diff --git a/2004/omoikane/try.sh b/2004/omoikane/try.sh
index 791cbebae..a026aff27 100755
--- a/2004/omoikane/try.sh
+++ b/2004/omoikane/try.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,19 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# try.sh - demonstrate IOCCC winner 2004/omoikane
+#
 
+# make sure CC is set so that when we do make CC="$CC" it isn't empty. Doing it
+# this way allows us to have the user specify a different compiler in an easy
+# way.
+if [[ -z "$CC" ]]; then
+    CC="cc"
+fi
+
+make CC="$CC" all >/dev/null || exit 1
+
+# clear screen after compilation so that only the entry is shown
+clear
 
 read -r -n 1 -p "Press any key to run: ./omoikane omoikane.info omoikane.info omoikane.output: "
 echo 1>&2