Some of my favorite shows on TV are late night shows. Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, Trevor Noah, Seth Meyers, you name it, I probably watch it. So last year when I had the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new late night show, I couldn't say no.

Creator Josh Feinblatt (left) chats with hosts Kat Brady and Eliot Fish before the season 2 premiere.

Studio B premiered last year and, back then, we only had about 25 students working on the show. This year, that number has grown to around 40 including production, writers, and talent. A lot of time and effort goes in to creating a half-hour show, so it's only natural there's a huge team. A member of that team is sophomore Alec Petraske, a 19-year old Television, Radio, and Film major.

Like me, Alec started writing for Studio B last year when the show was in its early days. Although Petraske has written many jokes for the show, he says the team is still trying to work on jokes that land and resonate with the audience.

"Finding the best joke to fit with the audience is like trying to take references and assumed things in society and turn them into funny moments and situations," Petraske says.

Writing jokes for the show is a long process. First, the individual writers take international headlines and create rough jokes. The jokes are then edited multiple times by the entire team and once the jokes are finalized, the team has a conversation about whether to include the joke in the final show. Sometimes, the wording and content of the joke is what makes it or breaks it.

"Everyone understands certain things like pop culture, sex, and potty humor," says Petraske, "Everyone experiences the same stigmatization around those topics which is why they're funny."

The Google Document shared among the writers goes from 10 pages of jokes to just two before the show is finalized and cue cards are written.

But most of the jokes aren't just one-liners. Studio B also has a few characters, similar to Drunk Uncle and The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party from Saturday Night Live. Petraske says he's more "partial" to writing characters than monologue jokes.

"There's so much you can do with characters," says Petraske, "Monologue jokes are one line and then you go onto the next one. Characters you live and breathe."

Petraske and since-graduated writer Nick Smolenski created Dr. Condo Barcaloni, a fake doctor who gave terrible advice on what to do during allergy season. Petraske says Barcaloni was his favorite character to write because "he made me laugh the hardest".

Fake doctor Condo Barcaloni as portrayed by Nick Smolenski. Iconic line: "If you mean Michael Jackson Bad, catch me in the Purple Rain, sweetheart."

While writing is enjoyable, Petraske says--and I agree--that his favorite part of working on Studio B is "100% the people."

"Being in a room with funny people makes your whole day. It doesn't even feel like work, which is the best part," Petraske says.

The writers watching their cold open before going live. From left: Dan Prager, Alec Petraske, Caleb McDonald, Jennifer Skulski, Eliot Fish, Mackenzie Sammeth, Kat Brady, and Kayla Anderson.

The more you hang out with the Studio B team, the more you realize that we're a family. We all love to make people laugh. Petraske hopes he can continue to bring humor to the people in the future.

“I really enjoy writing for late shows," says Petraske. "I think it's 100% what I want to do at some point in my life and I'm glad Studio B is my first taste of that. I saw the application in my email and, luckily, I never turned back."

Live From Studio B is on OTN every other Sunday at 8pm. Previous episodes can be found on OTN's YouTube channel.