Ryan and Friends to perform Sunday

NORWALK — Comedian/ventriloquist Ryan Bomgardner first took the stage at the young age of 12. "I went to my grandmother's church and did 10 minutes and people laughed," says Bongardner, now 38, from Lancaster, Pa. Since then, Ryan, who performs with the act called "Ryan and Friends" performs hundreds of shows a year and has been all over the world. His travels will bring him to Norwalk — where he will perform a fundraiser for Norwalk United Methodist Church — at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, at the Ernsthausen Performing Arts Center. Funds raised will support the church's sanctuary renovations. The show is described as "clean comedy." "I guess you would call me a clean comedian," Bomgardner said. "I do a lot of shows for companies that want a clean show so they don't have to worry about what's going to be said and a lot of what I do is Christian as well." Performing clean comedy can be difficult. "It really is a challenge to try to be completely clean and funny because there's not a lot of comedy out there like that," he says. "What we love about it is everybody from kids to grandparents and everybody in between can come. If you watch stand up specials, they can just swear and get a laugh, but that's not who I want to be as a person." Bomgardner's show features several of his "friends." The show centers around friend Jeffrey, but also features the characters Harold and Irene, Ardy the Skunk and Tiffany. "I have created a lot of different characters over the years but people like Jeffrey the best," he says. He says he will cater his show to the crowd. "Depending on what the crowd laughs at in the first half will determine what I do in the second half," Bomgardner said. Tickets for Ryan and Friends are on sale and can be purchased at Norwalk First United Methodist Church between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Friday, at the courtesy desk at Miller's Grocery Store, and at the courtesy desk at Schild's IGA. Cost for tickets is $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 10 and under.