DJ Sandhu is a unique comedian who’s hard to nail down. His material can go from incredibly liberal to unexpectedly conservative stances on dating and relationships. In the last few years he’s grown out a long black beard that’s the stuff of legend. Born of Indian parents, and blessed with bushy eyebrows, he’s had more than his fair share of troubles at airports as a result. He’s told me stories of being taken off of flights in Paris because he looked like a terrorist, and flat out being denied entry into Canada while a guy with five guns was waved right in. Despite these humiliating (and expensive) travel changes, he does his best to find the humor in these situations. In one of his bits, he admits that he isn’t sure he’d want to get on a flight that didn’t give extra security screening to someone who looked like him.

He’s placed well at The World Series of Comedy for two straight years and even taught a class on comedy finance for 100 comedians at this year’s event in Las Vegas. Quick to give advice to new comedians and frequently giving visiting comics a place to crash when they come through Sacramento, he has a reputation as one of the nicest performers in town.

I spoke with DJ at The Sacramento Comedy Spot a couple of hours before we were both scheduled to perform on The Friday Show. He’s always up to something unusual, like painting his beard purple in honor of the Kings or performing in a System of a Down tribute band, but he’s reached new levels of eccentricity by getting a pet pig. And he’s adorable.

Tell me about your pig.
His name is Sir Nigel Buckingham.

How did this come about?
Anthony Krayenhagen and Chris Teicheira [Modesto comedians] did a Pretending to Care podcast when they were dumping on an article Brian Crall [Sacramento Comedy Spot founder] wrote.

The article about how to start performing stand-up comedy?
As I’m listening to it, I said, “You’re way out of pocket, and I’m going to ambush your next podcast and defend his honor.” So I went there with my girlfriend and my girlfriend said, “There’s something wrong with your pig!” Her gut was just dragging on the floor and Chris said she was pregnant. Then my girlfriend said, “Can I have one?” And she just gave me a look and I said, “Look if you want it, go for it, but it’s going to be you raising it because I’m not around so much.”

We were planning on naming it Lord Hidalgo Noriega then she decided she wanted to name it Nigel. I still wanted a title so I came up with Sir Nigel Buckingham. At the last second I tried to get her to let me name it Hash Browns, because I think that’s an adorable name.

He had a crown on when I met him a few nights ago. Where do you find a crown for a pig?
We had already planned on getting him a mini crown and cape, so the day before we got him we went to Petco to get him his bed, food and a leash, and as soon as we walked in, that outfit was at the door.
This year for Halloween I’m going to be Khal Drogo, my girlfriend will be Khaleesi and she’s going to make a dragon costume for Nigel.

What’s the biggest surprise about owning a pig?
Everyone’s always saying how smart pigs are, but I was reading about it and found out the chain of command is that number one is humans, number two is chimps and apes, number three is whales and dolphins, and number four is pigs. So they’re the fourth smartest thing on the planet.

What’s the dumbest animal?
Comedians [laughs]!

This pig is gonna get big, right?
Probably about 200 pounds. Considering I’m 175 pounds, it’ll make me feel good about myself.
Tell me about your background. A lot of people make assumptions about you. Let’s get that straight.
I’m born and raised in Sacramento. My parents were born and raised in the Punjabi area of India. And my mom and dad moved to England when they were 3 and 7. My dad moved to Sacramento when he was 12.

So they met in England?
Just a bit, but once they turned 18 they were in an arranged marriage. My mom’s aunt is married to my dad’s uncle. There’s no blood relation, but there’s no word for that in Punjabi. So when people would ask my parents how they met, he would say, “She’s my cousin!” and she would say, “No! We are not cousins. Stop it!”

So the arranged marriage worked out for them?
Yeah. Neither of them drinks or smokes, and they don’t eat meat. They don’t have vices, so it’s not like one is sacrificing for the other.

Where did you go to high school?
Laguna Creek in Elk Grove.

Was being a comedian something you wanted to do then?
Never. I wanted to be in a punk or a metal band.

You’re in a band now, right?
Yeah, it’s Steal This Band. It’s a System of a Down tribute band. They get so mad when I call it a cover band. I guess a cover band plays a bunch of people’s stuff, and a tribute band … only [covers one band]. We’ve been together almost a year, but we’ve only done five shows. They’re all in “real” bands so it’s just something we do on the side.

You can sing. I remember we were in Marysville at The Silver Dollar Saloon after a show and you sang “Pony” by Ginuwine. I’ve heard you sing it before, too.
I would use that to pick up on women at bars. I’d put that song on and make a spectacle. I’d walk the bar top and find the biggest dude in the room and start giving him a lap dance. They always joke back with it, because you can’t hit me, I’m too small. You can’t win a fight against me if you’re a big dude, because if I win, a little guy just kicked your ass; and if you win the cops will be like, “Why are you picking on this skinny little Indian?” Then I’d go to the girl I actually wanted to get with.

So what was the spark that got you to try comedy?
My brother went to UC Santa Cruz and they had a culture show and they got a comedian to come up from Los Angeles to close it out. They paid for his flight, his hotel and all of his food and drinks for the weekend.

Is this someone you can name?
His name’s on the wall of The Comedy Store. I don’t think he does comedy anymore. They paid him $3,000.

So they didn’t know what they were doing?
He saw them coming. There were children and old immigrant women and everyone in-between there. He’s cussing and was just super vulgar. So he turned the audience off immediately and never got them back. Later on, we’re having a bonfire at the beach and passing a guitar around and someone says to me, “Why don’t you try comedy, you’re funnier than this guy!” He heard that and started treating me different. It really hurt him. So I said, “What, do you think you’re Russell Peters?” Once he started treating me crappy, I recognized that he saw I would be able to do this.

He inspired me to perform, so I came back to Sacramento and did Laughs Unlimited’s open mic back around 2006 and performed three times with different sets, and just put a pin in it and went back to college. Then about three years later I just started it up again. I was going to clubs and watching and became friends with some of the headliners and features. I didn’t even know the local hosts. But I spent the next six months doing open mics and showcases.

I ended up getting my first day job and my first hosting weekend at Laughs Unlimited the same week. Kivi Rogers was the headliner and he was giving me advice, and I was taking it way too literal. After one of the shows he said, “That’s your stage. You don’t leave that stage empty!” What he meant was to not introduce people and walk off the stage before they get up. What I did was after the show I said, “Thank you guys for coming, have a good night!” and I just stayed on the stage until everybody got up and was gone. I was doing that for the whole weekend.

You can see DJ Sandhu performing at the Sacramento Comedy Spot (1050 20th St.) on Oct. 8, 2017. Visit Saccomedyfest.com for details on this and the other nine shows that are a part of the Sacramento Comedy Festival, which takes place from Oct. 6–8.

I’m a comedian who loves talking to comedians, so when I had a chance to interview Jordan Rock, I was intrigued. With an eight-year career that started when he was 17, he’s already received notable roles in TV shows such as Love and Brooklyn Nine Nine and will be featured alongside Andy Samberg and Josh Peck in a film about three guys going to a hip-hop show called Take the 10, which debuts on Netflix on Jan. 20, 2017.

Rock’s stand-up credits are piling up. In January and February of this year he’s headlining major clubs in South Carolina, Washington DC and Sacramento. He’s appeared on Last Comic Standing, @midnight and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.

So bringing up the fact that he’s Chris Rock’s little brother feels like it makes me “that guy” who had to ask “that question,” but when I asked him who his biggest comedy influence was growing up, how could I not expect that it would be Chris? Twenty-five years his senior, Chris was already a superstar when Jordan was just a kid. His other brother, Tony Rock, is also a successful stand-up comedian and actor, as well.

But the comedy game is honest and as personal as it gets. Sure, some celebrities get into comedy already famous or with a connection, but after 30 seconds on stage, if you aren’t legitimately funny, you’re immediately exposed. It’s not genetic, and it’s certainly not easy. Jordan Rock will be headlining six shows at Punch Line Sacramento Jan. 19–22, 2017.

In anticipation of his upcoming, local stint, I talked with Jordan on the phone about his career, development and what it’s like to perform.

So how long were you performing in South Carolina before you moved to New York?
For a year and a half, but I wouldn’t count it. It doesn’t even count. I was in high school and I wasn’t able to move free, so I wouldn’t really count it. It really started in 2009 when I moved to New York.

How was that first year in New York?
It was the longest year of my life. It was horrible [laughs]. New York beats you up. The first year was very long, and the second year was cool. Everything else after that was fast. There’s not a lot of quality stage time. You just have to make the most of every set you have, and you have to really network because you don’t know anybody.

Do you have a really memorable bombing story that sticks out?
I followed Kevin Hart one time when Kevin Hart was … Kevin Hart! Two-hundred people walked out on me. They saw Kevin Hart and were like, “This can’t get any better.” Their checks came, I got on stage and then they were like, “Yeah, we were right!”

Who were some of your biggest influences in comedy growing up?
My brothers were my biggest influences, Chris and Tony. I really liked how they moved and how they lived life. I wanted to grow up and be like that. I want to work like that.

So as a kid, your brother Chris was already performing stand-up.
Yeah, he’s already becoming him.

Was there any consultation or advice from him when you were young that helped you decide to do that?
He told me to come to New York. Don’t go to Los Angeles, come to New York! He said you got to go to New York to actually develop, because in California, you go there with what you’ve got. They don’t really give you time to develop there, because everyone is coming out there. In New York, you can see someone bombing on Tuesday and killing on Thursday with the same exact jokes, because you can develop.

How would you describe your comedy?
My comedy right now is just straight up the middle. I’m trying to just observe all of these new things that are going on all around me and just be in the middle. I don’t really want to pick a side. I want to be in the middle of every argument. I don’t want to lean too much to the right, and I don’t want to lean too much to the left. I just want to be me. I talk about growing up. I talk about the little things that happen in society and my life experience.

Are you starting to get fans that are looking forward to you coming back, or seeking you out to go to your shows repeatedly?
It’s building slow and it’s happening, but it’s really a cool thing. I appreciate everyone that comes out, even if it’s at a small place. If only five people show up, I’ll still give five people the best show I can.

Yeah, I always feel bad when a comic performs down the crowd. Like they feel there’s not enough people here for a good show, and they treat the audience badly.
I’ll never forget when I was hosting a show for like 12 people. One of them walked out of the show and went to the bathroom and I asked them if they were enjoying it and they were like, “Yeah, we’re having a great time! We just wish the comics were having as much fun as us.”

On your Twitter page it says “The Solange of My Family” as your tagline. You’re doing your own thing, and your stage presence is really nothing like your brother’s, but it’s got to be weird having that connection. What’s it like having that bond as you’re following your own career?
It’s been interesting. People will put more emphasis on it than you will. I’m just like, “You are not going to make me feel weird for having a dope family.” Once I just got out of what everyone else was thinking and focused on myself, I feel like I’m doing alright.

How long have you been headlining?
About three years now. I did it a little bit with one-night gigs and when comics produce shows, but this is my first time coming to clubs and nice rooms where I’m headlining for a weekend.

Yeah, a Thursday-through-Sunday run at a club like Sacramento Punch Line is a pretty fun set of shows. Plus you get the whole gamut of a light Thursday to the dreaded late Friday show. Why do so many comics joke about the late Friday shows?
Some people just like to be miserable. Some people just like to complain. Or maybe they just want to get out and party. This is my first time doing it, so I haven’t worked hard enough to complain yet [laughs]. I feel like I have to do these shows and do them good so they’ll invite me back so I can do them over and over again.

Doing a run like this, I’m looking forward to people coming out, telling their friends about it, and they’ll have time to come, too, instead of it just being a one night thing.

And it’s a gift to do that many shows in a short amount of time because you can tweak and modify and every show is just a little bit different.
It’s great doing longer sets because when I’m in New York, I’m doing 15 minutes. I want to stretch and it’s time to stretch to show what I can do.

And that’s part of what you’re talking about with that first year in New York, because you’re basically starting with three-minute sets while you’re trying to make a name for yourself.
Yeah, it’s the craziest thing because you’re doing the shortest of sets and you’re trying to make it work. But you grow and fight to get five, then 10, then a nice 15 set. Then you’re ready to put together a project so you can really tell people something.

Is there a comedy album in the near future?
I think 2019 would be a good year for an album. I think I’m going to let everything I’m working on this year go through so people can get a bit more acquainted with me. Then go back out on the road, build on top of that and then put something out. Plus my brother has a special coming out so I want to make sure I’m out of his way.

Do you have a good relationship with him when you’re on the road where you encourage each other?
Oh yeah, I text him all the time.

It seems like there’s more comedians working right now then ever before. What advice would you give a new comic starting out trying to carve out their place?
Do not try and impress me [laughs]. Don’t try and impress other comics. Try to impress people that buy comedy. That’s the problem that comics have. They want to be the comic’s comic. If you want to be the comic’s comic, you’re not going to get far!

You’ll have six chances to see Jordan Rock live at Punch Line in Sacramento (2100 Arden Way) Jan. 19–22, 2017. Tickets range from $15–$20, depending on date and time of the performance, so check out Punchlinesac.com for more details.

The Power of the Laugh

Ben Gleib has an almost exhaustive list of accomplishments. In the past 15 years or so, he has worked tirelessly as a stand-up comedian, actor, political commentator for NPR and CNN (to name a few), and most recently, the host of television game show, Idiotest. You may have also seen him as a recurring guest on the Chelsea Lately show. This stuff is all magnificent and rad as hell, but it also pales to the fact that he voiced Marshall the Sloth in Ice Age: Continental Drift in 2012. I assume he made BFFs with Queen Latifah and Drake, who also voiced characters in the flick. It’s also kind of funny that Gleib’s genuine talking voice is exactly like Marshall the Sloth’s. In fact, I’m pretty sure he is actually a cartoon.

Gleib has been considered one of the most versatile and intelligent comedians of his time, and is well sought-after for his take on politics and everyday life. He writes material with a quirky style that manages to be hilarious and evoking; which is difficult when it comes to total buzzkill subjects like the state of our government. Esquire even went so far as to call him one of six comedians who will be the next big thing, and an important figure in a new era of “alt-comedians.”

His wildly popular podcast, Last Week on Earth, served as his own makeshift talk show before he landed the hosting gig on Idiotest. Both of these endeavors are stepping stones toward his ultimate goal of following in the footsteps of Carson and Letterman to become a late-night talk show host. He is well on his way, having managed to regularly share a platform with diverse comedians from Chelsea Handler to CNN’s Don Lemon and forming close relationships with many heavy-hitters in his industry.

I had the opportunity to chat with Gleib about his past and future in the comedy world and his headlining stint in Sacramento, Oct. 22–25, 2015, at Punch Line.

Your list of accomplishments made me feel like a lazy person. How did you get there?
So slowly. It took a lot of time to build up my resume in this business. You have to keep focused and never doubt yourself, and eventually, all of these things start to pile up. I remember like it was yesterday, being 23 years old and freshly graduating from college, and writing and pitching shows that were being declined all the time.

I worked on one particular show for three whole years of college, and when I graduated I decided to write a pilot and pitch it to TV networks. No one wanted it and I had to pick up my pieces and move on. Eventually, the National Lampoon Network picked it up and it lasted three seasons.

Things continued on from there. The next year, I was cast in my first movie, Bar Starz. Then, a few years later, I was asked to be on Chelsea Lately, where I stood for a solid seven years. Then, I was cast to voice Marshall the Sloth for Ice Age: Continental Drift. Things just came one after another and I never really stopped moving or looking for opportunities.

It’s hard to talk to you right now and not imagine a cartoon sloth holding the receiver on the other end. Anyways, how is your game show going?
When the Chelsea Lately show ended, my show Idiotest aired. We have already done over 105 episodes since. It’s insane how things really came together. I’ve always wanted to host my own show, and it supports my ultimate goal of wanting to become a late-night talk show host. Man, I could not be happier. I have my own show and it’s amazing. The whole show is about making people look stupid and laughing at them; it’s my specialty. I eventually want to get into hosting a late-night talk show, so this isn’t a bad step.

How was working on Chelsea Lately? Is Chelsea Handler as “I do me” as she seems?
She’s exactly how you would imagine. She’s very outspoken and whacky on and off set. She’s a fantastic woman and working with her was great. You always had to be on your toes around her. She talks shit like crazy! She is a woman who challenges things and lives how she wants.

You are often asked to guest star on NPR and CNN to discuss politics. Who are you endorsing for the next president?
Actually, I am really undecided at this point. They all look really interesting. Bernie Sanders is extremely intriguing. I’m just legitimately trying to see what everyone is about. Definitely not voting for Trump, though.

Why not?! Who wouldn’t vote for a racist celebrity weirdo?
That guy is absolutely nuts! He’s not one to run for politics.

You just wrote an interesting op-ed about Donald Trump for Huffington Post…
Yeah, for some sick reason a lot of people misinterpreted it and thought I was endorsing him, when in fact I was at the complete opposite of that spectrum. I really said something along the lines of, “electing Trump would surely lead to WW3.” I said he was very interesting and the way that he talks about politics is very interesting because its unvarnished and brings a lot of criticism. When he does debate after debate and interview after interview by saying he’s confident in dealing with Syria and Russia because, “Well, I have such a good relationship with them. They’re gonna love me,” it’s not really such a great plan, because it shows that he really just gets along with the worst of everyone.

How important is it to bring comedy into things that aren’t so lighthearted, such as the filthy world of politics?
One of the best ways to attack truth and power is through jokes. If you’re going to speak the truth, you better make it funny or else they will kill you.

I think people love to laugh, and they can take honest truth more when they are laughing. It’s just a good way to point out things. Everything is just a little more effective when there is laughter involved.

Interesting. So how does your mind twist serious issues into being comedic and still provoking?
I’m quite pro-marijuana, for sure.

Is this your official pro-weed endorsement?
I will publicly endorse that. In fact, the basis for a segment on a web series I did was a fictional movie theater in Colorado that served weed, it was called “Trinidope.” It was fictional … at the time. Six months after I filmed that, Colorado opened up a weed theater.

How’s your creative process?
My process is definitely pretty scattered and varied. I keep a notebook and am always writing down every thought I have that might lead to a skit. I mostly have great ideas in the middle of great conversations, a date or even in the middle of sex. I like to just pause and write it down.

What? That sounds horrible and rude. That’s not a good creative process!
No, all you have to do is keep the lower half of your body moving. You can still grab your phone and jot down some notes. It’s multitasking.

I guess you can use the, “You’re my inspiration” line … I guess.
Yeah, “You’re my muse, baby!” It does sound pretty bad to think of funny things during that time, doesn’t it? Doesn’t seem like the time to be the butt of a joke. Inspiration comes when it comes.

Ready for Sac?
I want people to come out and see the show! I promise to not talk about politics very much at all, just ready to share my weird observations about the world with your city. Also, ready to grub on this farm-to-fork food I hear about.

Catch Ben Gleib live Oct. 22–25, 2015, at the Punch Line Comedy Club, located at 2100 Arden Way, Sacramento. Gleib will perform a total of six shows, all 18-and-over. Tickets range from $15 to $20 and are available online at Punchlinesac.com or by calling (916) 925-5500.

In the mid-1990s, Chris Hardwick began his career as a DJ on the Los Angeles radio station, KROQ. In 1998, he began acting and making appearances in horror films like House of 1000 Corpses and Halloween 2. Since then, he has been in countless movies, television shows and web series. Hardwick made regular appearances on Chelsea Handler’s late night E! television show, Chelsea Lately, and he now hosts his own popular late-night show on Comedy Central called @Midnight. His hilarious comedy and nerdy boy persona make him a force to be reckoned with and absolutely entertaining to watch. And come Friday, Aug. 14, you will be able to see him in person as he delivers his comedic genius at the Crest Theatre, located at 1013 K Street. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 and can be purchased at Crest Theatre or online at Axs.com.

WIN A PAIR OF FREE TICKETS TO THIS SHOW! FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM TO LEARN MORE!!!

Marc Maron talks record collecting, the art of conversation and the dark matter of comedy

I’m hit with some trepidation before I pick up the phone to call Marc Maron—comedian, radio host, actor, interviewer, writer and impromptu philosopher. It isn’t his success, specifically, that has me psyched out. It isn’t the fact that he recently wrapped the 500th episode of his thriving podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, which in the past five years has been host to the likes of Mel Brooks, Chris Rock, Mike Myers and Robin Williams; it isn’t the fact that he has two books (the autobiographical The Jerusalem Syndrome and Attempting Normal) under his belt, or that his cable series, Maron, has just run through its second season on IFC. There is something else—the fact that, for a few brief moments, I’ll be speaking with a powerfully honest human being; a man who turns the scalpel-edge of comedy on himself for the benefit of the audience; someone who engages in more meaningful, soul-exploring conversations per week than most people do in years; a guy who lays everything about himself—good and bad—on the table, and now, two-plus decades into his career, is hitting his professional stride in a major way.

Less than five years ago, this would have been an unlikely proposition for Maron. In late 2009, foundering in the wake of a second divorce and let go from a radio gig with Air America, he retreated to his home in Los Angeles’ Highland Park to contemplate the dreaded and unknowable next stage in his life. At a time when internal chaos, resentment and negative experiences were mounting into a harrowing, existential “What the Fuck?!” Maron began to regroup by channeling the cry into something familiar and manageable—a semi-weekly podcast done in the modest setting of his garage. WTF soon gained popularity as a refreshing interview format capturing honest, revealing conversations between Maron and fellow comics, showcasing his ability to connect with a subject on human terms while continuing to exorcise the self.

Today’s Maron finds a good amount of joy in everyday life along with the familiar dread. You can catch a glimpse of this when watching his eponymous show, as his televised persona maneuvers the conflicts between his perpetually difficult personality and a variety of unscheduled life occurrences—bipolar relationships, family drama, resentment of colleagues and feline incontinence among them—one gets the sense that each episode ends on a note of understanding and growth. The periodic shifts between panic, acceptance and wisdom have become as much a defining quirk of Maron as the absurd distortions of the mundane that color Louie, the show of his longtime friend and colleague Louis C.K. I recommend fans of the latter take a dip over to the former. I’d also recommend going further: there are many entry points to choose from into Maron’s creative orbit, and if you have even a passing interest in comedy, you should hunt down one of his episodes, podcasts, specials or books. You’ll find yourself stumbling into a turbulent yet oddly comforting corner of the comic spirit. Maron may be still be trying hard to understand himself, but when he illuminates some truth about others in the process, it seems effortless.

Now the time has come. I look at Marc Maron’s number, and knowing full well I might screw this thing up, I go ahead and dial. After all, there’s a reason the man is who he is now, and it sure as hell isn’t from being a calm and collected individual. I recall a particular piece of Maronian advice that has become a catchphrase of sorts, and simply ride it out.

You’ve built an exciting and fertile new chapter in your career with the WTF podcast. And one thing I’ve noticed that keeps pulling me back in (and I think this does the same for all your listeners) is that your guests, regardless of how high-profile or experienced they might be, open up and give some of the most engaging, emotionally charged answers they’ve ever given in public. Do you think there’s a difference between a good interviewer and a good conversationalist?
I don’t think so… You know, I never set out to be an interviewer. I just set out to get to know people and connect with people, to be part of their experience and also for them to be part of mine… Because I work in audio, I like to be engaged, I like to be present, I like to feel what’s happening; that’s what I’m going for. In general I don’t go in with a lot of questions, just a general idea of what I need to cover and who I think they are, and I just ride it out.

Thinking back, how would you imagine things would have been different if you had hit the same success in your career when you were starting out, in your mid-twenties?
Well, I don’t know if it would have happened. If it would have, it would have. Things happen for a reason—and I’m not saying that in a mystical way. Sometimes you’re ready and sometimes you aren’t. It’s hard for me to conceive of having the same success back then as I do now, because I was out of my mind. I was full of spite and crazy and pushy and angry, and deep down I was very frightened and nervous and not very fully formed as a comedian or as a person. Now I’m not saying I’m fully formed as a person now, but I’m closer. I’m a better comic than I’ve ever been. I’m just glad I found it at a time where I can handle it. And I think if I would have gotten the type of momentum I have now then, it would have been a disaster. But also, if it had happened then, it would have been because someone was affording me an opportunity. What I never could have anticipated was that the opportunity would come out of this desperate need to continue doing something at a dark time in my life, and it came because I made it happen, not because someone gave me the opportunity. That’s very rewarding in and of itself.

I wanted to talk a bit more about that darkness in comedy. I started watching your show at first after being a fan of Louie for a while, and I admit I naively assumed that it would be something more or less along the same lines, because on the surface level you both seem to have your dark, introspective streaks. But with the Maron series, and I guess by extension most of your material now, there seems to be more of a positive aftertaste, kind of like you’re wringing out the darkness for all of us to see, and at the end it seems you become a little bit lighter of heart because of it. Is that something you’re going for?
That’s a very nice observation. I’ve not heard that before. I think that living with your struggle doesn’t mean that you’re going to stop having it. But it doesn’t have to be life or death, you know, and you deal with darkness. You deal with struggles, anxiety or depression, addiction, neurotic behavior; I mean, a lot of times it runs deeper than your brain. So learning how to live with it and move through it and take necessary action, is really sometimes the only thing you can do as a responsible owner of darkness. It eventually tempers itself; sometimes it fades. Things that were very dire become less so or just disappear entirely. You just gotta stay open and not surrender to it because it can take you down. So negotiating with darkness is part of my life, and I’m happy to hear that it comes off as something that’s manageable, and at the end you can live with it and maybe learn from it and maybe disarm it a bit. I think that’s what life is.

Does writing do anything different for your thought process versus, say, a particularly intense live special? How do you feel with having Attempting Normal under your belt?
Well, writing is weird, because given the opportunity, I’ll over-write. Most of my stuff comes from talking. Sometimes my insecurity will manifest itself in overcompensating, and that’s not a great thing to have on the written page. A lot of the material in Attempting Normal and The Jerusalem Syndrome started out as monologues. Once you get them transcribed and start working with them on the page, you can be a little more concise and a little more poetic, and you can manage the poetics of things that might not come out when you’re talking. I love talking… I’m very impatient. But I’m very proud of Attempting Normal, I think there’s some great stuff in there.

I also hear you’re a pretty big vinyl-head these days. I’ve noticed quite a few more musicians coming on to your podcast schedule, which is great. How’s that going? Found any good artists/records lately?
Yeah, I’ve always had a few hundred records that I’ve been carting around for years. Maybe I got inspired when I interviewed Jack White. He had all these tube amplifiers, and I got sort of obsessed with it. So I got a relatively good system, and I just started buying records, cleaning records and amassing records that I used to have when I was a kid, and people started sending me records. I go to a few record stores around here, and all of them seem to have an ideology around them. I got Permanent Records down there, sort of a psych/guitar-driven, garage-y, store; and Gimme Gimme, which is more classic and more nerdy. I’m just learning a lot, buying the vinyl and spending time with it.

I heard you were interviewing Ty Segall next week?
Yeah, I’m putting that up there. He hangs out in the neighborhood. I see him at Trader Joe’s and stuff, and I ran into him down at the record store and he had some of his new record, which comes out [Aug. 26, 2014], and he gave me one. It’s fucking great, so I’ve been listening to this new Ty Segall record a lot, The Manipulator… It’s like the best record he’s done, and the guy does a new record every 10 minutes.

I listened to the introduction you posted last night (Aug. 11, 2014) for the repost of the podcast you did with Robin Williams four years ago. I thought it was beautiful. I was moved in an unexpected way, and I just wanted to send some goodwill out to someone who knew him. I’m glad you reposted it—I hadn’t found that one before.
You know, it’s such a horrible thing, to succumb to depression that way—and despite what anyone may think of Robin, there was no way for him not to have impacted your life. He was a very special guy, and he was just always there, and now he’s not going be there anymore and it’s just terribly sad. I was happy I had that conversation with him and to sort of give it to everybody again and let them have that experience because a lot of people hadn’t heard it. I think that interview was very powerful—very personal. It was an honor to have done it, and I’m glad to be able to give it to everybody out of respect.

Lastly, I want to bring up your forthcoming performance at the Nevada City Film Festival in about a month up in our region. Anything you’d say to festivalgoers unfamiliar and/or curious about your work?
If they want to get a good idea, they can watch Thinky Pain on Netflix, my last special. I won’t be doing that material, but you can certainly get a good idea of what I do. It’s a film festival, but I’ll be doing standup. Sometimes we’ll show an episode of my show, or I’ll do a Q&A if they want to talk to me, but usually I’ll talk about my personal struggles—with cats, women, myself, Time Warner, MRIs, you know, I just run the gamut—just living the life.

Tickets are now on sale for Marc Maron’s live comedy appearance at the Nevada City Film Festival on Sept. 5, 2014. For more information you can visit the event website at Nevadacityfilmfestival.com/comedy/.

Chris D’Elia’s stage is set for a hallmark 2013

Chris D’Elia’s manic stage presence and energetic delivery make him perfectly suited for life as a standup comic, but when he was trying to break into comedy he first took a different route. D’Elia tried his hand at being an actor first, then a writer, but when that wasn’t working out, he decided to take the plunge into the do-or-die world of standup. As it turns out, it was the best thing the young comedian could have done.

Standup was the springboard for his career, but D’Elia is as focused as ever on his stagecraft. In the following interview, he talks about his popularity on video sharing app Vine, his standup career, conquering his fear of the stage and what life is like as a “black comic.”

You’re in Denver tonight right?
Yeah, I am. It’s really nice up here.

I’ve been through Denver once. It’s a fun city, but it’s got a weird vibe. I don’t know if it’s the mountain air or what. People seem a little wilder up there.
Yeah, I think it might be because at certain times of the year they don’t have much to do so they go nuts.

Does the altitude affect you in any way since you talk on stage for an hour?
The last time I was here, it did. It definitely takes its toll on me. I get anxious. A few days in, I get short of breath. But I live.

I was checking out some of your standup clips on YouTube the past few days leading up to the interview. How do you feel about clips of your live show being up online for free?
If it was already on TV, I don’t care. If it was already on TV, then it’s good to have it up online too so people can access it, so I like that. When it’s just from the club, or a fan or audience member did it, I always message them to take it down, and they’re usually pretty cool about it. If it’s like The Laugh Factory shooting it—they’ll shoot a lot of their shows and they’ll ask you if they can put up stuff—I always tell them no with the material and OK if I’m just messing around with the audience, because that’s just going to be a one-time thing. It’s not something I’m working on.

Yeah, I noticed a lot of The Laugh Factory clips, which is why I asked. I noticed a lot of them were you interacting with your audience…
Yeah, that’s why they’re up there. Sometimes because of that, people think that’s what I do at shows, that I mess with the audience, and that’s not the case. I don’t like that. I don’t enjoy it. I’d rather do my act than have somebody heckle me, because that’s annoying.

So audience participation isn’t something you particularly enjoy?
No. I’ll do it, because I like to put people in their place for being rude.

I saw a couple of clips where you were ragging on Drake…
Yeah, I don’t know. I’ll be driving to the clubs, and there’ll be hip-hop on, and then I’ll be like, “I’m going to talk about this on stage.” Those two bits, those were like the only times I did those, and Laugh Factory got them on camera. If it’s a really current topic I’m talking about, I don’t mind if they use it, because it’s not like I’m going to be talking about it for a few years. If the song’s hot, maybe it’ll catch on. And they did.

Have you gotten any backlash from Drake fans?
No not really. I don’t know if Drake saw them or anything. I say in the clip that I like his music, so it’s not a hateful thing.

You told us about trying to become an actor and writer before trying standup. Was acting or writing your first focus?
I always wanted to do comedy first and foremost, but I wanted to be an actor. I wasn’t getting work as an actor, so I started writing. I thought maybe I could write a good script and maybe do that, create my own opportunity. That didn’t work out. I was like, forget it, I’m going to get on stage because I need people to immediately see what I’m doing. I need some people to recognize what I do. Even if they’re going to boo me, at least people are seeing my work.

Does being on a sit-com or working on a TV show cut into your standup routine at all?
Not too much. I did 430 shows before I got on Whitney, and when I got on Whitney, I was able to do 300 and something. So, it’s a little bit. It kind of makes me obsess about it less, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s all for the standup, dude. All the TV and all the other stuff, whatever helps get people in the seats and have me do shows is the best. I shot my special about a month and half ago in New Orleans, so it doesn’t slow me down too much…

Standup is what I always wanted to do, but I was afraid to do it. It took getting beat up in the business for me to actually be like, alright, I’m going to get on stage. Standup was the first thing I ever wanted to do though.

Was it just the business being rough that got you over that fear or was there another catalyst?
It’s like this, dude. If you’re getting beat up in an alley by three guys and another dude comes along like, “I’m going to beat that guy up too,” you’re like, OK, bring it on. It’s like, what’s one more dude? That’s what I was like when I was like I’ll do standup.

I was looking at your Twitter feed today and I saw that you’ve been posting a lot of videos on Vine, which is really starting to pick up steam, even though it’s not at Instagram level yet.
No, it’s not at Instagram level yet, but it’s a force to be reckoned with. It’s pretty much the only thing I get recognized for now. If I’m walking down the street, people are like, “Oh my God, you’re the guy on Vine!”

The stuff you’re doing on Vine almost seems like guerilla comedy. You find things that happen on the street or wherever and you comment on them. Have you been attracting a lot of followers?
I’ve got one of the most followers on Vine, I think. But I think it’s cool because it’s just purely me. It’s nothing else but what I would do with six seconds. Some people are buying wigs and shit on Vine and trying to make funny videos. I’m just trying to comment and be funny.

Has anyone you’ve commented on ever caught you and taken exception to it?
No one has caught me in the act, but a few people have commented on it later and said, “Hey, that’s me!”

So they’re more honored than anything else?
Yeah, they’re honored. I was Vineing at the mall in Dallas, and the kid left school and came to the mall. This kid came and said, “I saw you Vineing, so I left school and came to the mall,” so I did a Vine with him. It was really funny.

The other thing I’d noticed on your Twitter feed is that your headline reads, “White male. Black comic.” Were black standup comedians your biggest influences in comedy?
I always liked that style, but also it was an inside joke. This other comedian, Erik Griffin, he’s black and he would always say about my act—because I’m all animated and shit—that, “you’re blacker than I am on stage.” It was a joke, but I would say, “Yeah, I’m a white dude, but a black comic.” I put it up as my Twitter headline as a joke and then people started to talk about it on my Twitter feed. I think that’s what I’m going to name my comedy special, White Male, Black Comic.

Chris D’Elia will perform three nights at Punch Line in Sacramento from June 6–8, 2013. To buy tickets, go to Chrisdelia.com and click “Tour.” Follow him on Twitter @chrisdelia.

J.B. Smoove lives and creates on the fly

The birth of Jerry Brooks’ first child (his now 18-year-old daughter) was a pivotal moment in his life in more ways than one. Brooks was working as a graphic designer for a T-shirt company around the time his daughter was born, doing stand-up comedy at nights. But the arrival of his baby girl brought him to a crossroads. He decided to veer away from the comfortable path of his career and immerse himself in comedy and acting. In retrospect, it was a very wise decision.

“I quit my job,” he says. “I felt like the only way I can dive in there and do this comedy stuff, I’d actually have to do it. When you have something to lean on, you can’t really achieve your dreams, because you’re always leaning on something else. I said the only way I’m going to be able to do this is if I go full throttle, so the day she was born, I quit my job, which made me have to do it. It made me have to get out there and get downtown and do gigs and go on auditions and get photos taken. It made me have to do all these things to keep the lights on.”

A risky leap of faith with a new mouth to feed at home? Maybe. But it turned out to be worth the gamble. You probably know Brooks better nowadays as J.B. Smoove–who in addition to having a successful stand-up career and being a former writer and performer for Saturday Night Live– has rose in popularity as Larry David’s hilarious foil Leon Black on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm since its sixth season. Prior to his life as a comedian and actor Brooks was in school to be an engineer, receiving a associate’s degree in engineering before the math caught up with him and he decided to move into graphic design.

“I think about The Brady Bunch, and the dad was an architect, and I was like, ‘Damn, no one mentions this part.’ They don’t show the math part; all they show is him walking around with the blueprints and looking real cool,” Brooks says. “But that math will kick your ass so bad, it will make you switch your major.”

A life as a comedian eventually won out over more traditional pursuits. He admits that becoming a father and making the jump into a highly competitive field was “challenging,” but it was the difficulty that drove his passion.

“I get a high off of challenges,” Brooks says. “Even not knowing what I’m going to do in a scene, if they don’t give me any lines, even if not knowing all that stuff, I get a certain kind of energy from that too. Part of me is like, ‘What the fuck am I going to say?’ and another part of me is like, ‘I can’t wait to say what I’m going to say.’ It’s like…someone’s leading you down a corridor and downstairs, and you’re blindfolded, and you don’t know where you’re going.”

Taking that into consideration, it’s clear that Brooks has the perfect mental makeup to excel in a show like Curb Your Enthusiam, which is largely improvised. He explains that the actors were given eight-page synopses of each episode as a sort of guideline, but Brooks says that he never really read those.

“I don’t like to see the outline, because I feel like I’m going to over-think my scene,” he says. “So I just get to the set and allow the writers to tell me what’s going on…I like to go off instinct and what I’m feeling in the moment.”

In this way, Leon Black has become a real person to Brooks, much as the character has to his many fans–or Leon Nation, according to Brooks.

“I find myself talking about Leon like someone I know,” he says. “I would do a bunch of Leon scenes, and on my way home, I’d call my wife and be all, ‘Leon is crazy as hell!’ And my wife will be caught up in it too. She would say, ‘What did Leon do today?’”

Diving headfirst into his character is something Brooks really enjoys.

“It’s hilarious to talk about him as if he’s some other person, which I find to be a better process,” Brooks explains. “I’m more in that frame of mind when the cameras roll. I don’t feel like I have to jump into it. I can just have him ready to go, get dressed, walk to the set and allow him to do what he does. And when I leave, I have the chance to talk about him over the phone to my wife and to my friends. Leon’s a damn fool!”

This sort of approach has fueled his stand-up, which has always featured a good deal of improvising. In the early ‘90s before he broke into stand-up, he got his feet wet by taking an improv class, which taught him how to be comfortable with creating on the fly. Brooks claims that you’ll never see the same J.B. Smoove comedy show twice.

“I don’t perform a set where it’s always 1-2-3, 1-2-3, like I’m doing a dance or some shit,” he says. “I like to perform for my audience.”

He keeps his sets different and fresh by being observant. The day’s weather may inspire him, or perhaps even an everyday object like a stool could be incorporated into his act. Brooks says that he also likes to get around the town he’s in and get a feel for it to find out “what’s funny about that city.”

“I think that’s what makes you in that moment, because you’re actually visiting, and you’re performing in their city,” he says. “You’re bringing everything that you do to them, because you have to let them know what you noticed about being here that’s so cool and so funny.”

The venue itself could also play into his performance. Brooks recalls playing a nautical-themed club called Captain Brien’s in Marco Island, Fla. The décor, which featured fish nets on the ceiling and a replica shark bursting through the wall by the stage, ended up playing a big part in his act.

“Man, I must have did 20 minutes on just that stuff alone,” Brooks says with a laugh. “Somehow I took all of that stuff and made an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants out of it.”

The exciting thing for Brooks is that a performance like that is pretty much unique.

“It was so damn funny, but I realized I could never do it again,” he says. “I could only do it there. It was a one-shot deal. I couldn’t go to Chicago and do that same bit, because it wasn’t the same setting.”

His reputation for off-the-cuff gems such as this and the celebrity he’s garnered from Curb Your Enthusiasm has really started to pay dividends. Next year, Brooks will be featured as the voice of Harold alongside household names such as Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi and John Goodman in Disney/Pixar’s Monsters University. Familiar with his work, the filmmakers allowed Brooks a lot of freedom to create with his character, which turned out to be a lot of fun for the actor.

“They let me get in there and play around with stuff, which is great. It’s more comfortable. It’s easier to create on the go,” he says.

Brooks will also be featured as the voice in two other animated films slated for 2013, according to IMDb, Hell and Back (as Sal the Demon) and Smurfs 2 (as Hackus).

Between that and his stand-up career, Brooks will have plenty on his plate in the year ahead. But what about Curb Your Enthusiasm? Season after season, It’s always anyone’s guess whether or not the show will return to TV. As Brooks puts it, “I think we’re always at the mercy of Larry [David], so we’ll see what’s going on. When you’re that damn rich, you don’t need a paycheck, you know what I mean?”

But Brooks has been in contact with David and reports that another season may be in the works.

“I give Larry a call off and on just to see what the hell Larry be doing, just to see what kind of adventure Larry is up to,” Brooks jokes. “You gotta check on rich people just to see what the hell they’re doing. What boat you on, Larry? Where you at, what country you in? What room are you in, in your big ass house? Which car are you driving? I like to check in on Larry David once in a while just to see how he’s doing. So far, there’s no definite answer right now. I’m thinking possibly some time in 2013, that’s going to be the platform right now for it. I don’t think it will be any time this year. So I think next year he’ll make his mind up.”

Until then, fans have a chance to catch Brooks live, in-person as J.B. Smoove, bringing the ruckus as only he knows how. It’s hard to say what to expect from one of his comedy shows, but it’s a gamble worth taking.

You have multiple chances to see J.B. Smoove live when he plays five sets in three nights at Punchline in Sacramento, July 19—21, 2012. Tickets can be purchased through Livenation.com or http://punchlinesac.com/

Neil Hamburger takes on Shakespeare, prank calls and hecklers with panache…
more or less

Neil Hamburger might seem as though he was freed from a cryogenic crypt. His classic vaudeville act is both archaic and a fittingly appropriate counterstrike to modern humor. In late March he returns to the Sacramento Comedy Spot. If you saw him previously and it was over your head, this article is for you. If you’ve never seen him perform and have tickets, this article is for you too.

Those old enough to remember Tony Clifton wreaking havoc on late-night television and concert stages in the ‘70s should think of Neil Hamburger as being cut from the same washed-up, beer- and sweat-stained tuxedo cloth. He’s an anti-hero with celebrity worship in the crosshairs. If at any point during his set you find it difficult to accept his reality, take comfort in knowing he’s not entirely real. Unlike Clifton, though, Hamburger is on our side rather than out to sully our evening on the town. On the phone he expressed aspirations to reach the same heights as Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy, which is why he does 399 shows (allegedly) a year.

“Certainly would like to get the point of the same recognition as those guys,” he said. “It was a good situation for Abbott and Costello. What wasn’t so good was when they passed away. That was a problem for them. Fortunately, they’d done quite a few things before that we’ll always treasure.”

On stage, Hamburger is a glum, middle-aged, tuxedo-clad man, with greasy comb-over hair, awkwardly sized glasses and a rasp magnified by a ghost lodging in his throat he perpetually pauses to clear–as if he’s working up a world record-tying loogie. As real as he appears, he’s an act finely tuned over a nearly 20-year span. Before there was Hamburger, there was Gregg Turkington, a punk rocker and label head from Australia. He’s practically dead these days, consumed by the Hamburger persona; so dead, I insisted clarification on precisely who I would be speaking with–Neil or Gregg–before accepting the assignment.

Talking to Neil, I wanted to ask, “Is Gregg there? Is he somewhere in there? Can Gregg come out?” like I was a psychiatrist coaxing a multi-personality disorder patient to let me speak to the host. I didn’t though, because talking with Neil was too much fun. He was professional and just as uncertain about expectations as I was. When we wrapped our interview his parting words were:

“Good luck. I hope I was able to give you the answers you were looking for. You never know what people need. I do hope this leads to some sort of prize or some sort of award for you. I do appreciate the time.”

It was unexpected, considering Hamburger is notoriously cranky. If an audience member doesn’t respond to his inquiry, they are dubbed a “zipper lips.” If an unruly heckler dares challenge Hamburger, relentless throat-clearing sounds drown out their end, until Neil is ready to fire his snarling comeback. On his show Poolside Chats, call-ins are futile and mostly result in Hamburger shouting obscenities at a phone and slamming the receiver. But, the afternoon of our chat, Hamburger was pleasant, since he considered me to be “a nice polite and reasonable person with some good questions.”

In a lot of the clips I watched leading up to this interview you seemed to be quite cranky. I was somewhat nervous about this interview, considering how you respond to phone calls on Poolside Chats.
Well I think it depends on what you get. If you get someone throwing old frozen waffles at you and yelling out your punch lines, well the crankiness will set in. It also depends on the time of day. It’s certainly easier to be cranky late at night or early in the morning. During the daytime when I’m just driving from show to show, it’s a pretty pleasant day out…so I would say no, I’m not cranky right now.

You seem to thrive off the shouts from hecklers. I feel as though your style baits them some. Deep down do you love it?
I wouldn’t say I encourage, but I’m prepared for them. Honestly some of these hecklers are just so witless and plain annoying that there’s no reason to encourage that. Some of these people are committing the equivalent of crapping on the floor of the nightclub, you know? Somebody has something clever to say that’s a whole other story, but that’s not always what you get.

Plus what a comedian finds clever and the average audience member finds clever probably greatly differs.
Well, let’s put it this way. When you get guys that come out and they go on YouTube and they see the show from the night before and they come out to yell the punch lines ahead of time. That’s not really heckling. That’s just shitty. Nobody cares for that. So those are the sorts of folks I’m talking about that we have no use for.

Do you have any new comedy records coming out?
We just did one with Jack White, you know? It just came out last month. There’s a couple 7-inch singles as well. So yeah, lot of new records.

What was it like working with Jack White?
The man is a true professional and knows what he wants. He knows how to put on a great event. We recorded it live, and he’s got a studio there in Nashville. We did the show and it came out as a record in a very quick turnaround. Just an all-around pleasure. I wish there were more folks in the business like this, but as you know a lot of them aren’t. You get your Britney Spears and this sort of garbage. It’s not always so nice.

You’ve got a couple film roles coming up. You’re in Hamlet A.D.D. What was it like working with Shakespearean material?
It’s a strange film. I haven’t seen it, but it’s an animated film with live actors. I guess, they do it with this modern technology and you’re interacting with cartoon characters. It’s hard to say. It was fun to be a part of it. We were in front of a green screen. Certainly, I was not actually interacting with these cartoons, but I will be when it comes out. That’s something to look forward to.

You got your start doing prank phone calls. Do you ever do them now for nostalgia’s sake?
You know, sometimes I’ll get on the phone and do an interview or order a pizza or something. Nowadays, you get the death penalty for making prank calls, so you really can’t do that anymore. They changed the rule. It’s instant death.

I was unaware of that.
Oh yeah, check the news. You’ll see. I guess they prosecuted the first couple people and started the executions. There are some human rights activists and things that say it’s a bit extreme punishment, but you know, unless it goes to the Supreme Court and is overturned, that’s what we’re stuck with.

What celebrities are in your crosshairs these days?
Well, they all are really. Most of these folks are not the best people you may come across in your travels. A lot of these people are really quite unpleasant, quite overpaid and overexposed. Some of these movies really break your heart, if you get a look at this junk. To see these people thriving off poisoning our children with their bad films and their bad everything, that will break your heart again. Some of the bad music, I don’t know if you’ve heard some of this music they’ve got… It sounds like somebody crapping into a porcelain bowl. You know, they put a techno beat over it and that’s the new hit single. I’m sorry, that’s not my idea of a good song.

Neil Hamburger will play the Sacramento Comedy Spot on Friday, March 30, 2012. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased through http://saccomedyspot.com/. If you go (and you should), do yourself a favor, and leave the jokes to the professional.

Comedian Doug Stanhope never abided by the rules, and we wouldn’t have it any other way

In one word, Doug Stanhope is polarizing. If you are a fan of his work, you probably think he is a comedic genius, unparalleled by any other active in his craft. Should you fall on the other side of the spectrum you probably think he is a vile, drunken psychotic who should be jailed for abuse of the First Amendment. It’s not a conscious effort on his part to be a polarizing comedian, though, and while ultimately he is an entertainer, he is not an actor playing a role. His ingenuity, love it or hate it, is in his sincerity. He flaunts his flaws and mocks his shortcomings, and though his views of the world may come off as bleak, they are not shortsighted shock value statements. His approach is unfiltered tact; nothing is off limits, and if you are offended, you probably shouldn’t have been listening in the first place.

With more than two decades of stand-up experience, 11 live albums and a resume that spans the BBC and The Man Show, Stanhope is no slouch. He exists within his own lane, and with a DIY approach to his profession has established himself as an undisputed comedic heavyweight. On the stage is where he thrives, and from Feb. 23 through 25, he will be headlining the Punch Line, testing out new material before he heads overseas for a tour of the United Kingdom. In anticipation of the gig, the following conversation conveniently took place immediately following the State of the Union address.

So when you watch something like the State of the Union address are you solely as a comedian, or is there a part of you that is watching as a citizen?
Completely as a comic, especially on Twitter. It was funny to watch my brain work actually. This live tweeting thing was new to me, though. It was like open heckling. To keep up with what he’s saying, and type as clumsily as I type, and then to read what others are saying so I don’t copy them, I just felt like, “Oh shit, I’m taking too long.” It was like playing bingo with too many cards, and I hate that I know what that reference means.

Do you think you could do your stage show with a John Boehner type of figure behind you?
There is always a John Boehner type behind me, and it’s the negative version of me judging all of my jokes saying, “You’ve said that before! Everyone is bored with you!” And there is a Joe Biden on the other side, the angel on my shoulder saying, “Just take the check.”

Do you ever hit dry spells or do you find that the political climate and endless stream of social bullshit provides you with enough material to never run out?
Oh yeah, I’ve been in a dry spell for years. The things that I’m passionate about start drying out, that’s simple mathematics. The longer I do comedy I start running out of ways to talk about things. Like over-population, I don’t know how to find a new angle on that, but it’s something that really bothers me. I’ve found ways in other stuff, but I can’t keep saying the same shit again and again. Over 20 years, I don’t want to fake being angry about things I’m not passionate about, #BillMaher.

One of my favorite lines of the speech was, “America is back and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what they are talking about.” Would you like to elaborate on that?
Yeah, I mean, it’s the exact same America I’ve always lived in. I’m 45 now, and it’s all the same shit every year. Every year we need to change something or stop something, and then I realize that none of this will affect my life. Nothing that any president has done or talked about doing has affected my daily life. Taxes, yeah maybe I have $20 more, or $20 less in my bank account at the end of the year, but it doesn’t affect me day to day. I’m sure it does some people, but they play by the rules, which I never did. I don’t mean like, “Oh, I play outside the lines, the rebel,” I just live a weird life.

Have you always been like that?
Yeah, I quit school when I was 16, but I had to live at home until I was 18 by law. As soon as I turned 18 I jumped on a train with $400 and went to Los Angeles to be an actor. That lasted four months, moved to Florida for four months. I did fraud telemarketing and just fucked off until I started comedy when I was 23.

What inspired you to blaze your own path like that?
I have no idea. I was always a weird kid. I was very similar to what I am now, which doesn’t really fit for a kid. I had a really dark sense of humor. I still have a framed letter from my school psychologist on my wall, hold on a second, let me read it. The second paragraph reads, “I very strongly believe that Douglas is in need of professional help. As you know he is extremely negative about getting help.” I was just being funny, drawing fucked up doodles. You know how you would trace your hand? Well I would trace my hand, but move three of the fingers over to the side like they just got chopped off and then make pools of blood around them. I thought it was cool. They thought I was a psychotic.

I love that you had the foresight to hold onto that letter.
Yeah, definitely. When I first got into comedy I had no press pack so I would put this letter in there and highlight the sentence I just read.

So were you the funny guy then?
No, people thought I was creepy. A couple people thought I was funny but most were creeped out by me. So I guess with that, I have the same ratio of fan base I have now. I had a cult following in school, but I was generally observed as way too dark for the room.

You have very strong beliefs and opinions. Do you want people to share all of your beliefs?
Yes, I do. Or I want to share theirs. I just see things a certain way, and I wish that was normal. I don’t like feeling different all the time. I’m not the goth kid who is dyeing my hair and putting on temporary tattoos to stand out. I want to be normal. I want to be able to put on my iPod at a party and have more than three songs play before someone goes, “What the fuck is this!?” I want to fit in and have more friends.

I feel like when people describe your work they only highlight the debaucherous side, but no one ever mentions that you are really smart, which I think is a huge discredit to what you do.
Unless you disagree with me, then I’m just a drunken idiot. That’s one thing that really bothers me, because I do think people who disagree with me will always blame it on alcohol as if I would have completely different opinions if I didn’t have a cocktail at 7:30 p.m. Christopher Hitchens was the only guy I know smart enough to overcome the [drunken idiot image]. He was one of the guys I wanted to get drunk with before I died. Him and Bill Murray. Hunter S. Thompson was fantastic, but you would never want to be him to be that brilliant, and I think the same goes for Charles Bukowski. They aren’t people you want to emulate, because you know their lives were miserable. I would rather put out shitty art and have a nice life.

Your comedy is pretty boundless. Generally speaking, do you give a fuck?
Well, I’ve become angrier which is the antithesis to not giving a fuck, but it’s usually pointless rage. Patrick Cox of Taxmasters, every time I see that commercial with his fat bullfrog throat, I get angry. I call them and accuse him of looking weird at my kid through the TV all the time. I get angry at really stupid things, and I know they are stupid, but it’s actual rage. I get more scared of people and things too. Generally, I give a fuck in a desperate and helpless way. I want things to be different, and there is no way to do it, and that makes me angry. I’ve given up hope. I don’t know if I don’t give a fuck, but I’ve given up hope.

Doug Stanhope will play five shows in three days at Punch Line Comedy Club in Sacramento beginning Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. Shows will start at 8 p.m. (all three days) with 10 p.m. shows on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25. Tickets range from $18.50—$23.50. You can purchase them through Punchlinesac.com or Livenation.com.

Sacramento comedian Keith Lowell Jensen Releases New CD/DVD and Preps His First Solo Tour

A drawing of four naked human female torsos with rabbit heads is not the definition of marketing genius, but it could be. At the bottom of the DVD box it reads, “How great is this DVD? You haven’t even opened the box and you’ve seen a bunny rabbit with boobs.”

Keith Lowell Jensen’s comedy CD/DVD Cats Made of Rabbits was recorded at the Sacramento Comedy Spot two years ago, but its content remains timeless, save for a Jonas Brothers reference. I want to tell you the juvenile humor ends on the box and that Jensen is a thoughtful comedian, pushing the envelope of correctness (which he does) and subversively challenging our values with humor, but then I think about his duck vagina bit and think better of such grandiose statements.

He’s an atheist (and has a wife and child–guffaw), so he is often referred to as the Atheist Comedian, mostly on the Coexist? Comedy Tour, but Jensen’s compulsive interest in all things worthy of critique keeps the nasty “pigeonhole” effect off his back. In discussing his next album, Jensen said he had 45 minutes of material on things he’s been arrested for and jobs he’s been fired from, as well as over an hour of observational comedy. Once in San Francisco he threatened to do an entire set of racist jokes strictly based upon the characters in Lord of the Rings, which is possibly the finest testament to his multi-dimensional talent. “I didn’t intend to be the Atheist Comedian, but that’s what I am on the tour,” he said. “It just sort of happened. It feels very true and feels like I’m talking about very important shit, so that’s cool.”

Jensen knows there are gigs he won’t book due to his atheism, but he casually sidesteps the haters with a “fuck that bigot” attitude. “The gay comics or a black comic, they don’t have the choice of not being that,” he said. “It’s who they are. This is who I am. Even if I wasn’t doing my atheist material, those same people wouldn’t appreciate what a liberal I am or what a geek I am. Those things all kind of go together.”

Did having a daughter shake up your atheism at all?
Not even a little bit. In fact, having a daughter has not impacted my life as much as it has impacted every other parent I’ve ever known. I suspect that part of that is because I’m in my late 30s. My wife and I have been together for 14 years. We’ve settled into our lives a little more than most people who are having babies.

Some comedians have said that happiness is the worst thing that can happen to your career.
I think that’s bullshit. You know, when me and my wife met, my romantic first words to her were, “How can you say something so fucking stupid?” I still remember the debate we had. We argued for two hours straight and were best friends by the time we were done.

Any artist that can express their poverty and sorrow well can express their joy. [Yamantaka] Eye of the Boredoms talked about audiences being disappointed when they come to see him because he’s happy now and they want his old stuff when he was miserable. But he said that stuff was successful and that gave me this family. It gave me the Boredoms and I’m happy.

Political humor can be alienating and risky. Outside of comedy you’re a very opinionated person, particularly in your blog and Facebook posts. Have you come to any conclusions on whether it has a place in your material?
On Cats Made of Rabbits there is politics in there, but it’s hidden. On the actual joke “Cats Made of Rabbits” I tie “shock and awe” and the Trail of Tears to the Holocaust, and people who would be offended by it don’t even catch it, it’s said so matter of fact. I just give a list and those three are on it. It’s not making a big production out of the political statement that’s within that joke. And of course there’s a vegan joke within it, regarding how we base which animals are OK to kill based on cuteness.

Is your writing process thought out, in that you intentionally weave that many political statements into one bit?
It happens subconsciously out of me being insecure. A lot of writing happens on stage where I am surprised something came out of my mouth.

You strike me as an obsessive consumer whether it comes to comedy or music, but that collector side of your personality does not translate to the stage. Have you ever considered letting the nerd flag fly more in your material?
I have a lot of material about Lord of the Rings right now. I don’t know why now. I think maybe excitement about The Hobbit. I just re-read the books. I’m also telling my daughter the Lord of the Rings story, only in our version the Orc “scratched” instead of “stabbed”–she’s 2.

I geeked out on Elf Quest recently, and I’ve been geeking out on porn lately. The creators of Elf Quest contacted me recently and two progressive porn actresses have contacted me wanting to blog about my material, so maybe I should do more pop culture stuff.

Then again, I was talking to the audience about [Doug E. Fresh] at the Comedy Spot a few weeks ago and nobody knew what I was talking about. I said you have to be kidding me. That’s ridiculous you guys don’t know Doug E. Fresh.

It would seem that Sacramento’s comedy scene is stirring with talent right now; much like our music scene has had little pockets of glory. Given that Mike E. Winfield will be on the next season of The Office, does it feel like an opportune time to be a comedian in Sacramento?
Yeah. It could be. There were periods with music when the Deftones and Cake and Papa Roach and all these bands in a short span of time all took off out of Sacramento. It sort of put Sacramento on the map. I feel like that could be happening with comedy mostly from the perspective of, boy, we have an awful lot of really good comics here. We just have a phenomenal bank of talent in this little town.

It’s interesting that Mike E. is staying. He’s on The Office! I was thinking well, there he goes. Bye Mike. But, nope, he’s keeping his place in Sac. He’s in Los Angeles a lot, but he’s keeping his place here. I like that a lot. Ian MacKaye from Minor Threat is one of my heroes, and I like that sense of your own community, and you don’t have to betray it to be famous.

Will the next string of dates in the fall be your first time out on tour alone?
This is the first time I’ve gone out and every day it’s just me and I’m the headliner.

How are you internalizing that?
I have shingles. You don’t normally get that as young as me.

Yeah, my grandma has shingles.
I wonder if I’m more nervous than I realize. I feel all right, but then again I did get shingles.

Have you found the humor in that yet?
Just now [laughs]. I’ve broken my collarbone before and so I know it’s going to stop hurting eventually. It’s not like the first heartbreak you get when you’re a kid, and you don’t know if it’s ever going to end. Now it’s like, “Ah, I’ve got to wait this out. Didn’t want to do this right now, but…”

I don’t get nerves that bad anymore. I got stage fright for the first eight years and didn’t think it would ever go away. If there’s anything I think you should say to comedians before they go on stage that might help it’s, “You know there’s not really that much at risk.” You’re going to get up and do what you’re going to do and then later you’ll get up again.

Keith Lowell Jensen’s Cats Made of Rabbits CD is out now and available to own on Amazon.com. It can also be purchased digitally on iTunes. His DVD of the same name will be available Sept. 27. Jensen will perform a CD/DVD release show at the Sac Comedy Spot on Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. (tickets are $18). You can also catch Jensen do his thing the following Thursday, Sept. 29, as part of the Sacramento Comedy Festival, once again at the Sac Comedy Spot. More info and tickets for both these performances can be found at Saccomedyspot.com.