How do you do, Andy?

What: Andy Erikson at “Men With Hats”

When: 8 p.m., tonight

Where: Comedy Corner Underground in the Corner Bar’s basement, 1501 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis

Cost: Free

If you’re the blonde who was wearing a pink backpack on the route-three bus last Friday, the 6’1” brunette who helped you out with directions wants to say sorry. She realized (too late) that she told you the wrong way to get to Centennial Hall. She feels bad about it.

If you want to have it out with her in person, her name is Andy Erikson and she’ll be at the Corner Bar tonight at 8 p.m. Set a trap for her — she won’t be able to resist an assortment of cutie beasts (think: a tamed squirrel, a hamster, a live unicorn) and some doodling materials. But you probably won’t want to fight the comic when you catch wind of her personality, which is as sweet as her diet.

“I eat candy every day, all the time,” Erikson said.

At tonight’s “Men with Hats,” Erikson might talk about pictures she drew when she was a little kid, including a drawing of figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. But Erikson won’t be doing standup, because that’s against the rules at this new variety night. The premise of the show, created by Justin Colucci and Jesse Towler, is that comedians perform anything but their regular routines. So some comics will do characters, some will sing songs and all will prove that they’re not one-(liner)-trick ponies.

A collection of Erikson’s drawings and jokes, along with an imagined interview with Lee Ann Womack, an original song and a Stephen Colbert-style auto-interview, will be featured in the book she’s been working on, called “Dolphin Pants and Secret Unicorns: Jokes for Weird People.”

If the 24-year-old comic is seen tip-tapping away at her cellphone, there’s a good chance she’s recording a bolt of comic inspiration. The tiny messages Erikson writes to herself like, “In case of a fashion emergency, who should I contact?” and “Pretend you’re a horse; now explain your first spiritual experience using horse language” are the unedited embryos of jokes. They will incubate and grow into the joke babies she’s been delighting (and at times, perplexing) crowds with since she was a student at the University of Minnesota.

And these little jokes have legs. They get around to her website in the form of blog posts, pictures and videos, and her Twitter in the form of standup-ready one-liners. They rest in the memories of the audience members that make up her growing fan base.

Comics are notorious for unhappy backgrounds, often stepping up to the mic saddled with broken families and broken hearts. But Erikson’s supportive family keeps her from becoming a sad clown. If she’s not writing joke ideas into her phone, Erikson might be texting her mom, who has always supported her comedy career. Along with her grandma and other family members, Erikson’s mom enthusiastically drove her to open mics every single night when she was rendered immobile by a back surgery in college.

Having her family members with her was beneficial for all involved: Erikson’s mom brought cookies to open mic nights and bought groceries for the comics when she saw how under-employed and hard-working they were.

“My grandma used to heckle me and yell things like, ‘Tell your Walmart joke!’ and I’d be like, ‘Shut up, grandma!’”**** Erikson said.

As a graphic design student at the University, Erikson got a lot of love from her professors too. When her grades started slipping, she admitted to a professor, “I’m not a graphic designer; I’m a comedian.” So her teachers took up the cause and helped her do everything possible to develop as a comic.

Once, Erikson skipped out on a typography class to try out for “Last Comic Standing“ — her professor told her he wouldn’t count her as absent if she did her standup routine in front of the class. Afterward, he gave her tips.

Her graphic design professors taught her the things that became useful in her comedic career — how to develop ideas, create an identity and be remembered. They also allowed her to be herself.

“They let me be weird,” Erikson said.

Erikson has kept her graphic design degree in her back pocket, doing freelance work and designing websites and business cards for local comics and flyers for events. She’s also trying to make her pictures a bigger part of her routine.

“Comedy is challenging. It’s like little puzzles you have to solve,” Erikson said. “You’re trying to make people laugh, and you’re still trying to be different, and you’re trying to find out who you are.”