“Last Comic Standing” winner Josh Blue will be in town next week for a good cause.
Blue, 38, who lives in Denver, will be in Durango on May 19 to perform at the Durango Arts Center for the VHL Cancer Fundraiser. VHL is a rare genetic condition that can result in the growth of tumors in a person’s body throughout their lifetime.
I had the chance to talk to Blue about how far is too far in stand-up, advice for comedians just getting started and the night things went pretty bad.
Q: How did you get started with stand-up?
A: I started in college. I went to a little hippie college in Washington state, and you could create your own courses and majors, and I actually put together a course where I studied stand-up.
Q: Why do you think comedy is important?
A: I think it’s very important. I think it’s one of the only avenues that you can actually speak the truth anymore.
Q: I was watching some of your shows, and there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot that’s off-limits to you.
A: I’m not afraid to broach the subject at hand or whatever needs to be talked about. Obviously, there’s a line to this stuff, and the key is knowing where the line is so you can go right to it.
Q: Do you gauge the audience as far as that goes? Are some nights different than others?
A: Yeah, I mean, every show is unique to itself, and as a performer, I try to play – it’s a weird game of, “I know what you’re feeling,” or I try to play off what you’re feeling, but at the same time, I try not to curtail or dilute what I’m saying, and just maybe kind of say it in a different way where you can hear it.
Q: Where do you get your material?
A: I get it from a plethora of areas, but first of all, it just comes from my own unique perspective and way of looking at life and the way that people look at me as a disabled person, I guess. But also, I have a strange energy about me that usually draws random (stuff), you know? I’m also just really hyper-aware; I just have a very good sense of … I see it all, it’s weird, it’s almost a curse … I think that energy or whatever that is has really created the person you see on stage. And life, I guess, because the truth is I’m not really that different on stage.
Q: You have cerebral palsy. Has that affected the way you do stand-up?
A: It’s a tough question because it’s all I’ve ever known. So I don’t really know. I can definitely tell you it has a lot to do with what I’m doing. I think I’d be a successful comedian without it, but I think the key to it is that if I didn’t have cerebral palsy, I’d just be another goofy white guy. But now I’m a goofy white guy with cerebral palsy.
Q: What advice do you have for comedians just starting out?
A: My general advice is don’t bother, I’ve got this (stuff) covered. (Laughs)
Q: Was it hard for you to get started?
A: No, I was really fortunate. I did kind of have a fast, I won’t say entrance to it, but I started at open mic nights at college, not like the rough comedy club crowd.
The key, I think, there’re so many rules to being successful at this, but I think No. 1 is: if you can go to as many comedy clubs and shows as possible, then be a fly on the wall, and learn the inner workings of a comedy club – from the wait staff to the door guys to the sound guy to how the whole machine works, and then figure out how you fit into this machine. Because to me, a lot of times, people are like, “I’m atomic, and I come in and I’m the star,” when in fact, the servers carrying drinks for an hour and a half have a lot harder job than you do. To me, stand-up is easy; I couldn’t carry a tray of drinks like they do. I just have so much respect for the other people that are running the show.
I also think that a lot of times young people don’t realize how much say a server has on your success, you know? If a server likes you, there’s no bigger, better compliment in the business because they see everybody – they see more than the owner (and) the managers, because they’re on the floor constantly, night after night. So if you can get a server to give half a (expletive) about you, then you’re doing well. And they’ll go back and tell the manager, “Hey, this guy is consistently funny, he stays out of my way, he tips well and he’s nice to us off stage.” That’s probably the best compliment you can get in your career.
Q: Have you ever had any nights go really bad?
A: There are a few horror stories here and there. My worst one was a 70-year-old woman’s birthday party – it was bad. It was real bad.
katie@durangoherald.com
Local comedy scene growing
Stand-up comedy is no joke in Durango: It’s been growing over the past few years, and Comedy Showcase Durango hopes to see it get even bigger.
“Dan Korman had the foresight to start an open mic for comedy at the Irish Embassy,” says Wes Stein, organizer of Comedy Showcase Durango. “Because of Snowdown and the Jokedown and things like that, comics will come out to things like that. So Dan thought, ‘Maybe we need a room, a steady room for these people to come, because if there are that many comics showing up to the Jokedown, then maybe if they had a monthly thing it would be a good thing.”
And from there, the idea grew.
“What I did was to come in early on and started to see that a lot of comics were coming out of the woodwork – not only comics, but people who wanted to try it,” Stein says. “My thought was, ‘What if we got together and sort of organized that group to help each other out?’ Together, we’re stronger than one person going out and being like, ‘Hey, can I do jokes at your restaurant?’ So we got together, we found a core group of 10 or 12 kids who were really committed to trying to get better at comedy – it’s a hobby, sure, but they’re also just trying to see what’s there, I think. Like, ‘Is there a chance for me to do this as a career?’”
And, Stein says, for some, it’s more than just a fun hobby.
“We have a core group of maybe four or five guys, maybe six, that are looking into it as a career,” he says. “That’s really why this exists, because if you’re an up-and-coming comic – a lot of these kids are in college still or in their 20s – your only chance to really make it is to go to Denver, go to the big comedy club, get on the new talent night stage, which is essentially open mic.”
Stein says that in order to get noticed on stage, consistency is key, which is hard to do when Durango is so far from Denver, which is why forming Comedy Showcase Durango and giving people the chance to get stage practice is so important.
“We can’t do that from here because we’ve got to drive seven hours every weekend just to get on a stage,” he says. “Our thought was, if we can create enough open mics here, we can cut our teeth and really develop our craft, so that when we do go to Denver and get on stage every once in a while, it’s obvious that we’re not just beginning. And they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, you guys have experience in this.’ We’re a little bit better than the average beginner because we do it so much here in Durango.”
And the comedians are dedicated; there are shows every Thursday and Saturday nights in Durango. Both are open mic, but the Thursday shows at El Rancho also feature a showcase at the end of the open mic session.
katie@durangoherald.com
If you go
What: Comedy Showcase Durango presents “An Evening with Josh Blue: To Benefit the VHLA for Cancer Research.”
When: 7 p.m. May 19.
Where: Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave.
Tickets: $50 general, $75 VIP. Available online at http://bit.ly/2r1xL60.
More information: Visit www.facebook.com/events/529635177425660/.
