Comedian Andy Huggins is pictured performing on America’s Got Talent. The comedian will perform at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Northwest Arena at the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival.

Comedian Andy Huggins has been doing stand-up comedy since the 1970s, but his career has really kicked off more recently after an appearance on “America’s Got Talent”.

Huggins will be participating in this year’s Lucille Ball Comedy Festival as a part of the Stand-Up Showcase that is set to be held before the performance of Billy Murray and His Blood Brothers on Sunday night. The event begins at 5 p.m. at the Northwest Arena.

Huggins began his stand-up career by flying from his home in Virginia to Los Angeles and auditioning at a comedy store in LA. He noted that this was in the late 1970s, so at the time there were no comedy clubs in Virginia, meaning that when he decided he wanted to do stand-up he had two choices — New York or LA. Huggins began his career in LA, but then in 1981 he said he moved to Houston, Texas to begin doing stand-up work there as well.

Huggins made an appearance on “America’s Got Talent” during the 2018 season. While he did not advance far on the show and it did not result in him getting television or film work, Huggins said the show has helped advance his career in other ways.

“It has gotten me more work, because when you’re on national television, now more people know who you are,” Huggins said. “It led to higher paying jobs for me. It didn’t lead to any TV or film work, which is fine because I’m not particularly interested in that, but it did lead to more club work, which is what I want to do.”

While “America’s Got Talent” helped to advance Huggins’s career more these days when he is in his 70s, Huggins said his comedic influences growing up come from his watching of the “Ed Sullivan Show” and other afternoon television, citing specifically comedians such as Rodney Dangerfield, Henny Youngman and Woody Allen. He said these comedians were his influences because they follow the same comedic style as he does — one-liners.

“My style is their style,” Huggins said. “That’s how I would make my friends laugh off stage.”

Over the course of his career from beginning in the 1970s to his larger career now, things such as technology have changed and grown, including in the comedy industry itself, but Huggins said nothing much has actually changed in the way that he performs and does his stand-up comedy.

“Nothing has changed for me,” Huggins said. “I know how I want to do it, and that’s what I continue to do. I’ve just improved at it over the years. As far as comedy goes, more people are attempting it, there’s more stage time, and it is more highly thought of than in the 70s.”

During his part of the stand-up showcase on Sunday night, Huggins said people should expect his show to be similar to what he does in other places, and be ready for one-liners. Being able to participate in the Comedy Festival is something that he said he is excited for.

“It’s a prestigious festival and I look forward to meeting more comedians and new people that I’ve never met,” Huggins said. “I’m excited to meet new comics and tour the museum and it will be a lot of fun.”

Huggins said he hopes people know he is “a very good stand-up comic”, and that people will assume that with his participation in the festival. He also promised to keep everything low-key in his show.

“There will be no shenanigans from me,” Huggins said. “I promise I will behave.”