Southern Illinois will get a chance to see a little of the funny side of Chicago when B. Cole, a Windy City native, brings his comedy to the Student Center Friday night.

Cole is from Chicago’s South Side. He comes from a neighborhood that does not play around, he said.

I come from the wild hundreds,’ he said, referring to the area south of 100th Street. Up here it is the real thing, Cole said.

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Cole said he is looking forward to coming down to Southern Illinois.

You guys do drive-bys on tractors, but that is cool, he said.

He has performed with stars such as Bernie Mack and Rudy Ray (Dolemite) Moore.

He was scheduled to perform on both In Living Color and Bernie Mack’s HBO show, but both shows were canceled before he was supposed to appear, Cole said.

It was some pretty bad luck, he said.

His comedy is derived from current events, and he talks about anything from the weather to O.J. Simpson, he said.

My comedy is the 10 o’ clock news put in a funny way, Cole said.

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He draws from current events because he finds the truth funny, he said.

There is no topic I won’t touch on, Cole said. I’ve got to thank O.J. He has definitely helped out my career.

His comedy reflects his life experiences and his identity but is not limited to those things, he said.

I don’t just talk about blacks, he said. There is a lot of tragedy out there, and I want to turn tragedy to comedy, Cole said.

Cole said he has a big influence on his younger brothers.

They want to be funny, he said. I want to go through the red tape so they will be able to live life on Easy Street.

It is a cold world, you got supply your own heat, and you got to take care of your own.

He said many people are too serious.

Sometimes you got to take a deep breath and laugh, he said.

B. Cole performs at 9:00 Friday night in the Big Muddy room in the basement of the Student Center. Admission is $1.