Comedian Keith Lowell Jensen Prepares For A Spring Of Punching Time Cards And Nazis
There’s prestige to releasing a comedy album on a major label like Stand Up! Records, but with that can come frustrating delays. Local comics Keith Lowell Jensen, Daniel Humbarger and ex-Sac favorite Johnny Taylor, Jr. all recorded albums for the label in 2016 that have yet to be released as of this writing. Jensen sees light at the end of the tunnel with a scheduled March 30 release of his fifth album, Bad Comedy for Bad People (which is already available for presale on iTunes). We’ll be seeing a lot more of Jensen soon, as 800 Pound Gorilla Records will be releasing KLJ Greatest Bits on May 18, and it’s been a Sirius XM exclusive since February. If that weren’t already overwhelming, Jensen’s book Punching Nazis: And Other Good Ideas will be published in May courtesy of Skyhorse Publishing. In the meantime, you can catch him performing his workplace misadventure-themed stand up show “Not for Rehire” at the new B St. Theatre on March 24. When asked what it’s like to have so much coming out so quickly, Jensen said, “When it rains it pours, which is great during a drought. I feel like the dam has burst after waiting on my label for two years to put out something that I am so proud of and eager to share.”
Mike E. Winfield’s First Comedy Special My Side Of The Story Is Now Available
Sacramento’s favorite comedy son Mike E. Winfield has released a special, taped at the Sacramento Punch Line, which can be purchased for $5 on his website Mikewinfield.com. Winfield, who’s been packing out clubs on a regular basis for years, has a hilarious relationship-themed special that looks and sounds great! Winfield’s special kicks off with how his significant other searches his phone whenever he’s gone and he has to email himself to talk to her and how his phone feels molested when he gets it back! “How did she get your thumbprint?” his phone asks him, exasperated.
In Other Comedy News
After moving to Southern California and developing the TV show Sick Joke, Johnny Taylor, Jr. returns to Sacramento on March 31 for “An Evening with Johnny Taylor, Jr.” at The Sacramento Comedy Spot. Sonoma County comedians Steve Ausburne and Casey Anthony bring their “Dads on The Rocks” show to Comedy Spot the day before that on March 30.
Punch Line Sacramento (2100 Arden Way) brings legendary storyteller Tom Rhodes to the stage for five shows between March 15 and 17, followed by the “There Goes the Neighborhood” showcase on March 18, which since Shana Shafer has taken on a booking and production role, has become a near sellout collection of local new and veteran comics.
I had the pleasure of seeing The Book of Mormon at Community Center Theater and if you can manage to find tickets through its run that ends on March 18, it’s worth every penny. The sights, sounds and laughs were amazing throughout.
A Touch Class (4217 Stockton Blvd.) continues to produce one of the most popular weekly comedy shows every Sunday evening. It’s part showcase, part open mic, and has an audience that comes to be entertained, but who won’t tolerate shitty comedy. Comics need to bring their “A-Game” for this long running show, or they’ll be leaving the stage early!
For cheaper laughs, sit on a corner of Midtown on St. Patrick’s Day and watch the parade of amateur drunk douche bros trip over themselves while they make it perfectly clear that we don’t deserve good things in this world anymore.
**This piece first appeared in print on page 10 of issue #261 (March 12 – 26, 2018)**
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in issue #152 (December 2013) in advance of Michael O’Connell’s Comedians with Disabilities Act performance at Sacramento Comedy Spot. O’Connell passed away on June 29, 2016, so we wanted to re-visit this interview to remember one of the brightest stars of the local comedy scene. RIP Michael! You will be missed.
Comedian Michael O’Connell has a simple formula for local comedic domination. “I’m not really making fun of myself, I’m really just making fun of you,” he says. The good ol’ reverse last laugh.
Michael has been fighting Muscular Dystrophy (MD), a disease that weakens muscular fibers and slows locomotion, most of his life. About four years ago, his symptoms became increasingly worse, and he had to rely on a wheelchair for mobility. After losing his job as an auto claims adjuster, Michael sought a renewed endeavor in comedy. He performed at an open mic, absolutely killed it and felt like his true purpose had been found: To use his disability as the base of his shtick, but to also use the podium to educate. “When that first performance was all done, I just was wondering why I had been missing out on this my entire life,” he says.
In the last few years, O’Connell has performed at colleges and universities around the nation, The Laugh Factory in Hollywood, and of course the Comedy Spot and Luna’s Cafe either solo or with one of his comedy troupes. With the help of fellow comedian Keith Lowell Jensen, Michael helped build the wildly popular “Comedians with Disabilities Act” comedy troupe—a group of disabled comedians who travel venues, poking fun not only at their own disabilities but at the people around them who act weird because of their disabilities. “I’ve had people think I’m homeless and throw dollars on my lap because I was just sitting in my wheelchair trying to enjoy the sun and eat a bag of M&Ms!” the soft-spoken comedian says right before indulging me in a stripper joke.
Submerge sat down with Michael near the Comedy Spot to talk about the past four years, the present and why we should all just laugh and find the will to find a way.
Photo by Walter Hopkins
Can you remember the joke that broke the ice at your very first performance?
It was definitely the wheelchair lap dance joke. Sometimes people who work at businesses are a little patronizing to you, like they say, “Is there anything else I can do to help you?” in a really condescending way. And I look up at them and say, “Will you just finish the damn lap dance?”
You have MD. What are some of the major symptoms you have?
I was diagnosed at 2 years old, and there are a ton of different types of MD. Doctors didn’t expect me to be around longer than 12 years old and I’m 45 now. It’s a slow progression; I walked regular, then with a cane for a few years before the wheelchair. I have a bad heart, a pacemaker and only about 30-percent lung capacity. Of course it makes stuff I used to do way more difficult.
You have a 30 percent lung capacity and a show called Smokes and Jokes?
It’s a show where I tell jokes over cigars…and I do smoke cigars. You don’t inhale those, but I realize they’re probably still not that great for you. It’s just the last of my vices that I haven’t given up yet. It’s just my thing and let me have it!
How has MD changed your comedy performances?
In the past few years, things have been going downhill pretty quickly and started getting pretty bad. I can’t get out of the house as often or hit open mics like I used to. That sucks because I cannot get out there and connect like I want to, or see all of the amazing new talent I admire from Facebook. I can’t travel, which makes me miss some shows; but I do what I can and try to save my strength for the bigger shows.
Tell me about The Comedians with Disabilities Act.
The Comedians with Disabilities Act has gone national and was raved about in the SF Examiner recently. A lot of the time they have to perform without me. I’m getting a big surgery soon that will enable me to travel more with them and it has to do with bodily discharge…because I’m that dedicated to comedy. I have learned a lot from them, like what to say and what not to say. On the troupe, we have a little person, a blind man and a woman who stutters. We were on Laugh Factory live on the Playstation network for a while, and our shows usually sell out. Each one of the members are unique and hilarious; there is no other comedy experience like it.
How do you want your audience to see you?
I have a unique niche in comedy as someone in a wheelchair with big motor skills. I’ve gone through a few different phases of how I want to present myself. I’ve gone through dark humor, which was completely not me. I found a comfortable place in finding humor in the little things I go through and the people who are around me when they happen. My goal is to have people laugh along with me rather than to feel sympathy.
How do you poke fun at other people using your disability?
Well, people always want to do weird stuff like tie your shoes. I stopped wearing shoes with shoelaces because people would just randomly kneel down and try to tie my shoes. People often think I’m homeless, which is also a little awkward because I’m usually just trying to sit there and enjoy my surroundings. Also, people like to come up to me just to tell me they know someone in a wheelchair; I suppose it’s their attempt to empathize, and I totally see that.
Does stuff like that ever make you upset?
No! Some people are just too darn sensitive. As a disabled person, I know all of that stuff comes from a good place. I may make fun of all those people, but I definitely see where they are coming from and I appreciate it. There are some angry disabled people out there. I just see a lot of stuff as funny.
How has your experience been working with the Sacramento comedy scene?
Absolutely fantastic. Other cities are just not as funny as Sacramento. I have had amazing mentors and the comedians here are just close-knit and understanding.
How was performing at the Laugh Factory?
I got to perform in Hollywood for several celebrities in the audience whom I will not name drop here, but I will say that they are awesome. After my performance at the Laugh Factory, Dane Cook was supposed to come on. Instead of staying for that performance, I ended up at a place across the street smoking cigars with these celebrities and bonding. Nights were made.
What is the main message of your performance?
My MD is getting worse every day. I want people to know that they have a choice. They can focus on the crap or focus on the awesome. If you can’t do certain things anymore, then find a way around the obstacle; For example, I couldn’t use the shower like I used to, so I installed bars. I have problems in my life, but I could choose to let that define my life or not. No one ever found happiness focusing on the bad things, so just laugh and always find a way.
Sacramento comedian Johnny Taylor straight up puts in work. Known for his self-deprecating and lovably sarcastic style, the dude is literally always playing gigs, both in town and on the road, and he’s never not writing—for proof, join his 128K followers on Twitter (@hipsterocracy) for a daily dose of LOLZ. Taylor has shared stages with the late-great Robin Williams, as well as Doug Stanhope, Dave Attell and tons of other big names. He also found great success with his 2014 debut for Stand Up! Records, Tangled Up in Plaid, which peaked at No. 7 on iTunes’ digital comedy charts. After a couple years of further honing his craft and stacking jokes on jokes, Taylor is preparing to record his second album, Bummin’ With the Devil. The taping is going down on Saturday, June 18 at Harlow’s. Tickets are only $13 in advance, available now on Harlows.com. Doors open for this 18-and-over show at 6 p.m. Opening will be fellow Stand Up! Records labelmate and local comedy scene staple, Keith Lowell Jensen, which sort of makes this show a one-two punch to the gut. No really, your stomach will hurt from the laughter. For more on Johnny Taylor, visit his website, Hipsterocracy.com.
It’s time to say goodbye to 2015. From rock concerts, to dance parties, to comedy shows and everything in between, here is your ultimate guide to Sacramento-area New Year’s Eve parties! Have fun, be safe and please don’t drink and drive.
1) If you’re looking for a funky dance party head to Torch Club and get down with two fantastic local bands: IdeaTeam (featuring Aquifer) and Black Star Safari. Cover charge is $25, 9 p.m., 21-plus. Torchclub.net for more info.
2) Enjoy a soft rock explosion at Harlow’s with Mustache Harbor. Tickets are $30 in advance, doors open at 9 p.m., 21-plus. Hit up Harlows.com for a link to buy tickets.
3) Sing along to your favorite hard rock hits with Radio Heavy at our favorite downtown Roseville watering hole, Bar 101. This party is free and 21-and-over, with a 9:30 p.m. start time. Bar101roseville.com for more info.
4) Groove to late ‘80s and early ‘90s hip-hop, hip-house, and R&B at “New Jack Fling” at Press Club, brought to you by DJs Crook (featured in our current issue), BenJohnson and Satapana. $7 cover, 21-plus, 9 p.m.
5) Ace of Spades wants to party hard with you on NYE when they host legendary heavy metal band Y&T, with opening sets by locals Skin of Saints, ONOFF and Roswell. Tickets are $35 in advance, available at Aceofspadessac.com. 7 p.m. doors. This show is all-ages!
6) The newest dive bar on the grid B-Side invites you to check out their digs and get down to sounds by DJ Whores and friends. No cover, 21-plus. Search for “B-Side” on Facebook for more info.
7) We here at Submerge are teaming up with the Lipstick crew for an epic NYE dance party at Old Ironsides featuring live music from local dreamy/synth-y pop group The Good Fortune, as well as DJ sets by Shaun Slaughter, Roger Carpio and Adam Jay. 9 p.m., 21-plus. $8 advance tickets available at Cuffs.
8) Laugh away the new year at Punchline Sacramento during “2015’s Last Laughs” featuring sets by Ngaio Bealum, Keith Lowell Jensen and many other local faves. Two shows: 7:30 p.m. ($20) and 10 p.m. ($25). 18-and-over. Punchlinesac.com for more info.
9) Blackbird recently re-opened and they’re throwing a party this NYE co-presented by Rue 27, THIS Midtown and 1810 Gallery featuring live tunes by nu-disco act Figgy, and a DJ set from Sacto faves Sister Crayon. 7:30 p.m., $40 per person, $75 for VIP upgrade. Studio53.eventbrite.com for more.
10) Visit historic Grass Valley for Center for the Arts’ “Laughs, Lolo and Legs” party featuring comedy from Katie Rubin, neo vintage jazz pop music of Lolo Gervais, burlesque from the Bow-Tie Beauties, DJ dance party hosted by Jamal Walker and more! 8 p.m. doors, tickets start at $22. Hit up Thecenterforthearts.org for advanced tickets.
11) For a family-friendly daytime celebration that everyone can stay awake for, head to Crocker Art Museum’s “Noon Year’s Eve” event, which is free for all ages and runs from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Performances from Germar the Magician, Ebo Okokan, Ohana Dance Group and many more.
12) Enjoy some amazing homegrown talent at Crest Theatre when Jackie Greene and his band perform a special NYE concert! Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and tickets start at $35 in advance.
13) The kind folks over at Blue Lamp are throwing a free NYE bash featuring great music, plenty of booze, good company and a champagne toast at midnight. 9 p.m. start time, 21-plus, no cover.
14) Groove to some soul, funk, disco, reggae, latin and more from a few of Sacto’s best selectors at Fox & Goose. DJs Larry Rodriguez, MC Ham and Wokstar will be spinning all night! $10 cover, 21-and-up, 9 p.m.
15) Bundle up and head up the hill for three days of SnowGlobe (Dec. 29–31) in South Lake Tahoe featuring headliners like Jack Ü (aka Skrillex and Diplo), Kaskade, Dillon Francis, Run the Jewels, E-40 and many more. All-ages event. Check out Snowglobemusicfestival.com for details.
16) NOW 100.5 FM and MIX 96 are throwing a masquerade party for the ages at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento featuring cover band and headliner Apple Z, plus DJ Rated R, Quinn Hedges and Ryan Hernandez. $75 in advance for general admission, 9 p.m. start time, 21-plus.
If you’ve yet to attend one of Crocker Art Museum’s infamous Art Mix events, this Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, would be a great place to start. The lineup is absolutely stacked, and we’re predicting it’ll be one of the best ones yet. In true Art Mix fashion, “Revolution” will smash together the worlds of music, art, comedy, film, performance, food, drink and more! Crocker wants you to, “Overthrow 2015 with a bash, a bang and a blast.” Expect great tunes from Lonely Bulls and DJ Larry Rodriguez (aka Flower Vato). Stand-up comedy will be provided by Keith Lowell Jensen and Johnny Taylor. Other community groups involved include American River College Electronics Program, Bobby Edwards’ Transnational Art Project, Isabella Corsetry, Sacramento Young Feminist Alliance, Boomcase, Sacramento Natural Food Co-op, Burly Beverages and many others. Don’t forget to check out the incredible exhibit Divine Ammunition: The Sculpture of Al Farrow, which you might have read about in our last issue. Art Mix runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and has been designed for adults. Crocker members get in free, general admission is $10 for adults and $8 for college students. Learn more at Crockerartmuseum.org or Facebook.com/crockerart
Two of Sacramento’s most prominent stand-up comedians, Keith Lowell Jensen and Johnny Taylor, have teamed up to start a new monthly live comedy show called MASS. This is the same duo that for many years curated the popular but now-defunct comedy night on Wednesday’s at Luna’s Café. Appropriately, MASS will take place on the first Sunday of every month at Momo Sacramento (above Harlow’s), so mark your calendars for the kick-off party on Aug. 2. “Sacramento’s dynamic duo of comedy will be bringing their favorite comedians together for an intimate, laid back night of hilarious story telling, joke slinging, and envelope pushing,” they wrote on the event’s Facebook page. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. show, and the cover charge is just $10. Momo is located at 2708 J Street in downtown Sacramento. Check out Taylor’s latest album Tangled Up in Plaid and Jensen’s newest release Atheist Christmas, both available on iTunes.
Shut Up and Listen!
Comedian Robert Berry likes his venues to be loud, weird and sometimes a little awkward.
If you have ever driven down to the corner of Fulton Avenue and Monroe Street in Sacramento, you may have read a huge sign hanging above a dive bar that reads, “The Coldest Beer in Town.” And upon walking into this local joint, On the Y, you will be greeted with a collage of beer posters, cheap drinks and interesting characters shouting over metal music. But when comedian Robert Berry walks in, all he can think of is comedy. Every Thursday night before karaoke, Berry feels comfortable enough to unleash some new jokes in a pretty uncomfortable environment for most comics.
“Sometimes there are three people in there with their backs to you. It’s a very humbling and difficult experience;it’s a really weird show there,” Berry explained while sitting inside of The Mill, a decidedly cozier coffee house on I Street.
“There’s old crusty guys that are 70-plus that are telling old timey one-liners, [and] one guy with a drum doing rim shots after each joke. And you can try out new stuff there because no one is going to know,” he said with a loud laugh. “It’s not going to come back and haunt you, but it’s fun and, you know, I’m just a loud guy.”
So far being loud has paid off. From performing awkward sets at On the Y to recording his debut comedy album, Retrocrush, at Sacramento Comedy Spot, Berry is moving fast in the local comedy scene. His booming personality is what makes his comedy stand out from the rest. His set is loud, in-your-face and full of one-liners, which most likely stems from performing in noisy bars full of drunk patrons with short attention spans.
“[If] you go up in a crowd, and you are staring at your toes and mumbling, the audience is going to be like, ‘Fuck this guy! I’m going to talk to my friend now,’ or, ‘I’m going to look at his girl,’” Berry said. “But if I can get up there and be like, ‘Hey! How the hell are you, everybody!?’ and try to be bigger than life and boisterous, then people start shutting up and looking at you.”
His new album is full of his favorite old pop culture references (such as Star Wars), ruminations on Costco and over-analyzing Christmas songs. He finds a way to recreate his favorite memories or stories and cleverly turn them into jokes. And of course, there are also his signature one-liners.
Half-way through his album, Berry goes through a seven-minute bit, called “Groanerpalooza,” a parade of one-liner jokes shot at the audience back to back.
“If you like them, hey that’s great but if you don’t like them, let me have it,” he commented on his album. “This is a learning experience here. These are groaners for a reason, so if you don’t like them, feel free to groan.”
While ripping through the one-liners and audience groans, Berry’s energy never dies down throughout the album. It’s easy to imagine him on performing on stage with his over-the-top persona.
But speaking with him in person is suddenly a different experience than hearing or seeing him perform comedy. He is almost a completely different person. He is quick-witted, likes to laugh and perform karaoke. But he is also a laid-back, friendly and family-oriented guy with a common day job who just wants to make Sacramento laugh. A lot of his material comes from conversations and experiences he has every day with his family and having a full life in Sacramento with a wife of 22 years, a son and daughter. Berry chooses to remain more local with his comedy instead of seeking gigs out of state.
“I’m 45, roughly starting this a lot later than most do, but I’m happy with where it is now and where it’s going, but I don’t have this endgame,” Berry explained. “This album was a milestone for me that I’m very happy with, and it can live forever in some kind of way, so there’s that.”
The title Retrocrush isn’t just about his first album, it’s a name that has grown with his comedy career for over seven years.
What started as a website, turned podcast, then variety show and now comedy album, Retrocrush represents where Berry has been and where he is going with comedy.
It’s a title that originates from his website, a pop culture-based site full of movie reviews, interviews, old comics, video games, lists such as “30 Coolest Game Show Hosts” or “100 Worst Cover Songs” and anything else Berry can think of to reminisce about.
“People all have a past in something, and if you can hit up a lot of areas and get people nostalgic about things, it’s kind of a fun way to connect,” he said of the site.
It was from this mindset that his podcast was born. During the “heyday” of his podcasting career, from 2005 to 2008, he recorded more than 150 episodes, had upwards of 16,000 subscribers and was noted as one of the top 50 comedy podcasts on iTunes. Starting off in the early days of podcasting, Berry saw Retrocrush grow right before his eyes.
“It would blow my mind that I could mention on a podcast that I was hosting a screening of some movie down at the mall and then actually someone shows up and say, ‘Hey, I really like your podcast and I wanted to come and see this,’” Berry explained.
From there Retrocrush still kept growing. He turned it into recurring variety show that was featured at the Comedy Spot for over a year. He would feature local comics, sketches, drag queens and burlesque dancers.
But his transition from owning a pop culture website and podcasting to creating the Retrocrush comedy album wasn’t as tough as it might sound. For Berry, being alone on stage was never foreign territory. He would host local events around town and have fun on stage at the Trash Film Orgy Festival, fundraisers, concerts, charity events and even movie screenings. He would enjoy getting the audience “excited to be there,” started to crack jokes in-between sets, and got a small taste of what stand-up comedy was really like.
Even one of Berry’s long time friends—and conveniently one of Sacramento’s favorite local stand-up comics—Keith Lowell Jensen, would see him host events and encouraged him to get on stage as a comic. Berry specifically remembers one night hosting a festival at On the Y where he had comedy material for introductions and thought about seriously giving stand-up comedy a shot.
“So I went through a lot of horrible sets and open mics, bombing my ass off. I wrote a lot of jokes on Twitter and I still do. The first comedy set I did I basically read jokes off of my Twitter,” he admitted. “It was a good introduction to bombing, which really helps you grow by messing up, having the whole audience stare at you and not clapping. It’s really scary but it helps you think about why that’s happening and how can I make this better.”
But being used to performing and even hosting at some tough venues, bombing didn’t discourage him for a second. From there he only wanted to get better and started to perform at any open mic he could, including coffee shops. But for Berry’s loud persona, performing in a coffee shop didn’t quite match his high energy compared to his favorite stage, On The Y. He became too loud for a microphone because he didn’t even need one, he explained. But all he needed to do was find the right venue to be himself.
“One time he [Keith Lowell Jensen] saw me at Punch Line for the first time perform with a really big full house crowd. I was very loud and I had people singing along with me and chanting with me and he says, ‘Hey, forget what I said about being loud, that works for you,’” Berry said.
Since then he has been writing and gathering bits and pieces from each open mic night he’s ever had to create a full hour of funny material.
“It takes a while to get an hour,” he explained. “You go to the open mics and you get five minutes and put that away, and you get 20 of those five minutes and then now you got an hour.”
Now he is ready to unleash his full debut comedy album at the Punch Line on June 24, conveniently as a part of his birthday week celebration.
From his website, to podcast, to variety show, to comedy album, Berry’s overall mission seems pretty simple: make people laugh.
“I want them to have a good time, obviously I want them to share it,” he said. “So maybe they’ll want to see me live, maybe they’ll just laugh. If someone listened to it and said that was really funny and told me, that’s mission accomplished.”
Check out Robert Berry’s Retrocrush album release show at Punch Line Sacramento on June 24, 2015. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15 (with a two-drink minimum). You can purchase tickets through Punchlinesac.com.
Sacramento funny man Keith Lowell Jensen is back at it again with his new album Atheist Christmas, which was released Nov. 25, 2014 on Stand Up! Records (his second release for the label and fourth overall). Atheist Christmas is a CD/DVD combo pack; the video portion was recorded right here at Sacramento Comedy Spot early last December, and the audio portion was recorded just a couple days after at Punch Line in San Francisco. Submerge was lucky enough to get an early sneak peek at the video special and we can vouch that it is absolutely hilarious! There are cute little Christmas decorations behind him on stage and multiple camera angles. KLJ’s material ranges from relatable jokes about his daughter acting like a tiger, to weird/traumatic childhood experiences at church camps, to much more outlandish and slightly embarrassing jokes about his doctor sticking fingers up his ass, masturbation and how his life peaked in elementary school (it’s a funny story involving bird shit). You know, everyday normal conversation-type stuff for a comedian. “I do know that I’ve been talking about a lot of depressing stuff,” Jensen says at one point. “But I did warn you that this was going to be a Christmas special!” Jensen is having a Sacramento release show for Atheist Christmas on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, at Punch Line Comedy Club on Arden Way. Joining him on stage will be some of his best comedy pals Johnny Taylor, Matt Lieb, Michael Patten and Robert Berry. Show starts at 8 p.m., is 18-and-over, $15 cover charge, and there’s a two-drink minimum. For more information on Keith Lowell Jensen and to buy Atheist Christmas, visit Kljshop.com or Rockass.net.
Rising Local Comedian Johnny Taylor on How Life Informs His Comedy and Why Sacramento Doesn’t Suck as Much as It Thinks It Does
Last Christmas, comedian Johnny Taylor woke up to receive one of the best presents of his life. It wasn’t a big screen TV or a new car, but a record deal. During the wee hours of Christmas morning he received a text message from Dan Schlissel, the president of Stand Up! Records that read, “I’m about 20 minutes into your album and I want to release it.”
“So he faxed me a record contract, I signed, and I was like fucking Merry Christmas,” explained the stand-up comedian.
At first Taylor’s only reason to even record a comedy album was to have merchandise and make some extra cash after his stand-up gigs. But after taking a chance and sending the president of a huge record company his raw comedy recording he thought, “What’s the worst that can happen?”
Taylor has now turned his small chance into a huge opportunity. His debut album, Tangled Up in Plaid can now be heard worldwide on iTunes, Spotify and Rhapsody.
Taylor turns what should be mundane observations in his life into hilarious comedy bits. His new album is full of his life stories that are brilliantly turned into jokes. At times you can even call it dark comedy, but it will still make you laugh. On the album, he pokes fun at his lazy eye, finding his mom’s sex toys as a kid and hating his day job.
After performing in the Sacramento comedy scene for five years, Taylor has a lot of love for this town. Not only did he record his live album at Punch Line, but he will be holding his album debut party at The Sacramento Comedy Spot on Nov. 15, 2014.
Submerge caught up with Johnny outside of The Mill to talk about his new album, the hipster lifestyle and spreading the wealth of Sacramento’s underappreciated art scene.
Tell me about your new album, Tangled Up in Plaid.
It’s a live recording of my stand-up comedy as it was a year ago. It took longer than I thought it was going to come out, but it’s because I wasn’t anticipating being signed by a label, which is great. I signed a three-record deal with Stand Up! Records. But they had a lot more important people to get out than me, so it took a while for it to come out. Understandably, they had bigger fish to fry, but I’m really happy with how it turned out and proud of it.
Why did you name it Tangled Up in Plaid?
Tangled Up in Plaid is a side effect of living in any sort of hipster-ish part of town. People talk about Midtown Sac having this hipster culture but there is a Midtown Sac in every single town that you go to in America. And that’s where the people wear plaid shirts and skinny jeans, they drink cold brew coffee…you know what I mean? So it’s a matter of being surrounded by that part of the culture. People call me a hipster and a lot of my friends are… Keith Lowell Jensen is the prototypical aging hipster. It’s just about being in the middle of kind of that hipsterocracy. But it’s also a take on Bob Dylan’s, Tangled Up in Blue.
Where do you fit in in the whole hipster scene?
Just like the older uncle. Hipsters are called hipsters because they like what’s cool before anybody else does, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. So if people want to call me a hipster, that’s fine. I don’t claim to be one. I think I’m too old to claim that. If being cool is being a hipster, then fuck yeah I want to be hipster because I think I’m pretty fucking cool.
On the live recording of the album, it sounded like the audience was really enjoying your comedy.
Yeah I lucked out, it would have sucked to do my album recording and the audience just be flat but they weren’t. They were totally into from the get-go. I knew when I was watching the openers, I knew this was going to be good. So the only factor was me performing well. It was the perfect coming together, I had a good set and the crowd was hot. And it turned out being a really good record.
It seems like your comedy is based on your personal life stories, is that where you get a lot of your material from?
That’s where I get all of it from. Most of it are things that have happened or things that I was directly or indirectly involved in or just a thought I had. Anything involving work or my personal relationships, it’s not secret. I get a lot of material out of the fact that I have been married and divorced, more than I’d like to admit. But all of it is real personal. I think that’s the only way I know how to write. A lot of people are very good joke crafters and one-liner comics but mine are basically, “This is my life story.” I try to make it as entertaining as possible but they are based on things I would probably tell at a party. When it’s personal there is a passion behind telling it because it happened to them.
Is it ever nerve-wracking revealing yourself to a group of strangers?
It’s weird in general just doing stand-up. But having it recorded on a record that is now being consumed by people that I don’t know, in other parts of the world. I have a Twitter following and I get these weird replies from material from my record and I’m like, “Oh, that’s weird some dude in New Zealand listened to a story about me shitting on a steam cleaner.” It’s hard to wrap your fucking head around it. So yeah, it’s weird.
Did you start performing comedy in Sacramento?
Yeah, I think Sacramento is a good place to start. Sac has such a great art scene and people don’t appreciate it, they have amazing bands and really incredible comics. I can name five right off the bat that I would put up against everybody.
When I think of the Sacramento comedy scene, I think of everyone on it being a big family.
It’s very much like a family. We fight just like a family, but I think you have that in every scene. When my record went no. 7 on iTunes, I was getting messages from people I haven’t talked to in two years. They were like, “Anything you do that brings up Sacramento comedy is a win for all of us.” And that’s so true. I want all of my friends to succeed because I want people to go, “Oh man Sacramento has a good art scene.” I think it’s important and people don’t realize it, then they come here and go, “I didn’t know you guys were so great.” The logo should be, “Sacramento you don’t suck as much as I thought you did.”
Where is your favorite place to perform in Sac?
I have a weekly show [The Infirmary] with five friends of mine. It’s at the Ooley Theatre. And that’s like home base. Its every Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Ooley. It’s a small theater that only seats 40 people. It can be weird and uncomfortable; some of the best comics are trying out new material, playing ideas. It’s the ultimate workout room. But certain nights you go there, it can be magic and somebody will have a brand new story that they have never told before and it’s just incredible. It creates a whole energy in the room. That’s what I’m about right now… I think part of it is people don’t know about it. You can only flyer and talk about it on podcasts so many times and try to promote it with social media. I think once the word fully gets out that we are doing it, it’s going to be packed and it should be because they are really great shows.
Describe some of the relationships you have with other comedians in town.
There are people that are your best friends, there are people that you work with and get along with and there are people that you don’t really like that much. Some of my best friends I talk to every day, whether it’s bouncing a joke idea or asking, “How’s your day been?” Once you become a comedian you end up hanging out with all these comedians, which can be good and can be bad. Because I think if you hang about too many comedians too much, your whole life revolves around talking with comedians and doing sets, and doing as many sets as possible. And you become so obsessed with it that you stop living a life worth commenting on. What are you going to write about? So I try and hang out with non-comedians a lot, try and do non-comedy-related stuff. I need stuff to happen in my life so I can write jokes about it.
Check out Johnny Taylor live at the Sacramento Comedy Spot on Nov. 15, 2014, and help him celebrate the release of his CD, Tangled Up in Plaid. Tickets are just $8, and the show starts at 10:30 p.m. You can purchase Taylor’s album through his website, Johnnyisntfunny.com.
Have you ever listened to a live comedy album or watched a comedy special on TV and wondered about the people in attendance laughing in the background? Like, who is that guy with the growl-y laugh or the lady with the shrieky laugh? Did these people know they were walking into a live taping that night? If so, why didn’t that one dude with the weird hair sticking up bring a comb? Well, here’s your chance to be one of those people and claim your spot in comedy history! Sacramento comedian Keith Lowell Jensen is recording his new album for Stand Up! Records live at the Sacramento Comedy Spot on Saturday, Dec. 7. The Atheist Christmas show will also be shot with three different cameras for a special which will be available as Video on Demand and DVD. Jensen has performed at Skepticon, Reasonfest, The American Atheists 50th Anniversary Convention and at comedy clubs all over the country. This will be his second album on Stand Up! Records and fourth overall. Doors open for the album taping on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. Cover is $12 and tickets are available online through Brownpapertickets.com
