them a bit in my set.

“I try to stay away from degrading my wife. The day after our anniversary last year, she had foot surgery, so I say I got her the most expensive gift I’ve ever gotten her, but I don’t want her to ever feel like she has to hide at a show.”

Kelly also teaches, in Middlebury. They live in Goshen.

With a 50-minute commute to campus, he runs through his routine in his mind, records it and listens to it. He also plays back live performances to gauge crowd reaction.

To take comedy to the next level would mean going to Chicago or Indianapolis and doing open mic nights. Clean comedians are in demand for corporate events.

Familiar faces dot his audiences.

“I’ve had students come see me,” he said. “(Dean) Karen Reilly came to Goshen. (Director of Institutional Research) Angie Evans. Andrew Churchill and Chip Weeks (from the business faculty) and Jeff (Robson),” the other automotive instructor. “It felt awesome that SMC people came.”

His office in the Jan and A.C. Kairis Building devotes space to car stuff, Chicago White Sox bobbleheads and axe-throwing trophies, which so far he hasn’t had to place onstage as a warning to hecklers.