He mounts the stage, a gray, carpeted 12x10 boxing ring, and for a brief moment my mouth dries. Uh oh! A new guy. He’s the kind of comic you’d expect to find in the bottom of a cereal box; shock of red hair, boyish looks, flash of teeth.

In the 2 seconds it takes for Ron Placone to hesitantly adjust the duct-taped microphone stand, I’ve already grown to like him. This is a guy that oozes charisma- that just screams in dynamo fashion the hearty, steely Pittsburgh of movies like Flashdance and Hoffa.

His jokes are strung like a common law marriage between the colorful rants of comedy legends George Carlin and Bill Hicks- observations on office decorum, swimming with a shirt on, learning the didgeridoo from a child (“It’s so eeeeeasy! This is tooo eeeeasy!”), and an anti-drug war campaign sold with a cleverly crafted, politically pertinent rhyme from “Peter the Pill-Poppin’ Penguin.”

Now that’s a lot of P’s.

In no time the M.C. lights Ron from his cell phone, signaling he’s out of time. Breathless, the 23-year old East Coast transplant welcomes the host back onstage and steps down into the audience.

He’s killed.

In stand-up’s especially ultra-violent lingo, this means he’s successfully yanked a laugh from tonight’s sparsely seated Northwestern rabble. It’s a tough gig, but Ron, in what I can now call his characteristic charm, has enchanted every paying customer to comic wonderment. They love him and rightly so -- he’s no stranger to the spotlight.

Placone first placed his bid on the comedy stage in college at Indiana U, broadcasting on a student run talk show which was generally enhanced with, as Ron says, “whatever stimulants I found appropriate.” Attaboy! He gradually found his way to an open mic in Florence, Italy during a student trip and, fortified with a bottle of wine, managed to mildly amuse a group of his peers.

“Eventually,” Ron says, “I became more bearable.”

And bearable he is. In less than a year Ron has notably climbed from relatively obscure open mic-er to respected performer and staple house comic at The Mainstage Comedy and Music club. He’s performed on both coasts, writes some of the most innovative material to date, and will be performing locally May 14th at the People’s Republic of Komedy’s Laffhole in the Capitol Hill Arts Center on 12th and Pine. Then, like a prophecy fulfilled, (tell me I‘m not prolific!) he’s heading back to Bloomington, Indiana May 26th to perform on the very campus where it all started. And then, and then to Pittsburgh June 6th when he’ll be featuring for international comedian Lord Carrett. Yeah, I know. Royalty.

I’ve gotta say, a comic myself, drafts of fresh air in an entertainment industry crowded with bodies are few and far between. But Ron Placone adds something bright and original to Seattle’s stand-up locale. Tune in next time, I’m here all week.