A Latina comedian will entertain audience members using real-life experiences during her show today.

Cristela Alonzo will be performing her stand-up comedy show at 9 p.m. today in the 7th Street Underground of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Shauna Miller, a senior English major and the comedy coordinator for the University Board, said the theme for the event is Ladies’ Night and prizes will be given away.

Miller said that people should come out for fun and that they will have a great time.

Before the performance there will be a “Happy Half Hour” at 8:30 p.m. in the 7th Street Underground where Miller said there will also be a donation box that people can place money in to help the HOPE of East Central Illinois charity.

HOPE is a women’s shelter that helps battered women get back on their feet.

Members of the Latin American Student Organization on campus are also helping Miller run the event.

Miller said she is excited for the event and cannot wait to see the turn out.

Alonzo has performed more then 100 shows at different colleges nationwide and was a finalist in 2010 on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. This will be Alonzo’s first appearance at Eastern.

Alonzo is from Dallas, Texas, and has won awards for different short films she has written, including a second-place win for “Five Funniest Sketches of the Decade” on Latina.com.

She has also won best film at the Boston Comedy Festival for a musical she wrote called “TGIF: The Musical.”

Alonzo said she is excited for the event.

“I like doing colleges a lot because I get to meet more people doing shows at colleges than in clubs,” Alonzo said in an email. “I keep in touch with students on my Facebook or Twitter from schools I did two years ago.”

The Latina comedian said she has been a fan of stand-up her entire life. She watched it obsessively as a kid and that she was naturally drawn to it.

Alonzo said she got her start nine years ago when she responded to a help-wanted ad that ended up to be at a comedy club.

“I love performing for audiences that are ready to have a good time,” Alonzo said. “The more loose the audience is, the more loose I am.”

Alonzo said her inspiration comes from her life.

“I can tell you that a lot of stuff I talk about are stories that really happen to me,” Alonzo said. “I think the best laughs come from honesty.”

Erica Aguilar can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].