WARSAW — Eric Totheroh is making his mark in the world not only as a high school teacher, but making people laugh as a sketch artist and comedian.

Totheroh teaches at Warsaw Community High School. He is a teacher for Step One, an alternative education program. A licensed math teacher, he also teaches two math classes.

“I like working with teenagers,” he said. “I feel like I’m making a difference. You wear a lot of different hats.”
He said the best part about being a teacher is “the opportunity to get to know the kids and (students) knowing that they belong here.”

“This gives them a place that’s their place,” he said of the Step One program.

In his spare time, Totheroh enjoys doing sketch comedy. He started an improv group, while at Grace College, with some other students. Totheroh described it as a “Who’s Line is it Anyways?” type of group and led to “SNL” type sketches and shows.

“The group is still around but just for Grace students,” he said.

Most recently, however, he helped form a comedy night in downtown Warsaw.

“We realized there was no place to do that, and we knew there were people out there,” Totheroh said.
The venue welcomes any kind of comedic performers, not just stand-up comedians.

“It’s a venue to give them an opportunity,” he said, adding the crowd, on average, is about 60 people.
Totheroh is also is an actor having acted in several plays at Center Street Community Theater at the Wagon Wheel Theater in Warsaw. His favorite is improvising.

“I love improvising,” he said, adding he considers himself a “sketch artist.”

Totheroh, who grew up in Crawsfordville, graduated from high school in 2010. Totheroh said he wasn’t exactly the class clown in class, but rather “the class clown anywhere but the classroom.”

Totheroh attended Grace College earning a bachelor’s degree in math education. He student-taught at WCHS before getting a job at the high school three years ago.

Performers are welcome to attend the next comedy night from 9 to 11 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, at Tourmaline Event Space, 208 S. Buffalo St., downtown Warsaw. For more information, email him at [email protected] or call (765) 366-4332.

(This story originally appeared in ‘the Paper’ Nov. 16)