No joke: Wichita comedian wins more than $60,000 on ‘Wheel of Fortune’

As of Wednesday, Wichitan Derek Aalders can buy as many vowels as he wants.

The 35-year-old Aalders, who works as a used car salesman by day and a standup comedian by night, won $63,750 on Wednesday night’s episode of “Wheel of Fortune.”

What’s he planning on doing with all that cash, a sizable sum even by “Wheel” standards?

“I’m not sure, really,” he said. “I’d like to keep at least $20,000 of it just in savings, maybe take a trip somewhere.”

But before any of that: the baseball.

Aalders, a self-described “huge” Chicago Cubs fan, plans on buying an autographed 2016 World Series baseball for around $3,000 to $3,500, he said.

“I always said I was definitely going to do that, but now I actually have a way to get one,” Aalders said.

In Wednesday’s episode, Aalders won two toss-ups and one regular puzzle. Most of his winnings came in the final Bonus Round, and when he spun the wheel on a $6,000 gift certificate.

It didn’t take him long to solve the bonus puzzle – for some reason, “all of a sudden, it clicked,” he said.

“I have no idea how I did it,” he said.

Aalders is the latest in a series of Wichita-area contestants to appear on “Wheel of Fortune,” the result of last May’s contestant auditions at the Kansas Star Casino.

Derby’s Bob Stuhlsatz won about $23,000 on the show in February, and earlier this month, Wichitan Jesus Castillo won $14,520 on the show.

David Strathearn, director of marketing and promotions for the Wheelmobile, the show’s mobile contestant-audition vehicle, said there have now been seven Wichita contestants on the show as a result of last year’s event.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 7:00 PM with the headline "No joke: Wichita comedian wins more than $60,000 on ‘Wheel of Fortune’."