BY KAREN BOSSICK

Eddie Ifft has been on Comedy Central. He co-hosts “Talkin’ Sh*t,” one of the most successful podcasts in the comedy world. He’s appeared on “Chelsea Lately” and spent a season as the ABC College Football Guy. He’s played a personal trainer on the FX Network sitcom “Legit” and he’s done man-on-the-street segments on the Queen Latifah Show.

And his DVD live from Australia was filmed in front of a sold-out crowd at the Sydney Opera House.

But before all that he spun jokes at the Boiler Room and Duchin Room at Sun Valley Resort.

And he can’t wait to come back—this time to do his stand-up comedy at the new Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum.

Ifft will appear at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, performing in the intimate setting of the Bailey Studio with cabaret table seating. Tickets are $15, available at www.theargyros.org or at 208-726-7872.

“I’m good friends with Mariel Hemingway and she said, ‘You need to come up and do your show again.’ And she ran into someone who made it happen,” said the Los Angeles comedian. “I can’t wait to get back. I grew up a skier and mountain biker so I love Sun Valley. I love coming up there.”

Ifft, who graduated with honors from the University of Pittsburgh, was once called one of the most underrated comics in America by “Onion.”

“I’d rather be overrated,” he said.

But, if he was indeed underrated in his home country, he certainly made his stand for comedy around  the globe. He was one of the first American comedians to tour the world, and he’s played in more than 20 countries since 2000.

“I played Brazil, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Africa… I’ve been to Australia 22 times. I go to those places and travel around ahead of time so I can come up with jokes about the countries in which I’m in—their food, other things. And I do the same thing when I come to Sun Valley.

“I see things differently than others so I can turn something that might be something locals don’t give a second thought about into a joke.”

In recent years, the Internet has created heightened interest in American comedy around the world as it allows people in those countries to see what comedians are doing.

At the same time, the Internet has spurred more competition for comedians like Ifft.

“Everybody wants to do everything. They can have nine jobs and they still want to do stand-up comedy on top of those jobs,” he said.

Ifft majored in political science in college and that’s served him well as he parlayed political incorrectness into a career. Known for his quick wit and caustic style, he quips he has a habit of speaking first and never thinking.

“I like to make people laugh at things they wouldn’t necessarily think they would laugh at. Really, it’s okay to be offended. Maybe I can make you think, maybe I can make you reshape your thinking.“