Former Saturday Night Live star Ellen Cleghorne spent last night sharpening her stand-up routine at Easy Street Cafe.

Bowling Green is but one of 14 performances on her Midwest tour – one that she hopes will make her a funnier comedian.

“I’m just looking forward to getting better and better,” she said. “I’m always looking to find the perfect joke; the perfect rhythm.”

Searching for perfection is important in comedy just as it is in any other form of art, according to Cleghorne. But many don’t feel the same way, she added.

“A lot of people don’t see it as an art form,” she said. “But there’s writing, performing, an audience – and a lot of hard work.”

After performing almost daily in New York City, Cleghorne said getting to perform for small-town audiences is a welcome change of pace.

“They seem more relaxed,” she said. “They really enjoy playing along and participating.”

Though she recently has been focused on stand up, Cleghorne is experienced in sketch comedy, too, having spent four years on Saturday Night Live and half a season on In Living Color.

Along the way, she has worked with some of the biggest comedians in the business.

“I’ve worked with everybody from Sinbad to Jim Carrey to Adam Sandler to David Spade,” Cleghorne said.

But she hasn’t always performed alongside giants. At least not in high school, when she and a friend recreated classic comedy bits for friends.

“My girlfriend and I used to listen to Cheech and Chong and Richard Pryor,” she said. “Then we’d adapt their acts and do them for ourselves.”

After college, Cleghorne spent time as a dramatic actress but soon grew tired of trauma and tragedy.

Once she saw her high school friend doing stand up, she decided it was time for a change.

“It was so depressing to always be dramatic,” she said. “You have to cry every night. And you’re not saying what you want to say.”

But, when it comes to comedy, it’s hard to compare performing on television to working from a stage, according to Cleghorne. The two mediums each have their strengths, she said.

“It’s like comparing Italian to American food – they’re both good, as long as you’re hungry,” she added.

If comedy is food, Cleghorne is getting a taste of Ohio right now.

Aside from Bowling Green, other nearby spots on Cleghorne’s tour include Freemont, Defiance and Ashtabula.

“Only the hubs of Midwestern culture,” she said with a laugh.