Making people laugh is serious business.

The comedian not only must be good in business and clever in creating comedic material, but also have enough gumption to stand before strangers and try making their uvulas waggle.

	Seldom Seem, David Templeton's whimsical perspective on life and times in and around Washington County, appears weekly in Washington Sunday.

Meanwhile, the comedian must book performances, travel great distances to gigs and, as all professional comedians have experienced, deal with annoying drunks and more annoying hecklers.

So a career in comedy is nothing to laugh at.

But stand-up comic Randy Riggle, 42, of Amwell, invites you to do just that. Laugh with him. Laugh at him. Just laugh, and his civic duty will be done.

Ever since open-mike night on Groundhog Day 1982 in the Pittsburgh Comedy Club, where he drew nary a chuckle, Riggle has returned to the stage about 2,500 times in a ribald career as a stand-up comedian.

He relies on his own jokes, impressions ranging from Bullwinkle to Johnny Mathis, along with oddball character sketches and speedy tongue twisters to get goats, bust guts and tickle funnybones.

He once followed a heckler into the bathroom with a microphone to interview the wise guy as the man emptied a bladder. Talk about someone who was PO'd. The guy was reluctant to return to his seat, but received a standing ovation when he did. No more heckles that night.

And this just in: "I've been feeling real creative the last few months," Riggle said.

It's good timing because Riggle is bringing his rollicking, belly jiggling, knee-slapping comedy act home.

He will present "Comedy for a Cause" at 8 p.m. Saturday in Uptown Theatre, Washington. His 60- to 80-minute routine will feature fresh material he describes as edgy but geared to all ages. Admission is $15.

It will represent his first local appearance in two years, although he performs regularly at the Improv in Homestead.

"I do a real clean act," he said. "I can't go into a tavern and do my act because the audience wants a more aggressive style. I prove that you can make someone laugh without using bad words.

"But I am being a little more ornery, as my grandmother would say -- closer to the edge but with no blue or sexual humor. I'm being a little edgier without crossing the line."

Auggie Cook, a veteran Pittsburgh comedian, will open for Riggle. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Washington City Mission and the National Comic Relief, which aids the homeless.

Riggle also will tape the performance to help push his career to the next level. He hopes the promotional tape will land him an invitation to "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," for whom he has written jokes. "They have asked me for a tape," he said, noting their interest in 4? minutes of nonstop hilarity.

In the meantime, Riggle has written a television pilot, "Neon Nights," dealing with a Las Vegas family. The pilot has drawn Hollywood interest. He also has landed regular gigs at the Stardust, Riviera and other Las Vegas hotels with hopes of further developing that aspect of his career.

"It's nice to say, 'I'm playing in Vegas,' and being a feature, headline attraction," he said.

He's no stranger to big venues and demanding audiences.

Riggle once opened for rock star Robert Palmer at Notre Dame University, before 16,000 people. He also opened for Bob Dylan at St. Bonaventure University, and did an impression of the folk rock star who laughed with approval before going on stage.

Riggle admits to being nervous before big performances. And he anticipates jangled nerves when he appears before a hometown crowd with knew material.

"I'm writing stuff I've never done onstage, so it's nerve-wracking not to know what response it will get," he said. "I'm a little nervous because of the wholesale change in material."

In 1982, his first attempt at stand-up comedy was "total disaster." Not to be deterred, he returned to the Pittsburgh Comedy Club in Dormont two weeks later to win an amateur night competition. Now he does 60 to 70 college or university shows a year, although he said his brand of comedy no longer meshes as well as it once did with college audiences.

"I've been told, 'You're just too clean.' " But that criticism or compliment, depending on perspective, has been a benefit on other fronts. It has brought him gigs for Christian functions, college parents-day events and gigs for older audiences. As he begins reducing college appearances, he hopes to land more work in comedy clubs, Las Vegas venues and conventions.

After booking his own acts for 22 years, Riggle also is preparing to hire an agent so he can devote more time to the creative side of comedy.

He does all of his own writing and spends many nights in Holiday Inns creating new material and sending jokes to the likes of Leno over hotel fax machines.

Riggle has emerged as a versatile comedian. He uses an acoustic guitar to do musical impressions, tells jokes and does routines, and mixes in tongue-twisters with character sketches, including one of a NASCAR driver who thanks all 26 of his sponsors in a high-speed tongue-twisting foray before answering each questions.

"I'm good at tongue-twisters," Riggle said. "Sometimes I switch the first letters of words."

Other routines include Jerry Lewis singing a tribute to Tom Jones and impressions of Neil Diamond and Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

A lifelong student of comedy, Riggle met and kept in touch with his hero, Red Skelton, before the famous slapstick comedian's death. "He gave me good encouragement and wrote letters to me," Riggle said. "He told me that even if you are standing behind a brick wall, you can make people laugh."

He draws inspiration mostly from old and departed comedians. He met Bob Hope, who told him to keep doing what he was doing and "Go get 'em kid." He met the likes of Norm Crosby, Shecky Green, Pat Cooper and Lewis.

His Web site, www.standupcomedian.com, provides a comprehensive profile of his career accomplishments and comedy style.

For now, he hopes his Uptown Theatre appearance will bring local respect for a difficult art that must be practiced in public.

"It's almost like a drug," Riggle said. "There's no better high than having people bust a gut on what you said. A lot of friends have never seen me perform, and I've been doing this for 22 years. For them to see me doing an hour means a lot."

And be prepared: He will make your uvula waggle.