Sunday Mic at Marfa Gallery

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Monday Mic at Solo Kitchen Bar

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Monday Mic at Martini Red

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Monday Mic at The Drama Book Shop

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Tuesday Mic at The Vibe Lounge

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Monday Mic at The Whales Tale

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Thursday Mic at The Limerick House

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Sunday Mic at LuLu Lounge

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Friday Mic at The Village Lantern

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Thursday Mic at The Village Lantern

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Wednesday Mic at The Village Lantern

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Tuesday Mic at The Village Lantern

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Monday Mic at The Village Lantern

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Saturday Mic at The EastVille Comedy Club

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Wednesday Mic at The Wylde Chyld Tattoo Cafe

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Thursday Mic at LuLu Lounge

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Wednesday Mic at Broadway Comedy Club

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Wednesday Mic at Belleville Lounge

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Wednesday Mic at Crepe N' Tearia

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Monday Mic at Crepe N' Tearia

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Saturday Mic at The Parkside Lounge

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Wednesday Mic at The Waltz-Astoria

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Wednesday Mic at The Duplex

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Tuesday Mic at The Cake Shop

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Monday Mic at Fins Pub

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Wednesday Mic at The Village Lantern

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Tuesday Mic at The Production Lounge

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Monday Mic at The Underground Lounge

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Wednesday Mic at Spike Hill

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Monday Mic at The Root Hill Cafe

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Wednesday Mic at Goodbye Blue Monday

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Tuesday Mic at The Puppets Jazz Bar

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Monday Mic at The Puppets Jazz Bar

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Friday Mic at Stand Up New York

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Thursday Mic at The Callahan's

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Wednesday Mic at Stand Up New York

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Tuesday Mic at Greenwich Treehouse

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Monday Mic at Stand Up New York

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Sunday Mic at Stand Up New York

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Saturday Mic at The Comedy Corner

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Friday Mic at The Comedy Corner

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Thursday Mic at The Comedy Corner

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Wednesday Mic at The Comedy Corner

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Tuesday Mic at The Comedy Corner

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Friday Mic at Broadway Comedy Club

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Sunday Mic at The Comedy Corner

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Thursday Mic at New York Comedy Club

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Wednesday Mic at O'Hanlon's Pub

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Tuesday Mic at The Creek & The Cave

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Monday Mic at New York Comedy Club

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Sunday Mic at New York Comedy Club

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Friday Mic at Ochi's Lounge

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Thursday Mic at Ochi's Lounge

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Wednesday Mic at P&Gs Bar

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Tuesday Mic at The PIT

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Monday Mic at Ochi's Lounge

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Sunday Mic at Ochi's Lounge

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Friday Mic at Eastville Comedy Club

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Thursday Mic at Eastville Comedy Club

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Wednesday Mic at Eastville Comedy Club

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Tuesday Mic at Eastville Comedy Club

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Monday Mic at Eastville Comedy Club

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Sunday Mic at Botanica Bar

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Saturday Mic at Every Thing Goes Cafe

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Thursday Mic at Tagine's Restaurant

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Wednesday Mic at The Club 21

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Tuesday Mic at Comic Strip Live

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Monday Mic at Tagine's Restaurant

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Sunday Mic at The Perch Cafe

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Monday Mic at Charley O's

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Friday Mic at the Daioch Sushi

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Thursday Mic at The Limerick House

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Wednesday Mic at the Daioch Sushi

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Saturday Mic at The No Limits Bar

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Wednesday Mic at The Abigail Lounge

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Tuesday Mic at The Abigail Lounge

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Sunday Karma Mic at The Karma Lounge

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Saturday Woodshed Mic at The Legion Bar

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Friday Gutbucket Mic at UCB

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Thursday Happy Hour Mic at The Underground

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Tuesday Mic at the Laugh Lounge

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Monday Marathon Mic at the Laugh Lounge

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Sunday Marathon Mic at the Laugh Lounge

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Harry Tuman

Today I am interviewing Harry Tuman, a comedian born in West Milford, NJ who has been doing comedy for a year. To find out more about Harry, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

My maturity level is the driving force behind my jump into comedy. I can't seem to act like I'm supposed to. In high school I would draw all over my friend Keith's chest and he would walk around the halls without a shirt. I ate worms during lunch and sometimes Keith would lick the lunch room floor for 5 bucks. At first the older kids paid me to eat worms, but after a couple weeks I just started doing it for the passion. I always knew there was something wrong with all of us that couldn't be fixed. The principal called my friends and I the most immature seniors he had ever seen in his life and the next year he quit. I liked being called immature. It wasn't my fault I didn't hit puberty until my early 20's. I've always wanted to get involved in comedy, but first I needed to do everything I was supposed to do, go to school and get a real job. I recently came to a point in my life where I felt like I was on auto pilot and something needed to change. The first time I got on stage I knew I was terrible, I still am pretty awful. Most of what I used to say wasn't even a joke. I would tell real things about myself which is weird because in real life I tell jokes to hide from those real things. Now a year into comedy I realize I have to start telling jokes. Nobody wants to hear why I hate the government or how hairy my feet have become, until I spin it in a nice clever way. I still think that all of my jokes suck, but this gives me motivation to keep trying to make them good. When you have a folder on your computer called poop jokes you know you have a long way to go. I find it hard to ever appreciate anything, because I feel like I am constantly trying to prove what I can do instead of actually taking a second to realize where I am. I'm not sure I will ever know how to live in the moment, but I'm pretty sure doing comedy is making it easier to understand that moment. I can't get mad that I paid a ridiculous amount of money for art school, because it brought me to New York City, showed me the importance of being original, and made me stop watching so much TV. Comedy isn't going to get me money anytime soon, but maybe money isn't for me. I proved that I can make money and survive in the city doing something a little more than mediocre, now I need to prove to myself that I can make something great.

What is an average day in your life like?

My average day is spent in an office with huge windows that don't open. You can look at the air, but you can't smell it. I make art on a computer for a television network that I will call B. I stare at a monitor for about 8 hours (more like 10 hours) a day. I sit in my office thinking about how bad I want to be a comedian full-time and how bad of a comedian I am at the same time. I write down every idea that comes to me and organize them into folders. I complain that my job holds me back from digging deeper into these ideas, when it's really just me being lazy. I go to open mics about 3 times a week and usually write down half assed ideas and think that I will turn them into something great on stage. It hasn't happened yet. I realized you actually need to create the material before you get up there and then convince the audience that you are creating the material while you are up there. For so long I thought comedians did a lot of their stuff off the top of their head and I've tried this so many times and failed miserably. When something comes off the top of my head on stage it is usually from something I wrote down a couple days, weeks or months ago that makes sense for that particular moment. Sometimes I bomb so hard that I think I might cry. It brings me back to my childhood where I would get picked on and be too nervous to have a quick comeback. My goal now is to lose the nerves on stage so I can have that natural comeback for every bad joke I tell. The natural real life comeback has taken me 25 years to get down, so the natural comeback on stage should take another 25 years.

How much time do you devote to writing and performing comedy?

I spend most of my time writing things down, but not necessarily writing. I write at work, at home, on the train. I am that guy who takes down entirely too many notes to the point where people probably think to themselves, who is this douche? It is a good way to avoid conversations with people, but at the same time it makes me look like an idiot because people think I am writing in my little diary. I always carry a pen and pad or a tape recorder. The tape recorder isn't the best idea because I hate hearing myself talk and so does everyone else when they are standing next to me on the train. It's all about the moleskin. No homo. I figured out the best way to organize my observations and ideas on my computer, but sometimes I get so caught up making sure I have all of the up to date material on my hard drive that I don't actually write, I organize. My next step is to try to make sense of this crap. I don't have the confidence to perform everyday yet, but at some point I will have to perform everyday. I need comedy to escape from the mediocre lifestyle I set up for myself, pushing buttons in an office for people who have no idea what they are doing. I don't believe in what I am doing right now for money. It doesn't seem real to me. Looking back on my first year of comedy I realize my first couple months were very hacky, like my penis is Jewish or let's talk about sex and poop. None of this had any real meaning behind it. I started out trying to figure out what kind of jokes made people laugh, but I realized I was being a hack. Honesty and truth make people laugh. I am prepared to give everything I have to this and as long as I discover something new everyday I'll be happy. Who am I kidding I want to make money doing comedy so I can quit my job. My goals are to get good, get respect, and then quit my job. If I can't get to the point where I am able to quit my job I will do it anyway, but in this economy I might get fired before I have to make that decision. Thank you Slava, for making me feel important.

Jim Hill

Today I am interviewing Jim Hill, a comedian born in Bernardsville, NJ who has been doing comedy for four and a half years. To find out more about Jim, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I had come to a point where I needed real meaning in my life & it came down to choice between Christianity or comedy. I wanted something that would provide unconditional love and acceptance, so naturally I chose comedy! And besides, what’s really funny about a guy DYING for my sins... Wait, tons of shit, bad example. Seriously though, I’ve always wanted to be a comedian, but I’m scared shitless in public speaking situations. So even though I had that desire, stupid, paralyzing fear kept me from doing it. That, and a typical middle-class, wife, house & two kids, too-busy-to-shit-properly, suburban lifestyle. Luckily, divorce gives you all sorts of free time, though. A woman I dated after I got divorced thought I was funny and said that I should seriously give comedy a try. So with her encouragement, I took a class and was hooked after that. Life’s been all downhill ever since.

What was your first time performing comedy like?

It was fucking awesome. That’s the only way to describe it. You ever read or hear a story of some sexually confused dude who once the first dick touches his mouth instantly knows who he is? That’s what it was like. Once I hit the stage for the graduation class I knew I had found myself and the best part of it was, I didn’t have to suck a cock. (to my kids, for the record, Daddy’s never sucked a cock). What a rush. I forgot my material halfway through. I mean I totally forgot it. It felt like I had been rebooted. I’m just standing there looking at the crowd and they’re looking at me... Somehow I improvised some shit right there, got back into my material and made it through 5 minutes. The second I got off stage I wanted to do it all over again.

What is the meaning of life?

There is no meaning other than what we give it. Be good and love those who deserve love, and make fun of the rest. Everything else is pretend, made-up bullshit designed to keep us occupied until we die.

Ester Steinberg

Today I am interviewing Ester Steinberg, a comedian born in Tampa, FL who has been doing comedy for over two years. To find out more about Ester, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing stand-up because my father (a failed comedian and now attorney) convinced me that it was the greatest and most honorable thing in the whole world. He had brainwashed me since I was about five years old and I have been worshiping great comedians like Steve Martin and Bill Hicks ever since. By the time I was seventeen I had a wealth of material from carrying around a notebook and pen one summer. I took a small class on stand-up comedy for a few months and learned a great deal by studying other comedians. My teacher, Rany, focused on analyzing brilliant comedians and asking the question "What makes that funny?". For the graduation show I did twenty minutes of material with bits on topics such as my high school year book, breaking up with my boyfriend, and my college admissions essay. I am now in college at NYU and hitting the comedy clubs very regularly to hone my skill.

Do you have any tips or tricks for writing or performing you could share?

The best tip I would give people who want to do comedy is to write down what they think is funny in their every day conversations. If you think of something original like an idea for a joke or a premise write it down and worry about the funny later. Also, record everything when you are on stage because magic happens when someone is in front of a crowd and you may not remember why this set was great and the one before it was terrible. Most importantly, memorize your fucking set. How are you expecting to work the crowd and own the stage when your notepad is in front of your face the whole time?

What does stand-up comedy mean to you?

When stand-up comedians walk on stage they are putting themselves in the most vulnerable position. I think stand-up is the most raw form of comedy, it's great because there are no rules. It takes a special type of person to enjoy walking up on stage in a room full of strangers and trying their damnedest to make everyone laugh. I think I was born with an odd sense of humor and I believe that there are no boundaries when it comes to stand-up. There is nothing more challenging I have ever done in my life, and I am always trying to be better than the night before. The whole process of writing jokes, then performing them, and finally polishing them up has kept me on my toes these two past years. My favorite moments on stage have to be when something crazy and ridiculous comes out of my mouth unexceptionally and the crowd bursts out laughing–like I said before, magic happens on stage and there is a thrill of not knowing what is going to happen next. It is that thrill that is very addictive.

Lisa Haim

Today I am interviewing Lisa Haim, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for over two years. To find out more about Lisa, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I've always loved comedy and starting from an early age, I loved to make people laugh.
One of the earliest memories of performing for the laugh in front of an 'audience' was at the dinner table when I was in elementary school.
From time to time, my deeply Italian mom would get into these really bad moods.
You looked the wrong way and that bionic hand would come out of nowhere and remind you who was boss.
So, there we all were, at the table, eating in silence and fear. I went to the pantry to get something and saw a can of Progresso cannelloni beans. Instead of coming back with whatever was asked for, I came back with the can of beans and stood next to my angry mom and proceeded to do an entire Progresso bean commercial in Italian with bucked teeth: "Eat these beans and you will fart your way into heaven. With these beans, you'll never need to go to a gas station again, etc."
PS~ in case you didn't know, anything having to do with farting and/or related to farting is one of the funniest things to an Italian.
Needless to say, my mom cracked up so hard she had to leave the table, I think, to change her pants because she pissed in them.
Now how could this experience not make an impact on my life and how I wanted to live it? (To this day, if I can make her laugh to the point of pissing herself, I know I've done my job)

What is an average day in your life like?

Well, I like to wake up early and have a cup of decaf with steamed milk because usually my masseuse is at my apartment by 8:00 a.m. Afterwards, I'll go over to the club (Reebok) and work out with my Pilates trainer (I'm obsessive about exercise). By then it's lunch and I'll usually walk down to have a bite at Jean George - their lobster Sanit Georges is to die. To digest (you should never lie down right after a meal as it interupts digestion) I'll go to the Time Warner Center around the corner and shop. I'll call the driver at around 5 or so because now I've exhausted myself and how am I going to get home with all those bags? Then I... ok, I have to stop- I'm even nauseating myself.

My average day is so average, it's too boring to write about. It would probably piss you off reading how just how average it is. Then I'd have to get the beans out and...


How much time do you devote to writing and performing comedy?

I try to write four/five days a week for one-three hours a day.
I do about 3 shows a week on average and know I need to get out a lot more.
I make sure to fit in at least 2 hours a day to beat myself for not doing more to further my comedy career.

Geoff Morris

Today I am interviewing Geoff Morris, a comedian born in Rancho Cucamonga, CA (yes it's a real place) who has been doing comedy for four and a half years. To find out more about Geoff, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

Actually, I was talked into it by a friend of mine while we were both in law school. I was thinking of dropping out and becoming a writer and he thought I would do well as a stand up comedian. I never thought I was funny enough to do stand up so I always declined. A couple months before graduation I knew I didn't want to be a lawyer so I decided to give stand up a shot. My friend convinced a booker to set up a 10 minute spot for me on a Friday night line up at Stand-Up NY but gave me less than a week's notice. So I wrote some jokes as quick as I could, got a lot of friends to show up and I did pretty well. I was invited back by the club to compete in some New Talent competitions and I've been doing stand up ever since.

What is your writing process like?

My writing process is pretty random. Most of my ideas come to me while I'm at work, in a subway or out with friends so I'm usually outside of the house. I keep a small notebook on me most of the time to take down notes or I make a recording on my cell phone. When I sit down to write I'm usually developing jokes from those ideas. I come up with ideas by just writing down things that I feel strongly about or any observations I find interesting. If I get stumped with an idea I just write anything and everything I can about it until something comes to me.

Where do you keep your jokes and did you ever lose any?

I'm old fashioned in that I still keep my jokes on note books and not on a computer. Something about writing jokes on a computer just doesn't appeal to me. I leave my joke books scattered around my apartment and fortunately, I've never lost any. Most jokes I write down I memorize so I'm not too worried about losing them. Although once I left my small note pad at a bar and panicked thinking I had lost it. When I got it back I told myself I would save all my jokes and joke ideas on a computer but I still haven't done it.

Mike Dobbins

Today I am interviewing Mike Dobbins, a comedian born in Huntington, WV who has been doing comedy for nine and a half years. To find out more about Mike, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

It's always come naturally for me to make friends and people that I know laugh. I've always loved doing imitations of different people and movie stars, reciting dialogue from comedic movies in front of people at parties, improvising kooky monologues, shooting comedic happenings with friends, making up funny songs and writing the music, changing lyrics of serious songs to make them funny, playing characters on college radio, making people laugh on the job, etc. Then one day I thought, "Now do it on stage out of the comfort zone and with less control of the audience you don't know anything about." And I'm glad I did because now I get to do what I love!!! It's a rush. I still haven't met Judy Carter yet, but her book about Stand-Up comedy helped me a lot in the beginning. It was neat to generate some material from the writing exercises in her book.

Have you ever reached a low point in your comedy career and how did you deal?

I had no money, no job, no friends, no girlfriend. No pets. I was coughing up a lot of phlegm. There was nothing really in the refrigerator. I wasn't showering regularly, the beard was coming in pretty thick. I was at a point where I didn't know who I was or where I was going. Seriously, no one was really talking to me. I had completely ostracized myself. I don't know man...then I just went out to a thrift shop near Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and I found a cassette tape. I don't know if you've heard of a band called "Genesis". I brought the tape home and one of the songs really said some things I was feeling...the song "Land of Confusion". Serious lyrics, but it had an upbeat tempo. And I hadn't felt rhythm in awhile down in the dumps. But I felt it move through my body. It was really the drums. I found out that Phil Collins was the drummer for Genesis! Things started to change after that... especially in comedy.

What was the weirdest thing that happened while you were on stage?

Two flip flops that had auditioned to be the inspiration for Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville" flip-flop were heckling a wizard aardvark and pelting the aardvark with gobs of nutmeg lotion. The aardvark owned 7 I-95 gas station condom vending machines and had made a joke about people using flip flops to protect the bottom of their feet from athlete's foot but not being able to defend their johnson from syphillis and that his condoms ruled and flip-flops sucked and that he was an awesome wizard. The joke had bombed but the flip flops were still pissed. One flip flop rubbed some nutmeg lotion over the left eye of the aardvark with his tong, in a tussle, while the other flip flop who was completely wasted, constructed a peanut shell castle with candle wax on a barstool table. This is happening right in front of the stage. My throat became very dry at that point and I hadn't brought a water bottle up on stage with me....41 minutes to go, headlining. Then tiny Shaq clones wearing Orlando Magic jerseys jumped from a hole in the wall and began fighting each other for that castle! Five of the clones then grabbed hold of the flip flop, jumped together and slam dunked it into the aardvark wizard's ear. The aardvark had been pretty tame up that point magically but then flipped the script and summoned an "air horn spirit" that blasted Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart" sound explosions for what would have been the rest of my set. Three jokes in, Slava.. show got canceled. Venue got shut down.

Alison Grillo

Today I am interviewing Alison Grillo, a comedian born in Montclair, NJ who has been doing comedy for two years. To find out more about Alison, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing stand-up comedy because I was the only child of two good souls with certain emotional issues that they kept largely to themselves, but which created in these two souls a real need for entertainment. This sounds like a very altruistic reason to do comedy, but perhaps it’s true. I will add that I’ve always had a need to draw attention to myself – not everywhere, not all the time, but in certain special places and on my own terms. I’ve always liked to make people laugh. My sense of humor was what distinguished me from others. I knew this, even if not everyone else did.

Thus, I started doing stand-up comedy as a youngster, right after dinner, and strictly for my parents. My performances, of which I have only the sketchiest memory, were entirely improvised, and marked by a kind of manic silliness that I’d like to somehow recapture for current use.

I did not do “formal” stand-up comedy until college, when I performed a few times in the university coffeehouse. The performances were anything but improvised. I wrote out every joke, every pause, every aside. I still write out nearly everything I do and say on stage, though I am trying to open myself up to the wonderful possibilities of surprise. With this goal in mind I am taking a course this autumn at the Upright Citizens Brigade. My previous experience at improv – in the American Comedy Institute’s one-year program – taught me that improv is scary but also satisfying. One would think it would make you a more spontaneous and better stand-up. We’ll see.

Back to my youth: The summer before my senior year in college, I summoned the nerve to take the bus to New York (from my suburban New Jersey home) and do a few of the monthly open mics at the old Improv on West 44th (?) Street. I pretty much bombed, and decided I wanted no part of a pro comic’s life. So I went to graduate school to study public administration. Mistake!

It was only two years ago that I came to New York City, intent on becoming a professional. I was at a life crossroads. I had been living in San Francisco but was tired of it. I had been teaching college English but had decided I needed a break. The creative projects that had kept me away from stand-up comedy – fiction writing – no longer captured my imagination, though I had over the years published some short stories and a novel-excerpt in decent literary journals. Plus (and please brace yourself, if you’re not familiar with my act) I had just undergone sexual reassignment surgery, and was battling the depression that sometimes follows that operation. With the encouragement of a therapist, I came to New York for a month and took Stephen Rosenfield’s workshop at the ACI. I enjoyed it, but confided in Rosenfield that I was probably too depressed to be a good stand-up comic. Laughing, he said most comics were depressed. I decided right then and there to move to New York and take his one-year program. Becoming a rich and famous comedian seemed a fine way to reclaim something from the shambles of my life, post-operation. (Okay, I’m exaggerating, for comic effect. I’ve always been a somewhat cautious, orderly person, and my life has never been a shambles). If nothing else, pursuing stand-up comedy seemed a great excuse to move to New York, my all-time favorite place in the world, but one I had avoided actually living in, for the usual sensible reasons.

What do you think about the future of stand-up comedy?

Stand-up comedy’s future seems reasonably secure. The concept of a performer standing alone before an audience and entertaining them in a quasi-conversational way seems basic enough to human interaction to prevent the form from going out of style, at least for a while.

On a personal “bias” (to borrow from the fashion columnist Bernice Peck) I see women becoming a greater force in stand-up comedy. I also see a greater prominence for “queer” people -- people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or anyone for whom the term “straight” does not feel right. And beyond that -- in a world still some years away -- I see performers, producers and, most important, audiences renouncing their habit of categorizing people as “straight” or “queer,” and instead focusing on who is funny, who has something to say, who has an interesting story to tell.

Diversity (sexual and otherwise) in comedy is essential, for the art form is potentially very conservative. Let me borrow now from Adam Goldman’s biography of Lenny Bruce: there is a tendency, as with any art form involving satire, to ridicule anything new and different. In the process we get laughs, sure, but, we might end up inhibiting the personal growth of those more impressionable audience members who happen to feel connected to whatever or whoever is being satirized. The problem is compounded when too many of the satirists are from the same demographic. (Maybe I should confess right now that I don’t do a lot of observational jokes. When I do, they are usually so off-beat and weirdly peevish that the joke is on me.)

It’s time for me to relinquish the subject of identity politics and instead discuss something perhaps just as unsettling: technology. A comedy coach I worked with, Tim Davis, told me the future of stand-up is multimedia: that is, Conan O'brien-style interaction with video, and whatnot. This makes a lot of sense to me. Video is an important tool, a tool modern audiences demand to see used; in school, who among us did not delight when the teacher announced she was showing a movie, or one of those old “film strips” (I’m going back a few years.) I saw Maggie Cassella in Provincetown this summer; her act was nicely enhanced with a few slides here and there shown on a screen behind her.

With or without technology, stand-up comedy might well become a bit more theatrical in the future. I’d like to see, for instance, more elaborate, character-driven interactions between the comics on a given bill; or a return of comedy teams; or more use of props; lighting effects; more shows that mix stand-up comedy with sketch, improv, cabaret, and other forms. Sure, we’ve lived in an age of specialization for many years now. But it doesn’t always have to be that way.

What is the meaning of life?

I’m unsure of the meaning of life, but it may have something to do with love. We must love one another: other humans, other animals, anything that it makes sense to love.

Human love is the area I most want to work on. I want to love myself, and I want to love others: the other comics, the emcee, the wait people, the person at the door, the producer, the club owner. Of course I don’t necessarily mean loving them in a sexual way. I mean loving them in a more spiritual way, in a way that affirms our common humanity. Loving them in a way that makes the night go faster and make people feel better about sharing space in a comedy club with other human beings. All of this is real hard because stand-up comedy – liked any art form -- is typically performed under less-than-ideal circumstances. Sometimes it’s easier to hate than to love.

For me, the word “human” connotes an imperfect being, or even a being who may superficially seems ugly, unappealing, dangerous, whatever. That’s why this love thing (in or out of show business) is hard. It’s hard, for instance, for me to love certain audiences: audiences with the wrong facial expressions, the wrong posture, the wrong size, the wrong clothing, or whatever. But maybe I don’t conform to their preconceived image of an entertainer, either. So we have to try to love each other. Give each other a break.

Through love we are able to build the world we would like to live in, or prepare ourselves for the next one.

Josh Guarino

Today I am interviewing Josh Guarino, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for less than a year. To find out more about Erik, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

That's the question I usually ask myself while crying into a bag of Pop Secret after a bad set. The real answer is that I spent the entire spring of this year listening to comedy albums at my office job. After awhile, I got to thinking about some ideas that could become stand-up material. I sorta snuck over to Ochi's Lounge one Friday night for the Virgin Mic without telling anybody, imbibed lots of liquid courage, and did a completely thrown together set that surprisingly got at least one or two laughs. Since then I've been bit by the comedy bug and try to squeeze in an open mic after work every day. My girlfriend also is super supportive about the whole thing. She still willfully comes to open mics two or three times a week. She's got a big heart and a high threshold for pain.

All that, plus I used to marvel at Jerry's collection of cereal in "Seinfeld" and thought, one day...

What is the worst job you ever had and did it have any effect on your comedy?

The worst job I ever had was selling reverse mortgages to people in economically depressed areas (including my own hometown in New Jersey). The office was in DUMBO and I'm pretty sure only one realtor there had a license. And there were about 75 realtors working under that one license. One of my bosses looked like Marlo Stanfield from the Wire and freaked me out about taking a bathroom break too soon after I started my shift. I don't know if that job has had any lingering effects on my comedy (it was over three years ago). I had a job recently at a New Zealand meat pie shop in Brooklyn that shall remain nameless. The boss of that place... I don't want to be sued for slander, but that guy was just made of hatred and despair and awful, awful reggae. He'll definitely pop up in one of my sets soon.

How do you deal with the fear of someone stealing your material?

I'm not sure anybody would even want to steal my material, so why should I be scared? Even if I had good material at this stage in my comedy career (if career is even an applicable term, maybe something more fitting like addiction or malady), it's not going to be something I can control. I can't be in every club at every show at all times. The only thing I can hope is that whatever joke somebody decides to steal from me bombs horribly and ruins their whole set. Or it launches them into the stratosphere and I have a tale to tell while I scrounge up enough change to pay for a cup of coffee. Either way.

Erik Remec

Today I am interviewing Erik Remec, a comedian born in Helsinki, Finland who has been doing comedy for less than a year. To find out more about Erik, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I enjoy talking in front of people and I wanted to get really comfortable on stage and work on my stage presence. Doing stand-up is the hardest gig in show business, right? There is nothing to hide behind when you're up there. It's all about you. So I figured if I could do stand-up, I could do anything. Also, I've been really fascinated with comedians lately and the documentary film 'Comedian' about Jerry Seinfeld working the clubs trying to build an act really struck a chord with me. So on a whim, I decided to take Jim Mendrinos' stand-up comedy class at Gotham Comedy Club in New York. Jim is brutally honest in class, but he's a great motivator as well and really pushes you to work hard.

What was your first time performing comedy like?

I was god-awful. Actually, I was worse than god-awful...it was more like I had a complete meltdown on stage. The stage-fright took over and I could barely remember my name, never mind remembering any bit of an act. But quitting wasn't really an option. I just stuck with it and got my ass back on stage. And let me tell you, each time it got better. I remember reading an interview with British comedian Eddie Izzard where he said that when he first started, he couldn't do stand-up to save his life but he kept at it. He got good by doing show after show... now he's playing Madison Square Garden in January. For a long time I was under the impression that only super talented individuals can become great performers. Sure talent counts but more than anything, it's really all about how much work you're willing to put into your craft.

What is the weirdest thing that happened while you were on stage?

You mean besides my complete meltdown on stage?! Well, I don't know if it's really a weird thing but I did do this comedian contest show at this bar in Westchester, NY. I was woefully out of my league. The other performers had been doing comedy for a couple years & I think I had done maybe one open mic prior to this show. I almost bailed literally minutes before I was to go on. I couldn't remember anything! But I went up anyway and did OK. I wasn't expecting to win (and I didn't) but that wasn't the point. Getting through my set in front of strangers was all I cared about and I got through it. Thankfully, I went on early before the audience really got liquored up. It got pretty ugly at the end of the night!

Rob Gilbert

Today I am interviewing Rob Gilbert, a comedian born in London, UK who has been doing comedy for less than a year. To find out more about Rob, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I moved out to New York last October to start life at Drama School here in the city. I knew nobody out here. In order to keep my friends and family updated on what I was doing out here I created a group on Facebook simply called 'Rob's New York Update' every Monday I would write a couple of paragraphs about the previous week. Before I knew it people were emailing me and sending me messages raving about how funny this update was. So I kept writing them, and every week more and more people would join this group and email the updates to their friends. I went home this summer and it's all people wanted to talk about! So I decided that when I moved back to New York I'd start telling these stories and other stories from my life on stage at open mic's. If you would like to join the group then just click on this link (he shamelessly advertised).

Do you have a favorite topic to talk about on stage?

I like telling stories. I think comedy is funniest when it's true and honest and if you try to hard with a joke it might not work. With me most the stories I tell in real life and on stage are about Women and Sex. Women have an amazing capacity to totally take over my thoughts and drive me insane weather it be because I like them or loather them. Of course Sex (or the pursuit of it) usually fits in nicely with the topic of women.

Where do you get your ideas?

Real Life things that have happened to me. I think everyone has a good story to tell about their day and if they are enthusiastic about it then it's a good story. I have a bit about the worst cup of coffee I ever had, I could just tell the story by saying 'I had a terrible coffee in an absolute shithole the other day' and leave it at that, but it's more fun to talk about the sagging breasts of the waitress who served me. In New York City it's impossible to walk 5 blocks without something crazy jumping up and slapping you in the face and it's these crazy things from everyday life that give me my ideas.

Aalap Patel

Today I am interviewing Aalap Patel, a comedian born in Baroda, India who has been doing comedy for three years. To find out more about Aalap, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing comedy because I'm foolish enough to think I'm good at lots of things. I watched a lot of SNL and generally liked comedy when I was growing up. I always considered myself to be a funny person, and always enjoyed the company of other funny folks. Also I didn't have much of a plan in my life, originally I thought I might become a novelist or poet. I never really appreciated stand-up until i was much older and tried to do it myself. I guess the real reason that I do stand up is to prove to myself that I'm actually funny, or as funny as I think I am. I'm glad to be in NY doing stand-up because I get to watch great comedians all the time and it keeps me striving to get better.


What is your favorite thing to do besides comedy?

I enjoy reading blogs. Not the most exciting activity in the world but there's an endless supply. I especially like reading productivity and personal development blogs. It's fun to get excited about making changes in one's life (though I rarely follow through on any of these changes). Some of my favorite blogs to read are Mark's Daily Apple, Tim Ferris's blog, Steve Pavlina's Blog, and various comedy blogs. I also love listening to podcasts, my favorite right now being Comedy and Everything Else.

Can you tell me one weird thing about yourself?

I sleep on the floor. I haven't had a bed or slept on a mattress for about 8 years (not counting the occasional visit or vacation). I usually have a small cushion that I lay on the floor. I'm not opposed to sleeping on beds. I think I do it cause I life to fool myself into thinking I'm less materialistic than others, but then i spend my weekends playing Xbox 360, so it breaks even.

Adi Blotman

Today I am interviewing Adi Blotman, a comedian born in Israel, who has been doing comedy for two and a half years. To find out more about Adi, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I've been interested in doing stand up for a long time, but it scared the crap out of me. I was doing improv for a few years and knew that I wanted to be in the comedy field, but being alone on stage was something I didn't think I could actually do. A couple of years ago I made a New Year's resolution to at least try it, so I took a class at the Manhattan comedy school, to see if I liked it at all. I actually really enjoyed the class and the writing, and at the end we had to do a show at Caroline's. I could not stop shaking the whole day and on stage, but I destroyed that room and completely fell in love with stand up.

What are your plans for the future?

I don't plan on ever stopping. There are a lot of things I want to accomplish but they all revolve around stand-up and making people laugh. I am starting my own open mic with another brilliant female comic called Amy Albert, and plan on also producing more shows and hopefully getting seen by the right people, so I can start getting paid for doing what I love.

What is your favorite thing to do besides comedy?

My favorite thing to do besides comedy? Sex. But comedy comes first.

Mike Hernandez

Today I am interviewing Mike Hernandez, a comedian born in New York, NY a long time ago who has been doing comedy for a year and 4 months. To find out more about Mike, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing stand up because I really truly love the art form, from the very first time I saw it on A & E'S evening at the improv. I think I was fourteen at the time, and living in Puerto Rico, I taped every show and stole the jokes and told them in school in Spanish.

What is your favorite thing to do besides comedy?

Women!... also watching sports and playing sports, movies, video games and chillin with my friends and family and a bunch of other crap.

Can you tell me one weird thing about yourself?

I'm a comedian and I love it, even when I bomb, that's freaking weird. (Bombing just makes killing so much sweeter).

ps. making people laugh is freaking awesome.

Steve Rossi

Today I am interviewing Steve Rossi, a comedian born on Grosse Ile, a a small island in the Detroit River, who has been doing comedy for four years. To find out more about Steve, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

My goal was to do stand up in a club by my 21st birthday. Which I did. At the time I was in school and I already had this wanting to do comedy.
I was taking a screenwriting course and my script would get laughs when the class read my 10 pages aloud each week. That class was what finally
pushed me to get up and do stand up comedy outside of the dorms. That, combined with my utter disdain of everything college.
I went to Michigan State University, the biggest school in the fucking country. If you got to class late you'd be sitting in the nosebleed section 600 feet up.
So my disenchantment with college- which by the way I realize the irony of my college screenwriting course being my incentive for stand-up- but outside of that course, Michigan State sucked, for me.

99.9% of people will tell you how much they loved MSU; how it was the best thing that could ever happen. They'll paint their body green and put on a wig and there's thousands of them that do this. To this day nothing makes me happier than seeing the student body- 50,000 hung-over drones- leaving the football
stadium after their team blew it. Some girl with a green S on her face, puking on her friend.

I'm giving you way more information than you're asking.

I'll hurry it the fuck up with the next 2.

Let me just clarify the very beginning, I started doing stand up 4 years ago in Michigan during my senior year of college. The second I graduated I left to New York. I ended up working in production for Montel Williams for two years, which was a 70 hr a week job. In Michigan comedy is sparse and I was lucky if I
got up 2 times a week. When I moved to NY, I worked morning til' night on a talk show, so again I was lucky to get up 2, 3 times a week. Only since I've lost
my job a little over a year ago have I really been able to dedicate my efforts to comedy.

Aren't you glad I clarified? Now you don't give a shit twice.

What is the worst question you've ever been asked?

I worked at an ice cream parlor- which incidentally I put out of business- but in the 10th grade I worked at an ice cream parlor and a woman asked me, "Is Superman, Vanilla?" (Superman in case you don't know is a disgusting Red, Yellow and Blue concoction. It is not Vanilla.)

How do you deal with rejection?

I've been thinking awhile for an answer to that too. I don't know. I have OCD plus my Mom is always coming down on me because I don't want a real job.
So I'm usually worried about other shit.

Levi Coleman

Today I am interviewing Levi Coleman, a comedian born in Brooklyn, NY who has been doing comedy for a year. To find out more about Steve, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing comedy because I used to be the class clown in school all the through college. I moonlighted ass being the brunt of the jokes from others.

Where do you get your ideas?

My ideas come from real life situations from my past, and present, and the way I magnify things I see.

Did performing stand-up comedy change you and how?

Performing stand up is a long journey for me, and I just made the first turn. If it were school I would say I'm in my second semester in comedy college. The change is slowly happening to becoming an elite performer.

Steve Bossous

Today I am interviewing Steve Bossous, a comedian born in Cap-Haitien, Haiti who has been doing comedy for four and a half years. To find out more about Steve, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I think the whole instant gratification of telling a joke and having the audience react is what made me get into stand-up. I always loved writing, but I was never motivated to work on anything if I didn't think it would get read. So basically I started doing stand-up comedy because I crave attention, which is something you never hear anyone say.

What is the one thing you want people to know about you?

I want people to know that I have an incredibly large penis. Also, they should know that some parts of my brain don't work correctly and not to be offended if I forget a name or the last time we hung out. I'm not a jerk. I'm just kind of dumb. But I have an incredibly large penis, so it works out usually.

What do you love and hate about stand-up comedy?

I love being on stage obviously and I like hanging out with most comedians. Most people are genuinely funny off stage too. I hate not being in charge of my own destiny, which is unavoidable when you're a performer. There's always someone else whose gotta decide if you're funny enough to get on a show or pass an audition. But you gotta accept that and keep trying to get better.

Alex Decaneas

Today I am interviewing Alex Decaneas, a improviser/sketch comedian born in Boston, MA who has been doing comedy for twelve years. To find out more about Alex, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing comedy?

I was born into comedy, and have been a laugh riot ever since my first spit up. That is an exaggeration for the ages, my friend. I can’t remember what I had for lunch today. Imagine how fuzzy those first few years are.

I started doing improv comedy (which, by the way, it is important to point out that I am a sketch comedian and improviser. Stand up is an art form that I appreciate and respect but have never ventured into) my senior year in college after a series of failed Shakespeare auditions. I remember seeing an ad in a paper for a spin off team for ImprovBoston. The only notion I had about improv at the time was what I learned from watching “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” The British version of course, because it’s better than the American version. I’m a snob. But at the time, the American version didn’t even exist. Who cares? Not me. In fact, all I cared about was that I wouldn’t have to memorize a shit load of monologues in iambic pentameter which were reducing me to a pile of mush in front of casting directors. The Bard had stuffed himself far up my ass. I aced the improv audition, and have been performing professionally ever since.

After refining my craft for about 10 years now, I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that good improv is every bit as difficult as putting together a good Willy Shakes play. And, likewise, bad improv can be just as mind numbing.

I’ve been writing sketch comedy and shooting comedic videos since I was 10. It can be argued that the videos and sketches themselves have only now acquired any level of comedic talent. I do have some fav’s from my childhood. I once dressed my little cousin up as Hitler for an Indiana Jones spoof. He had an amazing Hitler Stash and Salute. I’m proud of that moment. And proud that I call it Hitler Salute and not Sieg Heil or Nazi Wassup.

What is your writing process like?

My writing style is spastic at best. There are no hard or fast rules. I am a chronic list maker, so I tend to jot ideas down on anything and everything, and then compile them into journals that litter my office. These insights come at inappropriate times. Like during job interviews and funerals. Regardless, I find a way to jot them down, and convince myself that if I forget to do so, the idea probably sucked balls anyway.

My office is full of these weird books, filled with gems like The Boobs Channel and Steak and a Shave (a conceptual restaurant my friend and I are developing. Come for a shave. Stay for some steak.)

Not sure if those will make the next pilot season, but who knows? So I write the damn things down anyway.

Usually when I want to get down to the nitty gritty I’ll do a selective sweep of these journals, and take anywhere from 3-10 ideas and try to flesh them out. Just write and expand on them until I can’t anymore. Even if I know what I’m writing is complete shit. And I believe there is a little part of my brain that is a perfectionist douche, and he hates it when I write crap. So much so, that he tries to convince me to do other things instead of write. If he had it his way, I’d never get anything done… except menial chores. So I strive to never let this son of a bitch win.

I write best between 2am and 4am, but am now finding 5am-7am works too. Just like to have the house at its quietest, so I can focus on my thoughts without any distractions.

What is the weirdest thing that happened to you while you were on stage?

I think comedy in general can bring out the weird and bizarre at the flip of a switch, but by far the all time weirdest experience I had on stage went as follows:

I was performing a type of long form improv piece which was sort of like a Mosaic, sort of like an Armando. For those of you who don’t know, those are improv forms. Just different ways of playing a bunch of scenes and linking them together somehow. Apologies to the creators (and my teachers) for boiling down their hard work in a sentence and a half, but fuck it. This is the Twitter age, baby. I’m already five gazillion characters over. Anyway, this show was supposed to take on lofty themes and issues and present them to the audience in a new and interesting manner, and most of the time I’d say it was successful. But this one particular night, it certainly wasn’t. I’ve had a fair share of hecklers, but on this evening... some guy in the front row stood up, stepped onto our stage and started shouting “THIS SUCKS!” at the top of his lungs.

There was a moment of pause as the crowd teetered on the edge of shock, confusion and revolt. I decided to act fast. Typically I would impress hecklers with my command of foul language, but this evening, I felt the guy had a point... so I ran offstage, sat in his seat, and started shouting. “THIS DOES SUCK! NO MORE SHITTY IMPROV SCENES! NO MORE SHITTY IMPROV SCENES! NO MORE SHITTY IMPROV SCENES!”

The entire audience stood up and shouted this chant with me. Then the entire improv troupe joined in, until we were all shouting and heckling... uh the world I guess.

They loved us after that... and people came up to me afterward and mentioned how awesome the show was... I doubt very much the scenes were super brilliant post chanting. But comedy is energy control sometimes, and damn if that wasn’t an energetic crowd after screaming for five minutes...

Dan Curry

Today I am interviewing Dan Curry, a comedian born in Albany, NY who has been doing comedy for six and a half years. To find out more about Dan, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing comedy as a way to get good at public speaking. Also, I was writing a book at the time that I needed to put down for a while. Stand up became an alternate artistic release. I kind of stayed with it after that.

Where do you keep your jokes and did you ever lose any?

I keep my jokes in an Excel file. I usually write them when I least expect them on little scraps of paper or my arm or some some shit. So sometimes, I loose those before they transferred into my Excel file and that sucks.

What is the worst job you ever had and did it have any effect on your comedy?

I have had so many terrible jobs. The worst one was being a courier for a Passport and Visa agency, right when I was starting at comedy in 2003. I don't know how it effected my comedy, but I did grab my boss by his shirt and threw him against his desk one time. The guy was an major asshole.

Amy Beckerman

Today I am interviewing Amy Beckerman, a comedian born in Boston, MA who has been doing comedy for over four years. To find out more about Amy, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing stand-up comedy when i was in college. I used to spend about 10 minutes at dinner scribbling down inside jokes that i had with my roommates, and then I would perform them at the monthly open mics...and bomb terribly!

When I moved to NYC from Boston in 2006, I made the decision to pursue comedy, and I never looked back. I like being able to tell my story on stage and make all the creative decisions. I studied theater in college, and it used to frustrate me that a director would tell ME what to do!

Have you ever reached a low point in your comedy career and how did you deal?

Some nights I walk home after a gig feeling like i am on top of the world, and other nights I run home and cry uncontrollably to my cat while listening to the soundtrack to Passion of the Christ. Some shows are great, and others aren't...but that's the nature of the business, and I learn from it.

One of the biggest low points is dealing with inner jealousy when a comedian friend gets on a TV show or a gig i want. I just tell myself that it isn't my time yet, and there is something bigger and better that the universe has planned for me!

What is the weirdest thing that happened while you were on stage?

I was performing at a show in Boston, and I enlisted several family members who live there to come out. I was performing later in the lineup, so it gave my family enough time to drink. I don't remember what I was saying on stage, but my father stood up and yelled: "Ahhhm tha spermmmm donahhhhhh!!!' (I'm the sperm donor).

Joe Dixon

Today I am interviewing Joe Dixon, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for ten years. To find out more about Joe, visit his website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

Initially, I wanted to be a writer. I wrote a really bad play and then a really bad book. This is not how the greats got started. I also, liked acting and did a few classes here and there. I then took a stand up comedy class. I did my first set at a place called The Eagle Tavern. My leg shook and my heart nearly jumped out my chest. I killed. I mean there was no standing ovation or anything but I got some good laughs for a guy who'd never done it before. The following week I performed the same set and ate it like a tranny during fleet week.

Anyway, I went in and out of stand up after that before deciding to stay in no matter what. Mainly, cause I've failed at everything else. Also, I kind of like it. But mainly, cause I failed at everything else.

What does stand-up comedy mean to you?

It means a chance to say shit I would not have the guts to say to people if I wasn't in front of audience and there was mic in my hand. Well, that's half of it. A better answer would be what I said to my friend and fellow comic, Joe Rocha. Rocha and I had just done a show and this thought dawned on me while he and I were headed home. I told Joe that he wants to be loved by the audience and yet he also kind of resents needing their love. I want to be loved too but I want the audience love on my own terms. What does stand-up comedy mean to me? It means looking for love and acceptance in the most foolish, elementary school way possible.

What is your plan for fame and fortune?

First, I'm not going to be famous and there will be no fortune. Second, if you go into stand up seeking those things your being very, very foolish. This isn't to say some comics seeking those things didn't find them but most just aren't going to. Besides, wanting fame and fortune is a great way to become a joke thief and a hack. The truth is, there is no hack joke that an audience won't laugh at and there is no amount of stealing that will get you banned from most comedy clubs (unless you steal from a really big name who has pull at the venue you're playing.). So, if you really want to be famous and rich just do the act of someone more successful than yourself but change a few words here and there. Or not. It won't matter. Always be willing to do well worn premises. Don't ever go for originality. Black people act this way. White people act that way. Asians can't drive. Women all want money. Guys always want sex. et. al. You'll do great.

It wouldn't hurt to be young and good looking either. If you're a woman, even better.

A better question than what my plan for fame and fortune is is what my plans to be a better comic is. Stand up is my means to and end not a way station to sitcoms or hosting a late night show. I wouldn't mind getting a writing or radio gig but that's about it. My greatest hope is to have the career of a Tom Rhodes or Brian Regan or Doug Stanhope. Good solid comics who are not famous or rich by mainstream standards. I intend to get better by writing and performing, failing spectacularly then getting back up and doing it all over again until the failures get smaller and the successes get bigger. I just want to work enough, to make enough to not do anything else. If that happens then I've made it. Everything else is gravy.

Lucy Dzydzora

Today I am interviewing Lucy Dzydzora, a comedian born in Bayonne, NJ who has been doing comedy for over a year. To find out more about Lucy, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I first started back in 1995, inspired by comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier, and grew up watching comedians like Bill Cosby, Madeleine Kahn and Gilda Radner.

I think I finally decided to get up on stage as a result of the incredibly demeaning, boring jobs I had growing up, for instance, the one job where I cleaned chandeliers. I would spend the whole day on a ladder with glass cleaner foam in my eyes. It was so boring I once fell asleep in the display window holding paper towels and glass cleaner and woke to find my boyfriend (now husband) laughing from outside the store. A hundred people must have passed by and laughed at me, which resulted in the sale of many chandeliers.

"How embarrassing!" some might say. But full of faith and optimism I was.

"I can make a difference!" said Lucy, wiping her eyes with paper towels soaked in glass cleaner. "Aaaaaaah!"

When the pain wore off and I could see again, I decided if I could endure that moment, I could certainly get up on stage, where people are supposed to laugh at you...I mean laugh with you.

As time went on, the rougher things got in my life, the more my humor would emerge, almost from out of nowhere - sort of like a new planet. (BTW, I have a problem with 'new' planets. You think you can just show up all these years later and announce yourself Gliese? Isn't anything sacred anymore? You can't change the planets! Oh, who cares about the solar system anyway...THE SUN IS A STAR!!!!)


What is your writing process like?

Well, my recorder is my little buddy. My husband is starting to become a bit jealous of the time we spend together. I carry it everywhere and as soon as I get an idea, I record it. Ideas just jump out at me out of the blue and I run with them.

What is the one thing you want people to know about you?

I have a deep faith in God and everything I do revolves around it. God and my family come first in my life and they inspire me to write and to perform. I think we are so blessed to have the ability to make people laugh- I used to work in the medical field. I thought that in order to make a difference, I had to have an 'important' job. I realize now that making others laugh is one of the most healing things you can do. It is a very important gift we need to share with the world. God knows we need it - literally. We have a job to do. And for me, it sure beats cleaning chandeliers.

Tom Marzulli

Today I am interviewing Tom Marzulli, a comedian born in Queens, NY who has been doing comedy for ten years. To find out more about Tom, visit his website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing stand up for more reasons than one. I knew early on that I could always make people laugh and the feeling I received from this was tremendous. I always loved watching stand up as a kid and I thought, after friends encouraged me, that i should try it. I first started thinking of it seriously in college, where I studied theater. I didn't perform as a stand up until I was 24 and the fear I felt was like nothing else I had ever experienced. I am terribly insecure. I knew that I had to do it because I never had any desire to get a job and that this could fill my need for a career. I am still trying for that one. I just can't shake my desire for it. I think about it constantly and I love being up there with a mic. It's a rush.

What do you love and hate about stand-up comedy?

The one thing I love about stand up is the very act of standing up. Having the freedom to perform and entertain on my terms. stand up is all me. I love working alone, and stand up allows me that luxury. I love that I can do whatever I want and that it is just me and the audience. I love free-form comedy and letting my imagination take me wherever it wants to go. I love surprises in comedy. I love surprising myself and the audience. I love acting out characters. I love that any night of the week I can find a stage and a mic and I can do my thing.

Unfortunately, there is the dark side of stand-up. What really bothers me about comedy is the club system. I can't stand that the fate of all comics is controlled so heavily by a few people. I can't stand that some people are considered "TV ready" and some are not. I can't stand that funny people are ignored by club owners because they are not following a standard set down by television executives. I can't stand that they are always looking for the next Ray Romano or the next Kevin James. Stand-up can be a little too uniform for me. I hate to say it, too boring. I can't stand watching comics who stick to a script so much that I can see where the jokes are coming from. I can't stand the competition amongst comics. I hate racist comics. Racism in any form, even in comedy irks me. I can't stand when people laugh at this stuff. I hate the demand by club owners that they want to hear a joke every thirty seconds. I like to see people relaxed and enjoying themselves. Club owners are crazy with some of their demands. If you do great, you may get a spot. If you don't do great, you're done in their eyes. It's all a tad farcical.

What is the worst question you've ever been asked?

I hate when people ask me if I am funny, because funny is something that someone should be able to pick up on without asking. Comedy is innate. When I am with a funny person, I know it. This person doesn't need to put on a show for me or tell me some jokes. It's the person's manner and the way he speaks that let's me know this. When people ask me if I am funny, I feel they are showing me how shallow they are. It's their way, I believe, of trying to take me down a notch. Comedy is an attitude, not a joke. Dangerfield told great jokes but it was his attitude, I believe, his nervous twitching, his buggy eyes, his sweating, his wrinkled look, it was his persona that made me laugh.

Susannah Perlman

Today I am interviewing Susannah Perlman, a comedian born in Milwaukee, WI who has been doing comedy for what seems like an eternity. To find out more about Susannah, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I am insane and needed to be heard.

I grew up listening to my brother's comedy albums and always loved the milieu so once I tried it I got hooked.

I love to make people laugh. I love to get paid to make people laugh.

I don't want Ritalin or my knowledge of Photoshop to win.

Did performing stand-up comedy change you and how?

Confidence - if I have gotten anything out of this business it is confidence and the ability to go with the flow and see humor in just about everything. Fear nothing and life is so much better.

What is the one thing you want people to know about you?

I am a great cook with a big heart.

Nick Vatterott

Today I am interviewing Nick Vatterott, a comedian born in St. Louis, MI who has been doing comedy for seven years. To find out more about Nick, visit his website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing comedy because I was failing out of every class that I was taking at the University of Missouri. The only things I enjoyed doing was writing a weekly column in the school newspaper, my weekly improv show, and cracking wise around the ol kegger. I live comedy, it makes life tolerable. Goofing around on stage is the most fun thing to me, it is a drug. And the fact that there is a drug out there that you can get paid to do is amazing to me.

Do you have a favorite topic to talk about on stage?

My favorite topic to talk about on stage is whatever stream of concious is happening. But sometimes, something hits you while you're on stage. Every day we have a thousand thoughts, and some of those thoughts we feel would be worth exploring on stage. And every once in awhile, we have one of those thoughts, WHILE we're on stage. And exploring those ideas in that moment, whatever the topic is, are my favorite to talk about. I was at an outdoor show recently at a food festival. The type of show you roll your eyes at as a comic. Two in the afternoon, on the hottest day of the year. The whole point of the festival was for people to try foods they never had before, and I was supposed to perform in this comedy tent, for people to take a break from food. I asked everyone if they enjoyed all the unique foods, they all said 'YEAH!!!' What's been your favorite so far? And this very sweet old man in the front row, in complete honestly yelled, "Corn!"

And that killed me, that this guy had never had corn before. Every tent had funnel cakes, and pate, and sushimi, and this guy was blown away by the corn. And there is, for the next ten minutes I just get to riff about a guy who is blown away by corn, amazed by water, and was scared of the future technology of forks...those moments feel like you're just joking around with your buddies, as opposed to being on stage telling a joke that 'you're working on', or a joke that doesn't work because you can't recreate the moment when its circumstances occurred. And those spontaneous topics are my favorite.

Where do you get your ideas?

The material that I do comes from everywhere. But I think much of it comes from when I'm in some heightened mood. Rants about subways come from a moment of complete frustration, bits about a woman come from a moment of total pain, and god in his office saying, "work work work, I tell you what holy spirit, not enough DAYS in the WEEK!...of course I only have myself to blame for that" come from a moment of being in a super good mood, joking with the people you are the most comfortable with. Also drinking and drugs are where a lot of bits come. Two things that also heighten mood, so maybe its no coincidence.

Jeff Scott

Today I am interviewing Jeff Scott, a comedian born in Huntington, NY who has been doing comedy for over two years. To find out more about Jeff, visit his website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

Well, comedy is one branch of many creative endeavors that I've got a hand in. In addition to comedy, I am also a writer, working on a screenplay and a fantasy novel, and am also a musician. In fact, I just started hitting the studios to put together my first solo album. I write all songs, and record bass, keyboards, and most of the guitar parts. I'm really excited about it. But essentially, everything I do stems from writing. It just manifests itself in a bunch of different ways, whether it be stories, music or comedy. But it all rolls out of the same twisted melon sitting on my shoulders. This may seem like a lot to keep up with, between comedy, music, and writing, and if you thought that, you're completely on the mark. I think I'm reinventing the phrase biting off more than you can chew. But I guess that's why we got leftovers.

Anyway,as far as comedy goes, I've always been fascinated by stand-up comedy. I remember watching the old school HBO specials and Comic Relief, and being so drawn in by the concept of standing on a stage and having a huge audience erupt in oceans of laughter at everything you say. In fact, I remember having a dream when I was a little kid where I was standing on a stage with a microphone and simply repeating the word "tushy" over and over and having the entire audience die with laughter. Oddly, much of my standup act isn't all that far intellectually advanced beyond that. But I do what I can. What really churned up my comedy fire though and made me say "man, I gotta try this!" was George Carlin. Between his amazing books and the HBO specials he cranked out like gold every couple of years, George became more of a hero to me than I think any other celebrity ever has. People love or hate George, some are scared away because of his shock value, but the bottom line is there was undeniable genius to that man. How he was able to harness and utilize this whole stand up concept was phenomenal. He was able to really dig into society's quirks and just make the world, and the people running it, look so foolish simply by stating what most other people would never say or wouldn't even dare to think. And that really showed me how far you can take comedy, you don't have to go for cheap laughs or be gimmicky. It can be so much more than that.

How do you deal with rejection?

I've got a pretty good sense of how difficult any part of the entertainment industry is. Plus, I know that as a guy or girl starting out these days in comedy, music or anything, it is nearly impossible to land gigs at the most famous clubs and venues right away. You have to have years and years of experience for the top clubs to even show the least bit of attention. Streaking outside the club can change the attention thing, and you'd be sure to get a few laughs from the audience on the street, but I wouldn't leave it to that. So you basically have to put in those "boot camp" years so to speak, and just grind it out, build the connections, and keep at it. It's frustrating because my friends will always ask me "when's your next show?" and I wish I had more to offer sometimes. Unless they want to come down to Maui Taco on a Tuesday night and watch me perform my five minutes in the middle of 25 other comics. Sometimes, that could be a surefire way to lose friends. I'm getting towards the point where I'm ready to take more risks as far as trying to spread out onto the scene a bit more, but I'm not going to live and die with every time I'm turned down from a gig or something.

When was the last time you bombed and how did you deal?

Hmm, well, bombing is a relative term. In the open mic phase, the whole idea of bombing is very very tricky. You can have excellent material, but if you're performing in front of a room of only comics or at a weak room in the middle of the week, it can be nearly impossible to get any sort of reaction. And there are plenty of nights where I do material that killed at a club out on Long Island, but couldn't utter a peep at a Manhattan open mic. I would say the most important thing is to have faith in your material, and if you really think it is strong, keep at it no matter what sort of reaction you might get the first time out with it. There have been times where I've been somewhat reluctant to retry a joke that I had confidence in because it was met with such a black hole of silence the first time I gave it a go. Because that same joke will usually kill in front of a legitimate audience, and I've seen that happen a great deal for me. For any comic, especially in the big cities, it is important to not always equate the word "bombing" with a rough open mic. And you know what the best way to deal with bombing is? Just get back up on that stage, and forget about that bad show.

Dave Greek

Today I am interviewing Dave Greek, a comedian born in Alexandria, VA who has been doing comedy for three years. To find out more about Dave, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

In high school, I always liked laughing with my friends. You know, that kind of giggling that seems to be uncontrollable and usually entirely inappropriate. I haven't laughed like that in a while, perhaps I should look those guys up on Facebook. I was always a kind of skinny and dorky kid, and having a sense of humor helped me survive socially. Face it, making someone laugh can keep them from kicking your ass. Also, it can get you laid from time to time. It is an excellent skill to have for someone who is otherwise genetically unskilled.

I remember watching a Bill Cosby special when I was really young (I think it was called Bill Cosby: Himself) and everyone was just pissing themselves with joy. Ever since then, I always had a love and admiration for stand-up comedy and a desire to get on stage. However, that fear of performing and bombing can be crippling. I can't tell you how many times I intended to get on stage and chickened out (usually something "important" came up and I'd have to change my plans.) Finally I moved to a town where nobody knew me and did it. I was almost 30 years old before I acted on my dream. You hear that kiddies? Time's a wastin'.

How do you deal with hecklers?

This is a question that I get asked rather frequently by people who don't do comedy. I guess the impression is that every show there is a constant string of people throwing tomatoes and yelling inappropriate things at you from the audience. I think hecklers are more of the exception than the rule.

More frequently I find that certain people in the audience just want to "help" the show with their witty comments. Little do they know, they're throwing everything off and doing the opposite of helping. I honestly don't get mad at this- often times they say something that is much funnier than something I've said, and I'll have a genuine laugh at it along with the audience. Isn't that what it's all about? Why do I have to be the only one soaking up the fun?

Perhaps this shows my newness to the game, but I've never really had a mean heckler. I don't know how I'd react if I was doing poorly and some guy just shouted "you suck!" and HE got a big laugh. I'd probably respond with something self-deprecating and then nervously bomb the rest of my set. It'd be a learning experience. I learn something new almost every set, and that's a lesson I'm not looking forward to swallowing.

How do you deal with rejection?

Rejection is a huge part of comedy. Often times I'll be sitting around with some comics and we'll have a moment where we're just like "why is it so goddamned hard?" It really is a struggle. There are so many skill sets to develop as a comedian. You have to first get over the crippling stage fright. Then you have to write jokes that are actually funny. Then you have to be able to tell them in a funny manner. Then you have to remember the order of your jokes. Then you have to be able to deal with different audiences (angry, fun, black, white, smart, stupid, drunk, sober, old, young, foreign, etc.) On top of all this, you hear seasoned professionals tell you it takes 10 to 20 years to get "good." How many of us who have been doing it 3-4 years secretly think that doesn't apply to us? I think after 20 years we will all look back at our tapes from year 3 and shout "ye gods, I was awful."

Anywho, my long winded point here is: comedy is a challenging, worthwhile endeavor. If it was easy, what would be the point? The difficulty inherent in this craft makes any success, no matter how tiny, that much sweeter. It really is something worth spending your life doing. I try to enjoy every set, even if it's just a crappy open-mic with 3 people staring at me. I figure hey, if you can't enjoy it at this level--if you're waiting til you "make it," well, you're probably wasting your time. Have fun!

Alex Fossella

Today I am interviewing Alex Fossella, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for four years. To find out more about Alex, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing comedy because I'm just one of those typical artistic weirdos. I was the creepy quiet kid in school who only got attention if I was being funny. I love attention. Performing any art form is addictive. In high school I wanted to be a musician (I still play a lot but don't want it as a career anymore), until I saw a special on Comedy Central called "Patton Oswalt: No Reason to Complain." I'd always liked standup comedy, but this special really made me pay attention. I bought Oswalt's standup album and started my collection from there. That's when I really started looking at comedy like an art and not as just entertainment. For a while I listened to comedy records I liked on a loop (my personal record is listening to a record 20 times in a row). Then I started to think I could do it, but quickly tossed the idea because i didn't want to mess up my music career. Eventually I caved and decided to give comedy a shot.

I still have my first notebook full of awful jokes. My first set was in front of two people in my dorm room. Very awkward. First set in New York was at the Laugh Lounge around Xmas time. After that I got out to the new york open mics whenever I could go. If I don't do a set for long enough, I get into this weird adrenaline withdrawal. I can only go so long without getting my fix of attention.

Who are your favorite comedians and why?

The Classics: Richard Pryor, Don Rickles, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin.
These guys made work that still stands the test of time, even if some of them are dead or out of comedy.

The Harsh guys: Bill Hicks, Rick Shapiro, Dave Attell, Doug Stanhope, Jim Norton.
The first two are unrelenting in their criticism of society's hypocrisies. Hicks was more structured and Shapiro is more free-form, but they both come from the same place. Doug Stanhope is like Bill Hicks on steroids. The DARKEST stuff you've ever heard and hilarious. Norton and Attell are good writers who let out their sleaziness onstage in a very well-thought manner. Philosophical Filth.

The Weird Guys: Patton Oswalt, Dave Chappelle, Kids in the Hall.
Patton Oswalt's work was the first thing that made me want to do comedy. I still listen to him all the time and laugh till my carotid arteries hurt. Chappelle had one of the best sketch shows ever. It was so finely crafted. Same thing with Kids in the Hall. A little more unwieldy than Chappelle's show, but no less brilliant.

The Foreigners: Monty Python, Hugh Laurie (House MD), Craig Ferguson, Sascha Baron Cohen.
Brits are funny. Also people formerly oppressed by the Brits. Monty Python is the Beatles of comedy. Cohen is a genius for his Andy Kaufman-esque character bits. Ferguson always makes me laugh. Laurie is a great actor of drama and comedy.

How do you deal with hecklers?

I deal with hecklers only slightly better than a 4 year old autistic girl. I've only taken down three hecklers successfully. One was talking a lot and I told her "you have not shut your hole all night!" which made my friends laugh. Other one was a woman who I asked if she was a Mom and she said she wanted to kill me, so I said "Sorry for assuming you had a happy life with children!" She came up to me afterward and said she wanted to strangle me because she was unable to have kids. "You were very funny but you ruined my night" was what she said. Other one was a lady with rotten teeth and I said I couldn't hear her words through her alcoholism.

Some hecklers threatened to kick my ass. This is because I don't bother to prepare for them. I usually try to improvise something, which often ends really badly, e.g. me shouting obscenities at them. I am not the man you should come to for heckler advice.

Colin Dempsey

Today I am interviewing Colin Dempsey, a comedian born in Dublin, Ireland who has been doing comedy for over three years. To find out more about Colin, visit his website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I had always been a fan of comedy ever since finding a tape of Billy Connolly's album, "A Pick of Billy Connolly," at home in an old suitcase. (Don't ask!) It was filled with wild stories and songs of his upbringing in Glasgow--terrifying hilarity that you could sing along with. Football violence, divorce and people shitting in your shoes. Everything a 10-year-old boy would love!

I grew up around funny people, especially my mother which may be why I like female comics so much. She is simply the funniest human being I have ever met. She tells me stories and I cry laughing, simple as that. Growing up in Dublin, humor is a necessity. It's used in everyday life. It's a measure of your intelligence. A person without humor will quickly find themselves left out, sidelined, ignored or even bullied.

Years after finding Billy Connolly's album I would attend the Laughter Lounge on Dublin's Eden Quay on the Liffey. For 12 pounds fifty pence you could see a motley crew of local and, on occasion, international comedians do their thing. The crowds were tough but the comics tougher, well, some of the time. During this period (my early twenties) I was secretly thinking to myself "I could do that." That was until I witnessed an English comedienne have a breakdown on stage after her vibrator and tuning fork routine not only failed, but caused the crowd to turn on her with such violence I have yet to see repeated. Her hands shook, face crumpled and lips quivered as she tried to sing a song about her sex toy. She ran from the stage through the crowd passing right by me with tears and mascara streaming down her face as the crowd jeered her. I remember thinking to my self "Who the fuck would want to be a comedian?" I was playing in a band at the time and remained so for years after.

About three years after moving to New York I went through a rough patch. I was unhappy and made a list of things that I really wanted to do but never tried. Stand-up was top of the list. So I did it. I wrote 30 pages of material, took the best two pages and just did it. The first time I killed, second time kinda killed, third time did okay and the fourth time I panicked when the microphone broke. The fifth time, bombed horribly. So bad in fact that to this day I still claim I had some sort of out of body experience as I remember hovering over myself not enjoying my set just as much as the crowd. After that show I became very humble and realized that there is only so far Irish charm can get you on the New York comedy circuit. I bought a notebook and for two years wrote down every gig and joke I ever did. The years of being a musician helped me a lot as I played in every hole in Dublin long before getting on stage in New York. Although after that night at the Laughter Lounge I never, NEVER, find someone bombing a pleasant experience. Even If the comic does suck. Anyway, a short answer to your question as to why I started stand up? It looked like fun, and it is.

How do you deal with hecklers?

The truth is I rarely get heckled. I have thought about this a bit and I think being Irish may have something to do with it, what exactly I don't know. I also am careful about what shows I do. I generally have people shout out stuff, thinking they are helping me. Only one time was I heckled in a nasty manner and I handled it badly because it was racial. I have a bit of a temper and I got angry on stage. It was a bad show and I didn't perform for three weeks afterward because of it. Again, it was once and I generally find New York audiences at best polite and fun, at worst silent and impatient. I haven't left the stage in tears just yet!

How do I deal with people talking during my set? Texting? Arguing over the check? Staring at me with blank looks? Generally being rude and discourteous? Well that's another thing all together!

How do you deal with rejection?

A bottle of gin and some furious masturbation! How can you deal with rejection? You just move on and hope the next gig is better. I got into comedy at an older age than most comics and had many years of rejection as a musician so I have developed my own way of coping. Generally I make an effigy of a generic, club-going punter, nail it to a large sheet of plywood, drag it down to Astoria park after hours, late at night and attack it with golf balls in a sock. I pray for critics, honestly I do, I pray. I go to a church, light a candle, get down on my knees and pray that they die a slow death in a fire.

Jeff Lawrence

Today I am interviewing Jeff Lawrence, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for over two years. To find out more about Jeff, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I had spent years rapped up as a depressed pothead, drug addict and drug dealer. I was always too paranoid to do stand up so I sang in a Rock band for many years. I also did some acting but could never remember my lines. I had the good fortune of touring internationally and dabbling in music comedy in the early 90's by accident. I was taking requests at a gig in Greece and someone yelled out "Bohemian Rhapsody"! It was just me and my acoustic guitar. So I put the guitar down and did an acapella trading off lines with the audience.....it was a riot. That is when I whet my appetite for making people laugh. When I got sober, 2 and a half years ago I decided to devote the rest of my life to stand up. I figure if everyone around me is laughing I'll probably be OK. That is why I produce shows as well, it gives me great satisfaction to see a crowd laugh all night long, not just at my set.

I wanted to talk about my life, and be open about my sexuality which I wasn't when I was in Rock and Roll. I wanted to make a difference and show people that we're all alike....even though we're not it makes for a decent act. I never really felt as a gay man I fit into gay culture. Hell, I'm a sports fanatic, an ex sportswriter, I despise Madonna, and Sunday it's J-E-T-S.... NOT E-G-G-S Benedict! And I know I'm not alone. Sometimes gay crowds don't care for me but there's always guys that will come up to me and say they totally relate. It was stand up comedy or politics for me. I went to NYU and had a work study job with this really cynical guy. We shared the same desk. We had a lot of laughs...I went into Rock and Roll, he went into comedy. His name was Dave Attell. I always thought I could do that too!

Do you have any tips or tricks for writing or performing you could share?

Well, having done stand up for a little over two years, i don't want to offer too much advice. It is a craft of experience. All the comics I know doing this for 5 to 10 years can generate more consistent laughs than most comics who are fairly new. It takes a long time to develop "A" material that is going to get a crowd going each night. But I am definitely more of an autobiographical comic and I think when comics really reveal themselves through their work and take risks I relate more. I write all the time, and have weekly writer's groups at my place downtown. I had trouble meeting people who want to write together, and couldn't afford the high price of comedy schools so I started my own group and it has been awesome! I think comics should write all the time and always be pushing themselves for bigger and better laughs.

I think it's really important to be out there in the clubs and know what other comics are doing. I can't tell you how many times I hear a comic do a joke that gets a laugh and I have to tell them that they are the 5th comic I've heard do the same joke. It is so important to be original. That's why I write about my life. No one else is going to talk about my 400 pound coke dealer in Bed Stuy named Pumpkin other than me! I also like to write really short setups, 2 or 3 lines max. I find many comics, especially new ones can get to their punches much sooner. It took me a long time, and of course I'm still a work in progress, to find the essence of every joke with an economy of words. And every time I look at my jokes on paper there are almost always words that can be cut. Someone once taught me "show...don't tell". So I go for a lot of act outs and facial expressions and try and cut words when possible.

On performing, I always try to remember it's not about me. The audience paid their money and a lot of it, and I just want to make them laugh. And that's the hard part...to not come across that I'm desperate for their laughs even though I am. When I bomb I only feel bad that I couldn't get through to that particular audience for whatever reason. It's not an ego thing, bombing is part of the business. ALL of my pro comic friends that have National TV credits tell me they bomb all the time. Bombing is essential to learning, and if you don't bomb, you're probably playing it safe!

I have a joke about the Catholic Church making people gay. Half the time it sucks the life out of the crowd and the other half of the time I get an applause break...go figure! But I've learn to save it and have fun with it, and that not every crowd is going to be fans of mine. An audience loves when you are having fun. That's the trick to performing, love it, do it a lot and build your fans one by one. If just one person approaches you after a show and says "you were great", the show was a success in my book. Get a number or e-mail addy and let em know where you will be.

What is the worst question you have ever been asked?

I finished a show in Midtown and this guy followed me out of the club and said to me on the street "you're not really gay are you"? I thought "dude I'm not that smart of a comic to fabricate an entire life story, turn it into a persona, memorize it, and convince an audience of my lies night in and night out.....am I?"

Kyle Fincham

Today I am interviewing Kyle Fincham, a comedian born in Long Beach, CA who has been doing comedy for over five years. To find out more about Kyle, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

While in high school I competed in Speech and Debate, specifically Humorous Interpretation. I think that was my initial gateway into comedy. I started doing stand-up while I was in college. I was studying theater at UCLA. Not long after starting school I found a small improv theater in Westwood and started taking classes and performing on their "College Team". Sometime after Christmas break there was a stand-up show on campus. A buddy told me his friend organized it and that we should check it out. I was inspired. There were four or five comics on the show. They were all Comedy Store regulars, and have since gone on to make numerous TV appearances. The idea of being on stage alone seemed like a lot more fun than depending on other people in improv. It was also more powerful, aggressive. I remember sitting there thinking that this was the most impressive form of performance I'd ever seen. Immediately after the show I was introduced to the student who'd organized, and also hosted, the show. I told him I wanted to do this, and asked where I could get on stage. He ran an open mic. So, just days later I was buying a coffee to cover my five minutes on stage.

What is the worst job you ever had and did it have any effect on your comedy?

I've had so many jobs. Its difficult to think of the worst. The best are easy to think of, but the worst is hard to pinpoint. There were bad parts to all of them. The last two years may have been psychologically the worst. I worked construction and maintenance with people who only spoke Spanish for the most part. Being surrounded by people who speak a different language for that many hours a day, week, year created a sense of solitude. I learned being alone in your head for that long is unhealthy. You can go from happy to sad to angry without one word being said to you. Having that much time to think caused me to dwell and fixate on many aspect of my life and personality. I hated being there so much I became obsessed with getting onstage to better my life. I was getting onstage almost every night until 2:00am, and I had to be at work at 9:00am. I wasn't getting much sleep. My band got wound tight and I developed a short fuse. It may not have been the worst job in terms of the actual work, but the situation may have been the worst on my brain.

Anyway, all those emotions and thoughts I dealt with during that time certainly transcended into my comedy. Sometimes it was good, and sometimes it was very bad. Sometimes the mix of emotions fed my comedy. I often got a lot of emotional truth in the things I was saying. It was bad when the anger and resentment bled into my act.

How do you deal with the fear of someone stealing your material?

I use to worry about someone stealing my material. No one has stolen any of my material, that I'm aware of. It makes me feel like I haven't written anything worth stealing yet. At the moment I don't worry about it. Frankly, the idea of having stuff stolen sounds good. It would force me to work harder on new stuff. I'm sure I'd be a little bummed, but it isn't worth crying about. The kick in the ass to make up for the lost time might help me. I also believe it is less about material and more about persona. Someone can steal my words, but they can't steal me.

Brandon Greenspan

Today I am interviewing Brandon Greenspan, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for four years. To find out more about Brandon, visit his website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I'm not exactly sure why I started stand-up. I always had an interest in it, and had a few jokes in mind (bad ones). During the summer of 2005, I was taking an improv class at Second City. One night, a few of us went to a comedy club for an open mic night and they peer-pressured me to get on stage. I wasn't great, but didn't bomb either... However, I absolutely loved doing it and now continue to do so.

Do you save your best jokes for the beginning, middle or the end and why?

I guess if I had to choose, I save my best jokes for last. I actually like to switch up my material every week, but I usually only have a few jokes that I would consider closing with. I suppose that I do it because I like to leave people on a good note, but then again, if I don't do well, it doesn't matter how brilliant my closing may be.

Have you ever reached a low point in your comedy career and how did you deal?

If I had to pick any low point in my comedy career, I might say it is right now. I'm at the point where I am still doing bringer shows and barking when I feel that I am ready to be booked. Now by no means am I saying that I deserve a Comedy Central special (I don't), but I wish that I could actually be booked for a club without having to stand in the rain for 3 hours promoting it. I am getting through this by trying to figure out who my true friends and fans are. I need to figure out who is trying to get me to the next level and who is just going to keep me at this level just so they could make a quick buck (most producers of bringer and barker shows).

Ian Jensen

Today I am interviewing Ian Jensen, a comedian born in Washington State who has been doing comedy for seven years. To find out more about Ian, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I performed in plays during Jr high and High school. I was the comic relief character or the "dork". This was the only way teachers could help me relieve my bad behavior aside from the detentions office, which I appeared regularly - a detention favorite! College was different because there was alcohol and other sheltered students experiencing freedom for the first time. That's how fraternities are born. We started ours from scratch. Since it was in Hawaii it wasn't filled with the typical all white athlete/rapists but a lot of really cool guys that wanted to have fun. That helped me stay in college for 5 years taking lower level credits, not getting a degree, and really super cool police record. I wasn't interested in anything specific at college. I tried taking acting classes but acting seemed like a worthless degree and the professor was a pompous ass. What a surprise, a professor being a pompous ass.

I moved to Oregon and tried computer animation at University of Oregon, thinking that would be a sidestep into movies. The admissions office told me I had to stay out of school for a year to get residency. So I dropped out. After working at an all you can eat pizza buffet in Eugene for 9 months I got impatient and moved to Portland. I was able to find an animation house and started working on some projects as an "intern". The animation thing was a lot like comedy in New York - not getting paid for endless hours of work that doesn't amount to much. I got to work on a theater trailer that was in Regal cinema's. It was a film strip that you rode on like a train and candy would fly around so you would by popcorn and crap. It was actually less cheesy than the stuff I see now.

A little before I left Portland I was riding on a bus thinking about what I need to do with my life. The only thing I do regularly is think of funny things like jokes, characters, situational stuff. I tried doing a set at a middle eastern restaurant called Zorba's(?). It was fun and I did well. The producer there was pretty cool and the comics were nice. A few months later I moved to San Francisco to try and get closer to comedy. So in short, I couldn't figure out anything else to do with my life.

What was your first time performing comedy like?

I would say the first time I performed in San Francisco was my real first time. I went to a small coffee shop, really excited and friendly so I was doomed from the start. It was my turn to do a set. After saying some "jokes" I took my clothes off, stuck my underwear in my buttcrack and ran around like a monkey. I even went into the street to enhance the "edginess" of this genius idea I thought would SLAUGHTER in a coffee shop filled with 9 comics and a barista. When I came back I put my clothes on and since I was the last comic all the comedians started filing out of the room like brain dead drug addicts at an AA meeting. They didn't share my excitement. I was looking at them with this "desperately seeking approval" look on my face. Like they were going to all stand up and applaud like my mother. Then tell me what a good boy I am. One guy said, "oh yeah, funny" because he knew what the rest of my life was going to be like. It was sad, painful and awesome.

What is the meaning of life?

Shit I don't know. Don't kill yourself.

Phil Murphy

Today I am interviewing Phil Murphy, a comedian born in Danbury, CT who has been doing comedy for two and a half years. To find out more about Phil, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I moved to NYC in 2005 after college to be an actor even though I never had any acting experience. I think saying that you want to be an actor is pretty much code for "I don't know what I want to do." After a couple years of acting classes I was getting bored with it and i felt like I had to get out and do something related to performing as well as get comfortable being in front of people other than my fellow acting students. I figured comedy would be fun because I always made my friends laugh and appreciated comedy, so I took some improv classes and started going to comedy open mics but at first I was only doing it to complement my acting class. I knew nothing about stand up comedy or joke writing and never imagined myself being a comedian but I really started enjoying it more than the acting and improv and found myself getting pretty good at it so I ditched the acting and the improv and just focused solely on stand up. I think what I loved and will always love about stand up is that it is just you up there. No scene partners or fellow actors. I have yet to find something more rewarding than the feeling of being on a stage By Yourself making a room full of people laugh.

What do you think about the future of stand-up comedy?

I really like how stand up is starting to work its way out of the comedy clubs. For example, the Bonnaroo Music Festival which is a big jam band festival in Tennessee now has a comedy tent and the lineups seem to be growing. Not to mention all the other music festivals which are incorporating stand up into their lineups. I think that is great and I think the future of stand up comedy exists outside of the comedy clubs. Not that I dislike comedy clubs, but I feel like the most popular shows, esp. in NYC are in bars, cafes, bookstores, etc. Its awesome. Now if only we could find a way to get those types of shows to pay.

What is the meaning of life?

The meaning of life is to not think too hard when trying to answer the question "What is the meaning of life?"

Ahmed Bharoocha

Today I am interviewing Ahmed Bharoocha, a comedian born in Santa Barbara, CA who has been doing comedy for about five years. To find out more about Ahmed, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I always watched stand up as a kid and thought it was the coolest profession. I love laughing and making other people laugh. The most impressive thing about stand up to me was that it was one guy, by himself with nothing besides a mic. No sets, no props (or at least the comics I liked) , no costumes, no one else to help, and yet he can make a room filled with people laugh for over an hour. Also I've always wanted people to like me and its hard not to like someone when they are making you laugh. The older I got the more I became interested in stand up, The writing, the performance, and how much work that actually goes into it. Now I almost see comics as funny philosophers, and I love looking at life and thinking about it in a different light.

Is there anything you won't make fun of?

I am usually pretty clean, but there is anything that I am absolutely against talking about on stage. I think pretty much everything can be funny as long as you approach it right. I'm not really a fan of saying things just to be dirty or offensive but if its necessary to the joke say what ever you want. If something happens in life then there is probably something funny about it, and there's probably a crowd that wants to laugh about it. But while I'm on stage I'd rather make people laugh than groan or cringe, so I tend to clean it up. Sometimes I think it distract from the joke as well. But other times the word fuck, or talking about abortion is just necessary to make your point on a certain joke, and in that case say it. I guess I just never say something for pure shock value. Another reason I like to be clean is because I listened to stand up at a young age and it would for some kid to listen to my stand up and think of me the way I thought of the comics I grew up admiring.

Who are your favorite comedians and why?

I have a very ling list of comics I look up to. I love any comic who is original and are themselves. I love Bill Cosby because he's just naturally funny it seems effortless with him. He just make me feel good, and his stories are perfect. Richard Prior because he could make anything funny, I love his voice, his act outs, the way he looked, his personalty, the fact that he would talk about dark personal things about himself. I think Richard Prior is stand up comedy to me. Bob Newheart because of his dry wit and his stammer. Newheart can make you laugh about the things that he doesn't say, like he does a lot of one side of a conversations and you never hear what the other person says and yet its sometimes what the other person is saying is the punchline. And his stammer is perfectly placed in every joke, he pauses at the right time and always lets your brain think of the joke. To me its like when in scary movies when they don't shot the monster its always scarier because your imagination can scare you much more than and cheezy costume. Chris Rock because he is not only funny but he makes brilliant points with every joke. And his transitions are seamless. Dave Chappelle because he's just funny, smart and a natural, I think like Prior he just is stand up comedy. Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg because of thier simple brilaince. The list goes on and on, David Cross, Todd Barry, Louis CK, Sienfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Demitri Martin, Zack Galifinakas, Dave Attell, Patton Oswalt, too many to name.

Adam Nagin

Today I am interviewing Adam Nagin, a comedian born in Queens, NY who has been doing comedy for about a year. To find out more about Adam, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing comedy for the the same reason you’ve decided to interview me this week, my brother. I am the other Nagin!

What do you love and hate about stand-up comedy?

LOVE: Post-show coitus. Expressing myself, especially when I don’t have anything particularly important to say. Maui Taco because it is the only fast food joint I’ve gone to 200 times and never had a meal. Comedy also has bestowed upon me a super-human social confidence that is invisible to the naked eye.

HATE: Hate is such a strong word, which is why I definitely think that its usage is appropriate here. I hate myself for not being better than I am, or able to do the kind of stuff that pleases other people. I’ve also discovered that the learning curve for comedy is steeper than the Bahrainian foothills. Coming up with good analogies is also rather difficult, but I won’t stop believin’. As a side note, gratuitous references piss me off in a major way, but do not rise to the level of hatred. Midgets anger me for the false pretense of hilarity that they inspire in other comedians generally. I hate hipsters, but this really has nothing to do with comedy. I hate the fire-breathing oriental woman who pretends to manage Maui Taco in an efficient and businesslike manner. It gets discouraging just doing mics all the time, and I hate that people don’t deem me worthy of real shows, but the other Nagin will one day rise again, but for the first time!

Is there anything you won't make fun of?

A comedian must carry himself with dignity and poise at all times. The ordinary rules of social interaction apply to comedians more than people think.

Matt Nagin

Today I am interviewing Matt Nagin, a comedian born in Queens, NY who has been doing comedy for four years. To find out more about Matt, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I took a number of fiction writing classes and was surprised to learn, upon reading some of my work to my classmates, that it often got laughs. This inspired me to get involved in an improvisational comedy group. We performed a show one afternoon that got a great response. That very same evening I decided to go to an open mike at The World Famous Sal's Comedy Hole. Not only did my routine not get a single laugh, it literally could have been recorded and sold as a meditation CD at Barnes and Nobles. Still, I was hooked, somehow, and, after that, never looked back.

Did performing stand-up change you and how?

Yes, stand-up changed me because it gave me an outlet to express various aspects of my personality that would otherwise have remained in a severe, life-threatening coma. For example, the first time I stepped onto stage I did a routine where my elbow went in for a job as a substitute teacher. Now, this routine, as hinted at above, was far from funny. The audience, frankly, had no idea that I was delivering a routine in Standard American English. But, by performing over time, I learned to take that unique vision and structure it in such a way as to seem at least moderately comprehensible. This, really, is what I still struggle with: finding my unique voice, but not at the expense of losing the audience. It's a delicate balancing act, and, really, I think, one that I have no doubt may take me another millennium or so to perfect.

What is one thing you want people to know about you?

I'm actually one of the few comics who enjoys writing more than performing. Currently, I am very close to completing a novel that I have been writing, on and off, for close to eight years. This I don't tend to talk about with other comics because they often look at you when you tell them this as if you're some weird creature who's being housed, for a time, in The Bronx Zoo. Anyway, I'm having fun with it and, I think that, in the end, is most important.

Ben Rosenfeld

Today I am interviewing Ben Rosenfeld, a NYC-based comic (soon to be LA) who was born in Leningrad, Russia but considers Stamford, CT his hometown. Ben has been doing comedy for one year. To find out more about Ben, visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I think the better question is "Why didn't you start doing stand-up comedy sooner?" Not only have I always insisted on being the center of attention and making anyone within earshot laugh, but my best friend from college, Jay Schultz, is a stand up comedian and I've been his (useless) manager since 2003. (I think Jay has better stage presence than me, but he's currently focusing on other pursuits. You can see Jay's clip here.)

Anyway, last year, I was in Philadelphia every Monday to Thursday for my day job and Jay was in Atlantic City so I decided to be a halfway useful manager (for a change) and proceeded to investigate the comedy scene in Philly for Jay. After watching open mics for two weeks, I decided "I could write this shit". So I returned to the hotel and typed a page and a half of jokes while buzzed. I emailed my jokes to Jay who said, half jokingly, "this is funny enough, you should try it out", so I thought, "why not?"

I spent another week rewriting the jokes, showing it to other friends and trying my best to memorize it, and then I popped my stand up cherry. I was nervous as hell and don't remember being on stage (luckily I taped it, so when I get my HBO special in ten to twelve years, I'll be able to document how far I've come).

Between the adrenaline rush and having everyone's attention on me, I was instantly hooked. (It helped that I got some pity laughs from the audience.)

The great part about being a comic instead of a manager is it's much easier to hound yourself to write new material and get on stage then to get someone else to do it.

When was the last time you bombed and how did you deal?

I thought I bombed at an 8:30 comedy show a few Friday's ago. I was the first comic up after the host for a small crowd and didn't think I was getting any laughs. I obsessed over what I could've done better / different to the point where it interfered with my 10:30 performance. Usually, I'm able to let it go quickly but I kept trying to figure out what happened while grabbing a few drinks at the bar after the show. Of course, when I watched the video tape the next day, it wasn't that bad.

A funny thing happens when you tape all your sets, you realize your subjective experience while in the moment on stage isn't an accurate representation of how well or poorly you did for that show. I mean, if you do really well or really terrible you know, but the 80% of sets that fall between those two extremes can get misinterpreted while in the moment.

To give a more general answer, when I don't do as well as I would've liked, I tell myself that "it's never as good as you think, and it's never as bad as you think". Then I remind myself that I shouldn't judge the set until I see it on tape. Of course, I'll still try to analyze if there was something specific that went wrong. My next step is to try to block it out of my head and focus on my next set -- like a relief pitcher in baseball who doesn't worry about his last blown save. When all that doesn't work I go and distract myself with booze. I try to avoid the "booze because I did poorly" route whenever possible, as I much prefer to "booze cause I killed"...

What is your writing process like?

I'm still figuring out my writing process. Originally I'd just write and rewrite my jokes during work hours (I have a post coming shortly on "how to succeed in corporate America without really trying"), send them to my friends for feedback, rewrite them and then try them out on stage.

Next my writing evolved to carrying around a moleskin and writing whenever I was on a subway, then typing up the half joke, and editing and re-editing it.

I still write down ideas and half punchlines in the moleskin but now I'll work them out into a joke aloud at home (I have a mic and amp) by trying different variations five or ten times and seeing what I laugh at. Then I type it up into my computer. (I use Google Docs so that I can access my jokes from anywhere.) This is the amateur version of writing "on stage." I can't wait for my neighbors to ask me about why I talk to myself through a microphone...

There's a second writing technique I've been using since January: I upload and critique each and every one of my performances on my blog. I literally write out what I did wrong/right at a specific time in the set, or how it could be better. This is really helping me tighten my jokes and take out unnecessary words / phrases. I'm just starting to realize how rewriting and tightening material is just as important, if not more important, then writing new material.

Marianne Schaberg

Today I am interviewing Marianne Schaberg, a comedian born in Providence, RI who has been doing comedy for six months. To find out more about Marianne, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I was a comedy junkie growing up. I would listen to Bill Cosby records ( LP style) and watched Billy Crystal (VHS style) every day. At age five, I began begging my mom to let me stay up for SNL. She never caved in but my father (my hero, my clone) would sometimes let me watch.

Once I was an adult and growing beautifully into my father's illustrious facial features, I moved to NYC and started working but I didn't have the gumption (yes, gumption) to try stand-up although I had always wanted to. Last summer, I quit my job and thought to myself, "now or never."

I started going to open mics and I got hooked after I experienced how it feels to "kill" on stage. I find "killing" is best described by the infamous words of Marg Helgenberger on the pilot episode of "CSI" - "You feel like King Kong on cocaine." She actually said that... about CSI detective and lab work. On the other hand, bombing pretty much sucks but Marg hasn't provided a metaphor for that feeling just yet, except she did give herself a rape kit once so it might feel something on par to that disaster.

Can you tell me one weird thing about yourself?

My toes. They are super weird. Not because they are ugly or hideous (I rock a peddy). But because they are SUPER dexterous, agile and rambunctious. I'm fairly certain they can play the piano even though they've never studied it. They're just weird geniuses, prodigies really. Look for them at Carnegie Hall next fall.

How do you deal with rejection?

I cry. Then I drink. Then I induce myself into a 3-day coma on the couch. Nah, I'm like so much tougher than that. I cry a teeny bit, but only on the inside, and then get back on the old horse or Sarah Jessica Parker, whichever is closer.

Ken Cornell

Today I am interviewing Ken Cornell, a comedian born in Denver, CO who has been doing comedy for twenty years.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I knew I was going to do comedy after seeing Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live in 1978. I was in 8th grade and used to perform "King Tut" in my math class when the teacher stepped out for a smoke. I realized years later that I was being funny as a way for me to gain approval. I was an insecure kid, pimply faced and unwashed hair. But when I made people laugh I assumed they accepted me despite my looks. Years later I broke this down even further-I was seeking approval from my father. My dad was a tough laugh. If I made him laugh, I must be hysterical. Stand-up seemed like the best way for me to express myself. I couldn't sing or dance or act but I knew what was funny. And I have always felt like I've been invisible: walking through stores having to beg for help in my adult years, teen angst in high school. So stand-up was the way I was going to express myself. I would consider myself a scholar of comedy and became a student of what was funny by watching guys I thought were funny:Seinfeld (I saw his first Tonight Show), Richard Lewis (watching him made me realize stand-up didn't have to be set-up-punchline). The first record album I ever bought was Bill Cosby's Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby. So I started doing stand-up as a way to receive approval. I have since become addicted to the performance part and do it now as a way to exercise my chops, like a jazz musician does when he is asked to sit in. The adrenalin rush was great for the first 15 years or so and I still get some butterflies from time to time (essential for a good set; if you don't care if you suck, you will!) but sadly the rush isn't the same as it was when I was starting. That was a definite reason I kept on doing stand-up even if I stunk up the club. And now I consider myself more of a writer than performer and like to go to open mics as a way to reaffirm my ability to put pauses where they need to go and see if the word cocksucker will get me arrested like it did to Lenny Bruce.

What is your writing process like?

I performed my first set of comedy in 1988. I didn't develop my writing process until a few years later. A credit counselor suggested I write down all my expenses, no matter how small. I started carrying a notebook with me everywhere I went. This naturally led me to start writing everything down:inventions, song lyrics (I was trying to be a rock star too!), puns, books I should read, funny combinations of words, aggravations, inspirations. Writing became a habit. It was and is not uncommon for me to be talking to somebody and I will write something down completely unrelated to what we are talking about.

I can truly say with a straight face I write every day. I may not sit at the computer every day, but I will write something down every single day. I always have a pen and a piece of paper on my person. I put notes into my phone. I don't talk into a recorder because I find it cumbersome and, quite frankly, a little self-important. Recorders are essential for recording your performances (audio more so than video in my opinion-its easier to track the laughs) but I can express myself on paper better than any other method.

When I do find myself with a block of time, I take all my notes and transfer them to my laptop. At this time I do comedy triage: I will weed out stuff that is illegible or just really doesn't have a chance. I invariably come up with an embellishment that helps flesh out the original idea. I've read in some comedy books (Judy Carter) about having notecards with topics on them and then putting them on a bulletin board then laminating them all till they fit neatly into your file folder next to your comedy bed. It might work for some. Not for me. Its too organized. I make a folder for whatever month I'm currently in and stick it all in there. If I have a show coming up, I look to see if there is new stuff that needs embellishing. I mine older folders too to see if anything works better than the first time I wrote it down. Comedy is no different than other forms of writing: writing is re-writing. The most enjoyable part of the process for me is the re-writing, punching up. The economy of words comedy demands is its own reward. I have never had what would be considered a writer's block. I have a catalog of material that I an always go to and work on that usually helps spur me on.

What is your favorite thing to do besides comedy?

I guess I have never really thought about it but comedy is my favorite thing to do. its my passion and everything else that I like to do revolves around it. I like to write songs and play my guitar which became an offshoot of the comedy writing. I like to sing karaoke because its a way to perform when I'm jonesing for an open mic but can't find one. I actually owned a karaoke business that I started as a way to get more mic time. I recently reconnected with my kids and now really enjoy hanging out with them and all of us making each other laugh. I recently took a trip to Seattle where I took my second oldest son to an open mic. He had always wanted to try stand-up, had a three minute set and am proud to say, got him onstage. He killed and is now going to the Seattle regular open mics as well as doing small sets at regular comedy shows. I like to research stuff on the internet which usually leads to a bit. And I am a huge football fan, pro and college. During the season I watch a lot of football.

Becky Donohue

Today I am interviewing Becky Donohue, a comedian born in Queens, NY who has been doing comedy for over twelve years. To find out more about Becky, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I believe I started because I was always the funny kid in school. I think I was a lazy, smart kid. In fact, I know I was. I was one of those kids that could've done well in school, but never really tried. The teachers never really pushed because I was doing just fine and I think a lot of them, like all of us, were just trying to survive. I was bored a lot of the time. So, I often entertained myself and others in school by being a wack-a-loon. That's a made up word, but it fits, nonetheless. I think the humor that you enjoy as a kid may evolve slightly, but much like food, you always love what you love. What I love is smart and ridiculous humor all wrapped into one. I LOVE a good belly laugh.

How do you deal with rejection?

I'm not sure I deal with rejection. It just happens and I move on. You do develop a much thicker skin as a comedian. That doesn't mean things don't get to me, they do, but they definitely get to me less than the guy who's taken that very safe, corporate career path and then loses his job. When you're a comedian you go, "bad economy?! it's always been a bad economy for me." In terms of getting rejected in the comedy business, I always think of the audience as king. If the audience likes you then you are doing the most important thing correctly. If the industry doesn't take to you, but the audience always does, don't worry - the industry comes around. Another really important thing that I do personally to deal with rejection, is that I have a really solid support network of GOOD comedian friends (who I respect) that are always on speed dial. I call them when I feel like I have an awful set or if something ridiculous happens at an audition. They always pick me up and they do it genuinely. They feel that I'm really good and they get equally angry when a moron wrongs me. I also keep a list of people I'd like to kill next to my bed that I look at each night. Right next to the list are bullets. I spend evenings hand-carving their names into each bullet. Okay, I'm kidding about the bullets and the lists. Just keep good, positive people around you and you'll be able to weather any rejection that comedy will bring your way - and it will bring it your way. Also, try to have a life outside of comedy. That always helps.

Do you have a favorite topic in your comedy?

I like anything that's visceral and really visual. I like bits that are detailed. I would say that I tell story-bits. I'm more of a storytelling comic than anything else. So, when I have a 7 min set, it's weird for me now because I can't get into anything and I maybe get 2-3 bits out. I have a bit right now where I talk about "losing my virginity in a landscaping van behind a Duane Reade". My friend, Marc, a very funny comic saw it last night and he was like, "oh, my god, that was so detailed. I loved it." That's what I like. That and bits that really bring out a visceral emotion from me. I have a bit about "rats" that does that. I have a bit about "a one-legged baby" that does that and I used to do this bit about "insurance fraud", oddly enough, that really brought out the crazy in me. I love those. And I think audiences love them too. If something can be ridiculous and a bit smart at the same time, that's what I love.

Angry Bob

Today I am interviewing Angry Bob, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for over seven years. To find out more about Angry Bob, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

can’t fuck cute 20 year olds being an angry 500 lb nobody.....still a challenge being an angry 500 lb sort-of-somebody; but it helps!

What is your secret to getting on CNN?

talent?

What are your plans for the future?

the human race is a vast mistake that needs to be ended.....when the blessed asteroid arrives, the universe will be brought back to equilibrium and my work will be done.

Josh Carter

Today I am interviewing Josh Carter, a comedian born in Brooklyn, NY who has been doing comedy for over a year. To find out more about Josh, please follow him on Twitter.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing stand up because I decided that I want to do comedy professionally; it was always something that I thought about. Stand Up is the best "trainer you can have to not only gain stage presence (no matter your level) but also to network with other comics, whether you're performing at Maui Taco or Caroline's. It's also a good to see where you stand amongst other professionals; this way you can see what it takes to be an "A Player" in this industry.

What was your first time performing comedy like?

My first time performing (stand-up) was a great experience. I was on a boat full of college kids on a study abroad. I had just done a great character comedy routine in the boat's talent show and was approached by a comedian who was also on the trip to open for him. It was the first time I thought of straight up doing stand up. I got some material prepared and just went at it. I was very nervous, despite having 7 prior years of experience with other forms of comedy because I feel that stand up is a lot more personal. On stage, you're pouring out a little bit of yourself, in a way trying to get the audience to know who you are personally; whereas if I'm playing a character, I'm doing the opposite. I guess it went as well as it could have, I've heard such horrible stories about people's first time. I got a good amount of laughs, and a few people said they liked me better than the guy I was opening for, although I just thought they were trying to flatter me (he was really good!). An older man who was on the ship came up to me after and said "You really have something, but you're going to need to work really hard on it. Keep doing it." or something along those lines. Ever since then, I haven't looked back. I've gone on in New York, Austin, Texas A&M University (College Station, TX), Pittsburgh and New Jersey.

What is the worst job you ever had and did it have any effect on your comedy?

The worst job I ever had? I'm not sure if you mean comedy wise or all-jobs wise. I wouldn't call this my worst job, but the summer after my freshman year of college, I worked at a pretty big insurance company. It was something very different for me, but not too challenging - although it did pay well. After that summer, I knew I didn't want to work in a cubicle on a quiet floor, even for 60-100 something thousand per year. There was this one guy who worked there who had led a very exciting life. He was a model throughout his 20s and 30s, and told me all these crazy times he had and things he's seen. When I heard that, I just felt like entertainment is the life for me. I knew I had to work harder at my comedy, so I can make my money off of what I enjoy to do most, and that's making people laugh.

Branden McCowin

Today I am interviewing Branden McCowin, a comedian born in York, PA who has been doing comedy for two years. To find out more about Branden, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

Started just as fun because i like making people laugh. I honestly think anyone in my family could have been a comedian from my Dad, Mom or any of my brothers or sisters. We all are naturally funny. I think I'm just the only one who figured out that you could actually make money off it lol.. But the feeling of making a room full of people laugh is the best high you could have. trust me I had a few.. Plus this one pays you instead of paying it. Win-win.

Did you find anything surprising about stand-up comedy since you started?

I'm not funny as a comedian! Well me trying to be a comedian. It boggled me that when I tried to "write jokes" they sucked! Like when I first started doing comedy I'd just get up and talk. But when I decided to take it serious i tried to "become" this stand up comic. and wrote and tried to talk like I thought I should as a comedian. It took me forever to realize to be myself, and get back to being comfortable to being myself. How dumb does it sound trying to "learn" to be yourself?

What was your first time performing comedy like?

First started comedy while in the Air force stationed in Spokane, Washington. Went out with a friend Harry Riley who was interested in going to an Open mic. Harry was a naturally funny guy but the thought of him doing stand up was funny enough to pay the price of admission/ I went for support but ended up going up as well. I had no set written and no jokes prepared, i just went up there and said a lot of funny things I noticed that night and made jokes about the air force. After that forgot all about comedy until moving to Atlanta and being suggested by a girlfriend to give it a try. I didn't bomb but just didn't take it that serious. It wasn't until a chance meeting with a fellow comedian Karlous Miller a year later, who seen me that first night remembered me and encouraged me to take it more serious. I always knew I was funny just never thought of being comedian as "tangible goal". I had always been funny since making kids spit out there milk through their nose in 2nd grade, or sending kids home asking for new school clothes the first day of school. But after meeting Karlous Hima and others really showed me the ropes. I started hanging out with the "Atlanta Crew" going to clubs in Atlanta almost nightly in 2008, and then in February 2009 moved to NYC to further pursue this jedi-like training in the art of stand up comedy.

Jenna Jones

Today I am interviewing Jenna Jones, a comedian born in Seoul, South Korea who has been doing comedy for less than a year. To find out more about Jenna, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

My family got sick of my jokes so I thought I would try them out on tipsy strangers in a dark room who are looking to get their money's worth of laughter (because that isn’t intimidating at all). After graduating from college, I was hired at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a Production Assistant. A few months later, inspired by all the funny people I work with, I decided that I would give stand-up a shot. And guess what? I discovered that making people laugh is an incredibly fulfilling challenge.

What was your first time performing comedy like?

When I finally signed up for my first show, I was forced to actually sit down and prepare. I mean REALLY prepare. I became a total comedy nerd, constantly writing and rewriting jokes. My first performance taught me two things:

1. I MUST be myself. If I can't be myself, I won't be funny.

2. There is no winging it when it comes to performing stand-up for the first time. I'm relieved I spent a couple of months preparing; otherwise, I would have bombed, tanked, failed! I've done a show since then for which I wasn't nearly as prepared, and I blew it, big time.

My second on-stage experience felt completely different than my first. I performed at Comix in New York City in a show run by the Executive Producer at The Daily Show. The opportunity arose maybe an hour before I stepped on stage, but I managed to stumble through five very long minutes. I was terrified (mostly because I forgot to wear deodorant that day) and felt a little inadequate because all of the other comedians had been telling jokes for years. As crazy as it may seem, those feelings motivated me to continue writing and performing (and of course to never ever forget my Secret: strong enough for a man, made for one nervous blonde on stage).

How do you feel about freedom of speech and political correctness and stand-up comedy?

Comedians will always push boundaries and wouldn’t be able to do so if we didn’t have freedom of speech. When I tell jokes, I like to point out life’s awkward truths, poke fun at my flaws (I’m only human!) and hopefully make the audience feel like they are part of a comfortable and relaxed conversation. I’m not trying to shock the audience and push the limits of what might be considered funny—that’s just not me. So although I appreciate the first amendment and am grateful for its protections, I’ll leave the fight against PC to the George Carlins and Bill Mahers of the world...

Al Wagner

Today I am interviewing Al Wagner, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for six years. To find out more about Al, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I'd always wanted to do stand-up ever since hearing George Carlin as a teenager, but domestic discord eventually drove me to it. I'd always appreciated the intelligence and social commentary aspect of what Carlin did, but I ended up being more Ray Romano than George.

I couldn't win a debate at home, so I'd tweak the issue of the day into a suitable format for an audience and get validation from the laughter of strangers. In some ways it was the cliche of the comedian who uses the stage for therapy, but I had enough respect for and knowledge of the form to turn the rant into setups and punch-lines.

I did have a problem starting out in that I could tell a story offstage, but my respect for the form and determination to write clever comedy like my heroes George and Steven Wright and Woody Allen didn't match my normal personae or the outrage voiced in my material. I was too focused on articulating the writing and so I was completely unnatural in my first year or two.

Eventually I became more comfortable onstage and began to understand the importance of matching tone and subject matter. I also recognized that it was more important to write the way I speak than to speak the way I write, because that's the only way to be authentic if you're not playing a character.

This helped me finally experience some success as a comedian.

Can you tell me one weird thing about yourself?

One weird thing? That's like asking someone to pick one thing, just one, to take on a desert island. I guess the biggest thing I can admit to in writing is that I'm very competitive, but also very lazy, so I'm usually very unhappy.

I've learned that effort is almost never rewarded. For example, never try to win a race where the finish line is a glass door. I won by a nose, which then required four stitches.

And then there was the time I tried to lift a 115lb barbell over my head, using perfect weight-lifting technique, except I was wearing cowboy boots on a cement sidewalk.

I can still hear that metallic "clink" sound as I hit the ground, failing to get the barbell behind me, and in shock I popped right back up and asked for a band-aid to stop the bleeding that eventually required twenty-stitches and years of counseling for my friends, who were also in shock because they'd never seen a live human skull with the skin peeled off. Now I don't try so hard.

I'm also fairly cynical and don't trust people, but I still want them to like me.

I especially don't trust people trying to help me, because when I was eight my mother nearly drowned me while trying to save me from drowning in a six-foot pool of water, even though I could swim and could have bounced off the floor of the pool without help for an hour.

She said it was an accident and I believed her, because as a kid I didn't know anything about life insurance.

More recently a comic tried to help me. I was at a show and placed my laptop to record video in the back so it wouldn't be noticed by anyone, and while I was onstage I suddenly see the laptop rise up and float toward me. The comic later explained that he was helping me because the laptop was so far away that he was afraid I wouldn't get a good view of myself being distracted by my floating laptop.

Fortunately he hadn't had that sense of empowerment beaten out of him as a child, so I got to see a wobbly vision of my horrified face as I bombed instead of a distant view of my normal set.

How do you deal with rejection?

I've had extensive training in this area, and I've learned to blame myself and try to change who I am to meet others expectations.

Then I lose respect for myself for not being me, reject myself, and wish I was more like those people who don't care what others think. My goal now is to reject a few people just to see how it feels.

Mike Cannon

Today I am interviewing Mike Cannon, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for two and a half years. To find out more about Mike, please visit his website. (Photo by Mandy Stewart Hambly)

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I grew up in a family that was really big into musical theater. My father was an actor, my mother sang, my older sister went to college for music and is currently an actress, and my younger sister is a singer/song writer/actress and so forth. My parents used to make me sing Aladdin's "A Whole New World" with my older sister every time company would come over. I basically grew up in gay camp. Naturally, this made me play sports growing up. I played Basketball in particular all the way through my first two years of college. An injury, and the realization that at 20 years old my body was rapidly decomposing into a middle aged Leper's, made me re-evaluate what I wanted to do with the rest of college and my life. After weeks of drinking, I came to the conclusion that a lot of the reason I enjoyed sports and particularly Basketball was for the crowd reaction. When you're playing at the park or a packed gym and you bust someone's ass, there's always a ton of people yelling and/or talking shit about it. It's one of the best feelings in the world. When I got hurt, I tried to find another outlet where I could experience a loud primal response to something I did or created. I figured all of my black teammates thought I was a real hoot in the showers, so why not try to be funny full time.

Do you have a favorite topic in your comedy and what makes it your favorite?

In terms of humor, I'm probably one of the most immature people on the planet. My jokes have the versatility of Terry Shiavo. I basically tackle all the real thinkers, like sex - both straight and gay as well as consenting or normal, drinking/drugs, basic disabilities and of course poop. You write what you know I guess, and I have my shit doctorate.

What is your writing process like?

My writing process is pretty scatter brained. It's a mixture of check points with some fixed terminology as well. I have a severe case of ADD or rapid boredom, however you wanna look at it, so I can't sit down and write. I usually text a few things to myself during the day - mostly premises or even punches that I think would work well with a tag I had previously written. I basically obsess about it in my mind for a few hours, days, weeks, whatever and then go on stage to see if I have anything. It's weird. I actually started out writing long dialogue but everything came out sounding way too scripted. I definitely don't think what I do is necessarily correct or the best way, but it works for me (so far.) I guess I'm not a good enough actor to make something seem fresh even though I've said it and rehearsed it 500 times before. I think having to improv and riff in moderation is a good exercise and keeps your interest as well as the audiences. In my experiences, many carefully written jokes will not hit as hard as something spontaneous and honest, so I try to keep that in mind each set I do. And when all else fails, I cross my eyes, breathe heavily out of my nose and say I'm retarded.

Max Cohen

Today I am interviewing Max Cohen, a comedian born in West Palm Beach, FL who has been doing comedy for less than a year. To find out more about Max, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

As a nebbishy kind of guy, it wasn’t hard for me to really love Woody Allen’s work. Seeing a character like that succeed gave me a few ideas as to what I could do. I’ve been on the stage in one form or another since an early age. The audience’s focus, as well as the joy I felt in telling a good story, has always attracted me to performing. I’ve also always loved the power of just one person’s words to completely enthrall a group. Plus, I used to watch Comedy Central back when showing comedy specials was more than just a Friday night programming bloc, so I went into college quoting comedians as my friends were quoting philosophers. It’s been in my mind for a long time to try telling my own jokes. As I did more stage shows, though, I realized how much I love the pressure of having to deliver a great performance, and that there was no greater challenge than to not only deliver, but write my own performance. As I’ve gained some experience, it’s actually been very reassuring for me. I feel like most of my life is out of control and I’m very unsure about it, but I know I can (usually) control a few minutes of my day and make people laugh.

Is there anything you wish you knew when you started doing stand-up comedy?

I wish I had been more committed to the idea that you write down everything that comes to mind. Most of it will be horrible, but there will almost always be a creative nugget worth mining. Even just a few months into this, I can already think back to some times when I knew I should have written down how I was feeling about such and such an event. Having watched and listened to a lot of comedy before I started, though, I was already mostly aware of the pitfalls a novice needs to avoid. Plus, I read Judy Carter’s “Comedy Bible,” before I got on stage, so I overall felt pretty prepared for how things were going to go.

What was your first time performing comedy like?

My first time was actually quite pleasant. I went with two roommates to The Creek and The Cave in Queens. The mic wasn’t until 8, and I went straight after work, 5:30. I had some delicious jalapeno poppers. Most of the time, there was this gnawing nervous anticipation, no longer about the quality of my material, but just about getting on stage and starting my set. When I got called up I actually brought the pages of notes that I had and the scratch piece of paper with the set order. I managed to get a few chuckles out of that set and some nice handshakes afterward. I figured a few chuckles for a first time was a good enough omen, and kept on going.

Big Ben's Interview

Link of the week: "I signed up for MySpace because I thought it would magically make me as popular as Dane Cook." Ben Rosenfeld interviewed me on his blog - read all about it! Thanks, Ben.

Pat Lamb

Today I am interviewing Pat Lamb, a comedian born in Jersey City, NJ who has been doing comedy for six years. To find out more about Pat, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

People have always loved the way I expressed myself ,the way I said things,the expressions I used, I have been a student of language and how people express themselves all my life. That's why my act contains non- punchline stuff, like the NY expression for whore - WHO-AHHH. People are familiar with it through media. When I use it in my show I hear people in the audience laughing and repeating it ( even people not familiar with it). Language offers a lot of comedic possibilities and I love exploring it. I'm an artist and cartoonist - all great art is about exploration and despises ingratiation. Woody Allen says take chances, Who needs convention? When you can DATE children.

What do you do when you forget your next joke?

I DO THE NEXT THING I REMEMBER. I write an outline of things I want to say in my set, so there's always something to reach for. You'll never see me say "What else was there?" BAD Habit - just go on to the next thing. Don't dawdle, everything should have a direction, otherwise, (you need a comedic GPS) the message to the audience is that you don't know what you're doing.

What is your recipe for a great joke?

Just keep writing and it will come to you. Its something a lot of people feel, identify with or just find really silly. I wouldn't call it a recipe, though. I really hate what I call mechanical jokes, the formulaic stuff - I'm not interested. Scatological is easy and a waste of time, if you want to get work you got to be able to work clean. I like it clever, witty with a FLOW. A set-up that's believable (an actual or near actual experience) versus the unreal: cop pulls me over, "Have you been drinking? Your eyes look blurry." I said "No, have you been eating donuts? Your eyes looked glazed." I have heard guys say this, its funny, a whole act of this stuff turns me off, doesn't tell me about the person. Besides, if this was actually said to the cop, the comic's beating would have been posted to youtube.

Nate Roberts

Today I am interviewing Nate Roberts, a comedian born in Ilion, NY who has been doing comedy for one year. To find out more about Nate, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I was always I writer, and while I was engaged to my ex-fiance, who didn't support me in anything, I tried my hand at stand up comedy. Well after a few "that isn't really funnies" I gave it up, until we broke up. It was then I that I took a comedy writing class, and moved to NYC to start living the dream. I don't really know why I started I was always obsessed with it, as a kid. My dad used to let me stay up late and watch an Evening at the Impov, and when I was 12 I got my hands on Denis Leary's - No Cure For Cancer, which I memorized. That and Bill Cosby's - Himself were probably the 2 most influential comedy albums for me growing up.

Do you have any tips or tricks for writing or performing that you could share?

For performance anxiety, at least at the beginning, I would flip a quarter around between my fingers before being called up and put it in my pocket as I walked to the stage. A little distraction can help ease you mind. While performing, the greatest thing I've learned so far is slow down. There's no rush. The slowing you go I feel the more engaged the audience is on every word the more invested they are in what you're saying, and it just makes the funny jokes funnier.

What does stand-up comedy mean to you?

What does stand-up comedy mean to me? Shit, Slava, that's deep. I was always the class clown growing up, and I guess humor is how I dealt with the crap going on in my life I didn't want to deal with... And I guess that really hasn't changed.

Phil Jason

Today I am interviewing Phil Jason, a comedian born in New York, NY who has been doing comedy for less than a year. To find out more about Phil, please visit his website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I see comedy as a way to heal the world. When people are laughing, they are more accepting and lighter and far more open to the experience of love, which is the foundation of joy and peace. It is the recognition of truth that heals us and as a stand-up comedian, I have the ability to reach out to people through laughter and show them truths that they would be too scared or angry to see otherwise. But making people laugh is really only the beginning . Ultimately, it is my goal to teach them how to see the humor in the world on their own.

I also think it is fascinating that a human being can do something like stand-up comedy. It's such a strange phenomena that people will come to sit and watch someone else stand there and say things that they find funny. I had to find out for myself what it was like to do that.

What is your recipe for a great joke?

A great joke has a penetrating clarity that touches something deep within the recipient, changing how they see the world. If this clarity can be presented in terms of the simple aspects of the ordinary world that people are most familiar with or by making connections between things that people would not normally see as related, the joke will invoke a rush of joy in the audience that accompanies a wonderful elevation in their awareness. That's what makes every great joke more or less a little miracle.

What would you have done differently if you started doing comedy today?

Well, like I said, I've only been doing comedy for less than a year, so its almost like I did start doing comedy today, but I can say that having seen what it's like to do this, I would have started years ago when the idea of doing stand-up comedy first entered my head. Back then, I allowed myself to make excuses for why I couldn't do it which I now see were all nonsense. All my fears and apprehensions were manufactured by my mind out of material presented to it by my own self-doubt. It all seemed so real and convincing, but it turned out to be false. Doing stand-up is nothing like I thought it would be, though, interestingly enough, years ago, before I had ever performed for an audience, I had a dream in which I was on stage at a large theater that was full of people and I was making them laugh and the way it felt in that dream turns out to be exactly what it feels like in real life. Beyond all that self-doubt and fear, there was clearly a part of me that did know better.

Jen Kwok

Today I am interviewing Jen Kwok, a comedian born in Panorama City, CA who has been doing comedy for ?? years. To find out more about Jen, please visit her website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing stand-up because I had always wanted to do it, and I knew I'd totally regret it if I didn't give it a shot. That said, it was a really looong process for me to become a comedian.

Growing up, my main activities were reading, writing, playing piano and watching comedy on TV. In spite of all that, I somehow ended up triple-majoring in business and becoming an auditor. After a little soul searching, I realized that this was definitely not the life for me. So...I quit accounting, got a job in non-profit performing arts, and enrolled in improv classes at UCB.

After a year of improv, I finally bit the bullet and tried stand-up. I killed the first time, did alright the second time, and blanked out during my third time up. This PETRIFIED me from going onstage again for almost a year. I decided to picked up the ukulele as a creative challenge - and because I really missed playing music. After a few weeks, I started incorporating the ukulele with comedy, and I've been doing it that way ever since.

What is your writing process like?

Horrifying and constant. I've never really thought about my process before, but it's basically this:

1. Write down absolutely everything that occurs to me as funny. I carry around a notebook that I write it in NONSTOP. I will literally stop conversations or stop walking in the middle of the street to write something down. Needless to say, this takes up the majority of my day and it makes me look like a freak to the general public.

2. Mess around on the ukulele, keyboard and/or glockenspiel.

3. Try to connect funny thoughts with music (Step 1 + Step 2). This is the hardest part because the first two steps are just about collecting. The challenge of the third step is editing without being too brutal.

What is your favorite thing to do besides comedy?

The Three Cs: cooking, crafts, and playing "Carcasonne"!

Cooking: I really love to make anything that cooks for hours and hours, so a lot of oven casseroles, soups, stews, and slow cooked stuff. My favorite recipe is a fried macaroni that my mom invented, which uses actual packages of soy sauce and ketchup for seasoning. Most people are grossed out by the ingredients, but it tastes awesome - you'd never guess it's an all-condiment affair.

Crafts: I've been sewing since I was a kid and even won a couple blue ribbons in the county fair back in the day! Right now, I'm making adorable mini felt stuffed animals. They're so cute it's disgusting.

Carcassone: This is the greatest game ever! It was made by the guy who created "Settlers of Cataan". Basically, you build a French village with castles, roads, etc. and you mobilize people (robbers, knights, farmers, monks, etc.) to win points. I sound like such a nerd already, but the game is really fun and easy to understand - give it a chance!

Tim Vargulish

Today I am interviewing Tim Vargulish, a comedian born in Latrobe, PA who has been doing comedy for over three years. To find out more about Tim, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

When I was in college I joined an improv group called "I Pulled My Quad". One of the members in that group was also a stand-up comic and we would hang out after shows a lot and kid around. He always told me that he thought I was really funny and encouraged me to do stand-up, I've always liked to joke around and I've been a weird shy awkward kid and the idea of getting up on stage and telling jokes just kind of appealed to me. So I did this comedy contest at Catch a Rising Star in Lincoln, RI and just kind of got hooked and have been doing it ever since.

What is your plan for fame and fortune?

I guess I don't really have a very specific plan as of right now. My goal is to just continuously grow and improve as a performer. I'm trying to work on my act and do as much writing and performing as possible. So right now my plan is get to be the best performer as I can get and hope that people take notice or perfect my art as much as possible to make them take notice.

What do you do when you forget your next joke on stage?

If I ever forget a joke I just go on to a joke that I do know. I always have go-to jokes that I can rely on if I forget a joke. Also I believe honesty is very funny and if you forget a joke and it's pretty obvious you do it always helps to kind of point it out before the audience does. Poking fun at yourself usually seems to get a laugh.

Todd Rocheford

Today I am interviewing Todd Rocheford, a comedian born in Champaign, IL who has been doing comedy for less than a year. To find out more about Todd, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I had too, seriously. I just felt like a moth drawn to a big white light. Like most comics I'm an attention whore so being on a stage talking about me me me seemed like a dream come true. Stand up lets you express comic stories and ideas in ways other comic art forms such as sketch and improv can't, when you get a laugh it's yours, no one Else can take the credit for it. And I'm all about getting credit for things ha ha ha. I got frustrated with preforming with crappy improvisers who made me do all the work so they could get laughs, i love improv too, but i HATE bad improvisers. I love being able to talk about how i see the world, and tell the humorous stories of being Todd Rocheford. The Independence of being your own writer, director and performer is amazing.

How do you stay creative?

I keep a notepad with me on all times and even write down the most half thought out idea because you never know what might come from that thought later on. I try to not censor myself and give every joke i right a shot. Not taking things to seriously helps also. I let myself think up really really fucked up things that would make any non comic vomit.

What is your writing process like?

I go around new york being a huge asshole then get on stage and tell people about it. ha ha. I try to tell true stories from my life my writing process is usually thinking of the crazy things that i have done and putting a comic spin on them. I don't write things down word for word i try to keep things loose so i can change it up on the fly and don't have to worry about getting the exact words right.

How about one joke?

Since there are cover bands, I often wonder what about a cover comedian? This is my impression of what a cover comedian would sound like "Hi, my name is Carlos Mencia."

Dave Robison

Today I am interviewing Dave Robison, a comedian born in Columbus, MS who has been doing comedy for over four years. To find out more about Dave, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started performing when I was 10 years old as a ventriloquist and continued until I was married. About 4 years ago, my wife got tired of me saying "I used to do comedy", whenever I watched other comedians perform; so she told me I oughtta see if I "still had it".

Did you find anything surprising about stand-up comedy since you started?

Since I've been performing now, the only surprising thing I have found is the degree to which fellow comedians are willing to help you out. Some comedians are willing to give you every bit of advice they have in their arsenal, while others play everything close to their chest, and almost discourage you from even talking with them so that you won't become competition. But as I say this, that's not really surprising...some people are just willing to help more than others.

What was your first time performing comedy like?

Well as a kid, it was great. All the adults thought I was great, the kids sort of envied me, and for the most part, I was "hooked" knowing that applause and laughter was what I craved in life.

As a returning performer, all grown up, old, and trying to prove something to myself...I had a little self doubt and found out that not everything I thought was funny in my head was funny to an adult audience. While most "bits" worked, I was surprised by some that did not and wasn't really prepared for the outcome. You can bet I self-analyzed the hell out of my writing after that.

How about a joke?

Just recently celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary. I've been married 25 years, which means I've had sex... 24 times.

I've been married so long I can't even really come on to women anymore. I don't even think about cheating. You know? A sleazy one night stand of hot sweaty monkey love. Hooking up with a woman that would satisfy my every carnal perverted whim. ..NOPE I NEVER THINK ABOUT IT!

Mintz

Today I am interviewing Mintz, a comedian born in Paramus, NJ who has been doing comedy for almost three years. To find out more about Mintz, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I was always an oddball character in school, and a class clown. In high school, I would make these videos with a webcam (and this was like 10 years before youtube and vlogging), and then I would e-mail them to like, 2 people in my grade, as an inside joke. I’d be like, selling action figures of people we knew. Unbeknownst to me, they would send these videos to their friends, and then they’d send them to all of their friends. The next day at school, some cool kid or some really hot popular girl (who never in my life would I ever talk to) would come up to me and be like, “Hey, I saw your video. That was hilarious.”. I did the same thing with these comedic rap songs I made. I also remember someone talking at lunch one time, about a kid he knew who went to an open mic in New York, and did standup. And I just remember thinking, ‘Hmmm...That sounds interesting. I’d like to do that.” And then high school ended. My grades were terrible, I got rejected from every college I applied to. I ended up at community college. And I knew if I got all As, I’d be able to transfer to a regular college. The only problem was, the days of joking around in class were over, because now I was taking classes seriously. But there was this mass communications class, which involved a lot of performing in front of the class, and I kind of used that as an opportunity to start messing around again. We were given an assignment to do a presentation on an exotic animal. And I forget what I got, but I just remember that my presentation got a lot of laughs. It just felt right. Like, “Hey, the rest of this class blows, but I actually enjoyed that part.” And I was sort of shy around all these new people, so after you show that side of yourself in class, people want to talk to you outside of class. That was probably a defining moment in why I started to do this. I remember the day of that presentation, I was called two things. The teacher wrote on my review, “Good presentation...but you were like a Carnival Barker”, and then one of my friends saw me outside (I was wearing a suit for the presentation) and he said, “You look like a Game Show host.” I think to a certain extent, I still exude both of those qualities. But anyway, to wrap this up, I then transferred to a college in New York City, one of the kids in my dorm was doing stand-up, and I had another one of those moments, like, “I’d like to actually do that...”. And so then I just started doing it like a month or two later.

What was your first year doing stand-up comedy like?

Well I did it in New York for about a month. Then for the next 6 months, I was doing it in Philadelphia, where I’d transferred to another college. It’s harder to get stage-time when your starting out it Philadelphia. There’s only two clubs in Philadelphia, each has only one mic per week. One time I lied and said I was another comic on a lottery list, just to get stage time. I ended up getting heckled off the stage by the owner of the club during my set, “Liar! You’re not him!”. Quite dumb of me to think they wouldn’t notice, especially considering I sort of stuck out, because for the first 6 months, I was doing this character called “The Swami”, or Swami Mintz. I would go on stage with a pink “Turbi-Twist”, which is like one of those shower turbans they sell at Bed Bad and Beyond, or the As-Seen-On-TV stand at the mall, and Oakley sunglasses. And then I’d shoot off these one-liners in this weird voice. But I wanted every one liner to follow this theme of, “The Swami is a guy who likes to ruin stuff.” So every one liner would be the swami telling his escapades of destruction. Like one was, ‘I like to open up cans of tuna....and hide them inside of perfume stores...” . Now you might be wondering, “I don’t get it...why would a Swami be a prankster?” I don’t have an answer. I just really liked Andy Kaufman as a kid, so I wanted to do something weird like him. It was a very basic structure, and after 3 minutes... very redundant. But it would get a pretty good response...sometimes. Then I came back to New York, because it’s obviously a much more fertile land for comedy. I still occasionally whipped out The Swami, but I also started doing stand-up just as myself. The Swami was too limiting. And then one day I just got rid of The Swami. Though I will say, when Mike Myers was making the rounds at the Magnet Theater in 2007, developing his “Love Guru” character for his next movie, I had this fantasy that he’d see The Swami do a set, and then write him in as The Love Guru’s arch nemesis . I’d like to think that could have saved that movie.

How do you feel about freedom of speech and political correctness and stand-up comedy?

I really don’t even consider it an option. To me, it’s just always been a given; There is nothing you can’t say. Now whether or not saying that will get a laugh, that’s really the issue I think. Of course depending on how far your edgy joke might cross the line, you should definitely be mindful of the room you perform it in. It might offend or insult the entire audience, which in turn wouldn’t get any laughs. But I don’t really do anything edgy or racy like that, so this is all just theory, or what I’ve observed from other comics. The closest I’ve ever come to practically considering something like that, would probably be during my time spent in Philadelphia. The Laugh House is an urban crowd. There’s hardly any white people in the audience at their mic (the mic gets real audience). I did this one joke, “Halloween is really popular for some reason in Philadelphia, even more popular than anywhere else. I think that’s because it’s the only night of the year white people get to actually scare black people”. And it got laughs, and no one was offended. But really, if this was a panel, I would have fielded this question to the next person down. All in all, my 3 years in comedy have been the best 3 years of my life. This road has been a rough one, and the road ahead is even rougher, but I couldn’t imagine not doing this.

Kara Buller

Today I am interviewing Kara Buller, a comedian born in Ithaca, NY who has been doing comedy for over six years. To find out more about Kara, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started doing stand up because I had been doing bad improv. I don’t want to disparage myself too much—some of what I did was really fun and good—but there were definitely moments were I was just staring into the floodlights, wondering when I would have my next idea. That makes your scene partners uneasy. I would just get really stuck in my head. So in 2003 I stopped doing improv and sketch and—I should also say that the Jerry Seinfeld documentary, which came out in 2002, played no small role in my starting stand-up. There’s this song that plays over the ending credits. “A fork a spoon, a something something, dog in the moon.” It’s just so fucking simple and sweet. I was listening to that and something really hit me. Make it simple, make it sweet. Make it good. With stand up, I could do that. I could craft a joke in the privacy of my home, play with the wording like a craftsman—make it simple but good—and then give it to the people. In improv I couldn’t do that. You're not given time to craft your words. It's not for the slow kids--or the perfectionists.

As far as childhood, I peed my pants and stammered a lot. This did not portend a lucrative comedy career.

Are you marketing and promoting yourself and how?

I have a blog and I facebook a lot. I talk loudly on the L train… I send friends lots of text messages. That’s promotion. I also spend whole days googling “comedy booking agent” “comedy gigs new york” and “female money beauty power.” Can’t say anything has come from it. I did go on one of those pay-to-play auditions this week, but all I did was name drop and make an ass of myself. Wait. That’s the heart of marketing and promoting.

What is your writing process like?

I have a number of games I play. One is called “24 hours.” I make a list of all the things that have happened to me or that I did in the past 24 hours. (There's also a version called "72 hours" and "Since the Last Time I Played this Game.") Next to the activity or incident I write my feelings. “Fear, anxiety that I would f*ck up the convo with my dad and that I would not give good convo.” “Fear that highlights would be very bad and my boyfriend would dump me.” I take the emotion, enlarge it and entertain various comedic scenarios. I really have to be careful that I actually write punchlines though. Sometimes I think incredulity around absurdity is enough. It’s not—not for me anyways. It can’t just be me on stage yelling “this is absurd of me to think this! Don’t you think!” I hate watching other performers do that and I get the feeling the audience hates it too. We need to drive the 1988 Cadillac Cimmaron of a joke premise all the way into the joke garage.

Another game is just called “Fear.” I make a list of all the things that I am truly afraid of.

Okay, it’s not really a game. It’s a heading. But for me it’s been a great joke generator.

Another game: New York Times. Every story or headline gets a joke. It’s a good game for generating weekly material, but not a good game for generating a set for Letterman. It will hone your skills though and leave you more informed about crime in Mexico.

The sad truth of it is that my best material has arrived almost wholly formed, untried for, in the midst of life. I see something, it provokes me and then there, whaddya know, is the joke. The B material comes out of the joke games. That’s fine. B material has its place as well.

I write with a Uniball Vision – micro (.5) pen, in black. There is magic in these pens. I try to always carry my comedy notebook with me. I also punch ideas into my phone. I totally agree with the person who said ALWAYS write it down. In bed at night I have ideas and I’m like this is soooo good how could I ever forget! Then the next morning, it’s like nothing ever happened. I just go on with my life—and that joke is gone forever, like it never even happened. I would probably be famous by now if I kept a pen in my bed.

I have a secret hidden genius in Chicago who I turn to when I’m stuck. I like talking with fellow comedians about my material. I have no problem taking a line that they might give me.

I do not have a set writing time each day or week. I’m in grad school right now and that is eating up a good amount of time. I am trying to get my own show with my friend Asie, and then I will have to write each week. Gotta keep it fresh for the bartender. It really is about pleasing others and not yourself. I don’t think I’m even kidding.

Mo Diggs

Today I am interviewing Mo Diggs, a comedian born in Edison, NJ who has been doing comedy for three and a half years. To find out more about Mo, please visit his website.


Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I was sleeping with hookers and strippers, thinking, "What job can I have where this lifestyle is common to the point of cliche?"

Also, I saw Aziz Ansari and Eugene Mirman do this bit on M.I.A. I thought Aziz Ansari was an Arab-American like me, which was refreshing because there was no such thing as a cool Arab-American. Then I found out he was Indian and tried to look up Arab Americans as funny as Aziz and I couldn't find any. In fact, I thought I was better than the Arab-American comics I saw so I figured I would give it a go.
But yeah Aziz really did great things for Habib-Americans (anyone in America who would get called a "terrorist," whether they are Southeast Asian or Persian; Arab or Turkish). It was also great seeing Kumail Nanjiani on Colbert Report playing Colbert's secret prisoner. A decade ago they would've given that role to Fisher Stevens with chocolate pudding on his face.

How do you write a joke?

An idea comes to me and I work on it on Monday, my writing day. Then I try it onstage, and if it doesn't work I whine and ask my girlfriend why the joke didn't work over and over again, even when we're having a romantic interlude.

How do you make sure you don't forget your material on stage?

Depends on the situation. Usually I try to link joke titles with images and try to link those images according to the order they are in. For example if the set list is MAYONNAISE/SATANISM/PARROT/IPOD, I imagine mayonnaise being spread on a sacrifice for a Satanic ritual; then a Satanic parrot; then a parrot with an iPod (skateboard optional).

If I just stop by to watch the show and the producer puts me up at the last minute, however, I write the joke titles on my hand.

Can you share one joke?

Imagine KISS painted abstract art on their faces? "I was the Fire Breathing Demon; now I am the Haunting Specter of Unrealized Potential."

Chewy

Today I am interviewing Chewy, a comedian born in Brooklyn, NY who has been doing comedy for over a year. To find out more about Chewy, please visit her website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I started stand-up comedy on a new talent showcase at Comix. I continued with it because it is just awesome to see someone come in who is bummed and then his face lightening up when you go on stage and say jokes. I just like making people happy.

What is the worst job you ever had and did it have any effect on your comedy?

Hmm.. I honestly don't think I ever had a job that I hated. Each job made me work with people and that's what I love to do.

What is your plan for fame and fortune?

My plans for fame and fortune is to just do what I love. If I can just make a living making people laugh then I would find myself successful in comedy.