Public speaking is a common fear for many people so getting on stage night after night armed with only a microphone and your wit is one of the bravest acts imaginable. Yet night after night countless comedians travel the world doing just that, bringing laughs to audiences during good times and bad.

“Yeah, it’s weird,” said Los Angeles-based stand-up Dave Landau, performing at Wiley’s Comedy Niteclub on Friday and Saturday. “Because it is a fear of so many people, you’re never completely, 100 percent comfortable, at least right before you walk out.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love it and I’m very comfortable with what I’m doing, but there’s that tiny element of danger that just makes it fun every time,” he continued. “You don’t know what’s going to happen and that’s exciting.”

The 30-year-old comic, now a frequent guest on radio’s “The Bob & Tom Show,” was a 19-year-old theater and film major when he began studying sketch comedy at the Second City Training Center in Detroit. While the Michigan native had long been a fan of stand-up, he never attempted getting on stage by himself and telling jokes until prodded by friends.

“I was always a big fan of stand-up,” Landau said. “I had considered trying it before, but there’s a big difference between standing on stage with six other people improvising a scene and being up there all by yourself. It was just having the courage to do it.

“I started going to Second City because I loved sketch and was hoping to do something with that,” he said. “A lot of people encouraged me to get up there by myself. Almost right when I turned 21 I did my first open mike. I fell into stand-up, and I just love it. I still love improv, and I do it every now and then, but I love stand-up more than anything.”