By Shannon Sturgis Local comedian Jason Thompson is taking his show to Iraq this summer.

LITTLE ROCK — The runner-up in the first ever Arkansas' Funniest Person contest, Little Rock's Jason Thompson, is headed out into the desert, but don't be alarmed.

It's not some peyote-infused, Jim Morrison-like quest for enlightenment; rather, he's going to Iraq next month to entertain our country's men and women in uniform.

"If I can do anything to make their stay over there more tolerable than it is, if you've got that option, you're gonna do it," said the comedian, who explained that in addition to relatives, he's got "a lot of buddies that I graduated with that have gone over there," either in the current war, or in Desert Storm.

The 10-day trip will take him to different parts of the green zone in Iraq, performing wherever he ends up. It will be his first trip out of the country, he said, and he's "definitely looking forward to it."

Though the idea of a traveling comic entertaining troops was made iconic by the late Bob Hope, Thompson won't be touring with the USO. His trip is arranged through Lone Wolf Entertainment and Sam Short Entertainment, a process that actually began when Thompson sent an audition tape more than two years ago - and for a very long time heard nothing.

"To give you an idea how little communication there had been, the subject of the e-mail I got [offering dates] read 'This is Jason Thompson, right?'" Thompson said.

His reaction?

"I freaked out! I freaked out. I love it," he said.

That was last November, and most of the time since has been spent gearing up for the trip - renewing a passport that's never been used and slowly telling friends and family that he's going (a delayed process, as he "knew" if he spilled the beans early, "it would be just my luck" that it wouldn't work out).

"I've been more excited than anything else about the whole thing," he said, reasoning that it doesn't make sense to worry. "If I'm going to get shot, I'd rather get shot being excited than nervous."

In the meantime, he's also working out another way to help the troops he's entertaining. Having made contact with a few local business owners, Thompson is planning to collect prepaid international calling cards to hand out while he's overseas. He's already gotten permission to put collection boxes at Bene Vita, Loca Luna and U.S. Pizza Co. locations, and is in the process of trying to get other restaurants on board. Through the collection boxes he's hoping to get prepaid cards - which must be international - or money to go buy them himself.

"If people don't have the time to do it, then they can just drop money in there, and I'll go pick them up before I go," he said, adding that Bene Vita has already pledged $100 to the drive.

As for his act, he said he's working on a few new things, but plans to stick with his normal stuff, commentary on everyday life - kids, relationships, etc. - that the soldiers can relate to. And perhaps whatever he comes across along the way.

"I have to be tested at the Kuwaiti border for swine flu. That'll be fun," he said.