In addition to EasternCarolinaStyle.com, Michael Smith is also a regular contributing writer for the Fayetteville, NC weekly newspaper, Up and Coming Weekly.
This week’s edition of Up and Coming Weekly features an article about the upcoming Special Operators Challenge on May 31st.
Click the link below to read more
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Michael Smith at Up and Coming Weekly
Dan Tracy (Tunny) in AMERICAN IDIOT (Photo by Jeremy Daniel)
Billie Joe Armstrong is the lead guitarist and front-man of one of the most successful rock bands of all time, Green Day. Armstrong is accompanied in Green Day by childhood friend, co-founder, and bass guitarist Mike Dirnt, drummer Tre Cool, and guitarist Jason White, who officially joined in 2012.
As a group, Green Day is one of the best-selling musical groups of all time having sold over 75 million albums worldwide. The band has released a total of 11 studio albums and has been RIAA certified Platinum over 20 times. Their 1994 major label debut album, Dookie, is listed as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine. The group has been honored with 5 Grammy Awards and is one of VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
As impressive as their list of musical accomplishments is on its own, there is one additional piece of acclaim that Armstrong and Green Day can lay claim to that VERY few other rock musicians can. The members of Green Day created and produced a show that made it from a small regional theatre in Berkeley, CA all the way to Broadway. That show was eventually nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical and won two Tony Awards for Scenic and Lighting Designs.
Green Day’s American Idiot, which is based on the Green Day album of the same name, is the story of three young men, Johnny, Will, and Tunny, who attempt to escape the confines of suburbia. Johnny flees to the city and embraces drugs, Tunny chooses the military life, and Will has to accept the role of father. The three young men are forced to face the lives they have and the lives they have lost.
American Idiot opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway in the spring of 2010. The show ran for almost exactly one year with 400+ shows when it closed on April 24, 2011. It was directed by Tony Award winner, Michael Mayer with music composed by Green Day and lyrics by Armstrong. The cast of the original Broadway production included members of previous Broadway productions Spring Awakening, A Man for All Seasons, Journey’s End (2007 Revival), Avenue Q, and Rent.
After American Idiot closed in 2011 it almost immediately went on tour and has since spanned the globe.The touring cast has changed over the years as the various tours began and ended. The current cast has been together since October of 2013 and will be making a stop on April 29th at the Durham Performing Arts Center for two nights. After the Durham, NC show, the tour will move on to Atlanta, GA and then to the west coast for a series of shows in California. The current tour is scheduled to conclude at the end of May in Denver, CO.
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In advance of the show Eastern Carolina Style’s Michael Smith spoke at length with Dan Tracy. Tracy plays one the three leads, Tunny, and gave some poignant perspective and insight on the show…
MAS – This show is so different from traditional musical theatre in so many ways; why not try something, “safer” as your first?
Dan Tracy – I think that taking risks is one of the most exciting things about doing this. And having the taste of what it is like to be a member of Green Day also doesn’t hurt.
MAS – The show has won so many awards and has been loved by so many since it opened back in 2009, did that acclaim add any extra pressure?
Dan Tracy – No, any good show is going to have won awards. You definitely do your homework and put the time in to give the detail that it deserves. That is a big part of my job; it doesn’t add any pressure at this point.
MAS – How do you ready yourself for a show? Touring shows have to take a lot out of you, what do you do to make sure every performance is the best it can be?
Dan Tracy – I do a lot of reading to keep my brain excited and learning about the craft of acting. I keep researching different things. I stay up to date with the news to try and get myself in the mindset for the political side of the show. From there it is about keeping my body, voice, and mind clear and open and executing what I know is supposed to be the show.
MAS – Tell me about you character, Tunny. What does the audience need to know about this young man?
Dan Tracy – Tunny is a confused guy; he grew up in a tough family situation in suburban California. He is looking for an answer to make the pain go away. He’s got a rich emotional rift that he tries to hide from everyone. He decides after taking a trip to New York with his best friend Johnny to enlist in the military. He persuaded by this character called the favored son. The military poses that answer for him, kind of giving him a purpose. He has a difficult time with that too; he can’t seem to catch any breaks. He ends up seeing through all of the darkness into more positive light.
MAS – What do you want the audience to leave the show with, in regards to Tunny?
Dan Tracy – It’s about a person who has almost everything taken away from him and then still be able to move on and find the good. I think that a lot of people can relate to that in whatever way they personally see that story. Not many people have experience losing a limb in the middle-east during a very violent war. But, a lot of people have lost loved ones or they are dealing with addiction or the other themes that this deals with. My character can help contribute to that; as does Will and Johnny.
MAS – How do you, and the rest of the cast, handle questions and criticism from people that come to this show thinking they are getting something closer to the album than what it is? Considering the album has sold 15 million copies worldwide, there is a lot of room for lofty expectations from audiences.
Dan Tracy – There is a pressure on us, at the back of your mind. Every time I stand out and look at the audience when I am singing “Are We the Waiting” there is a lot of my emotional journey, my actions through the story of the show that are on the forefront of my mind. In the back of my brain is that fact that this song could very well be the favorite song of somebody out there in the audience. You try and think of that so that you know that you are putting in the work that you should. It is another way to motivate yourself to do your job every night when you have to do it 150 times in a row.
I have never heard anyone say that they didn’t like the changes that have been made from the original album to what you hear now. They are not even really changes. It is not like anything is gone, nothing is missing they have only added things. I think some of the orchestrations have really added significant richness to certain songs.
People had no idea of what they were going to get, they come to the show, they don’t know what it is about, and they are just taken aback.
MAS – To build on the criticism that I have seen and heard. Some people have said that this type of show is really just a concert trying to be a musical, how do you respond to that?
Dan Tracy – It doesn’t look like a golden-age book musical; it has the form of something you would see in an avant-garde movie. It is not very linear, there are so many things happening at once, there are so many pieces, there are a lot of metaphors happening, there is a lot of interpretation of different moments and there are a lot theatrical devices being used. Some people don’t see the richness when they walk in and see it the first time.
It is the type of show that every time you watch it you see something deeper and more complex. It is a lot for people to take in on their first watch
The cast of the show that will be appearing in Durham:
Main Cast:
| Jared Nepute | Johnny |
| Dan Tracy | Tunny |
| Casey O’Farrell | Will |
| Olivia Puckett | Whatsername |
| Taylor Jones | Extraordinary Girl |
| Mariah MacFarlane | Heather |
| Carson Higgins | St. Jimmy |
Ensemble and Understudies:
Alex Boniello
Liam Fennecken
Sean Garner
Francesca Granell
Antwaun Holley
Andrew Humann
Alison Morooney
Johnny Newcomb
Michael Pilato
Eric Presnall
Turner Rouse, Jr.
Josephine Spada
Chelsea Turbin
MAS – With your show Legit coming back for a second season, how has your life changed? I’m sure you are quite a bit busier, but in general what is going on in Jim Jefferies’ life right now?
JJ – It’s the same as when the first seasoned launched. This time, more people know about the show and it has a bit of a fan base. The first season, people were trying to figure out what the show is and now we are trying to live up to the first season. I think this new season is substantially better than season one.
Other than that, doing all the press and stuff, I enjoy that. I’m doing Kimmell soon and hopefully I can do all the other ones. I enjoy that aspect, getting on the couch and talking with people.
MAS – With the show moving from FX to the new network FXX, are you expecting any type of impact from that?
JJ – There will be a small drop-off in the ratings because FXX is available in less homes, it is just simple math. The thing about FXX is, it’s a start-up network. It’s good to be on the ground floor and to be a flagship show of the network. I get to be the face of the station, if you will. It’s us, The League, and Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and they also just bought The Simpsons for that channel. They are also working on 4-5 new shows. I think this time next year this station will be said in the same breath as FX. It will be its own identity, obviously, with more comedy on it than FX.
MAS – That’s one of the things I am enjoying about seeing the show on FX, or in the FX family. In watching the show, I tried to think of where else you would fit. There aren’t a lot of networks that would give you the freedom that you have now.
JJ – I don’t know if we have gone too far to ever be syndicated or to be put on TBS or anything like that. It’s probably, in a business point of view, a bad idea to do that. There is something about making a show that is genuinely unique. I don’t think anyone has seen anything on TV similar to it. People can argue, that Louie is a comic playing himself or Seinfeld is a comic playing himself. But the storylines that we are doing, I don’t think you are seeing anything like it. Especially considering one of our main characters has muscular dystrophy in a comedy.
MAS – Are you still shooting now, or are you all completely done?
JJ – No we finished shooting in December. There are only three of us that write the show. I try to write all the storylines and the other guys direct while I act in them. We don’t have several different directors so we can edit while we are making them, we have to edit after. We have to finish up with enough time to get the first episode out. So we finished filming a couple of months ago.
MAS – You mentioned having a character such as the one DJ Qualls plays. What kind of feedback did you receive after, or during, season one with his depiction of an individual with a physical limitation?
JJ – Everything we have received has been very positive after it aired. Before it aired, we were getting a lot of mail that said we were being insensitive and they hadn’t even seen it yet. I think that they thought that since it was a comedy that we were going to be doing disabled gags the whole time. I mean we did do a couple of them, but the point of the whole show is that his character is treated the same as everyone else’s character. We worked very hard at that. Obviously his character has limitations when you are writing for him, but we involve him in every scene. When you get the other disabled actors on… I know from just working with them, they enjoy working on my show more than do working on a Hallmark movie where they may be a depressed, sad kid at school. Or they may be in a PSA after it. Once you see the show, you don’t feel sorry for anybody on it. I don’t think there is any hate or malice in it.
MAS – With the premise of the show being you playing a comedian, you pull things from your day-to-day life. With the upcoming season, are we looking at more of the same or are you going in some different directions with the characters?
JJ – Each episode is more serialized in this season compared to the first one. Season one was more vaguely serialized, not saying you can’t watch individual episodes out of season two and still get enough out of it to enjoy it. My character has a full arc, Steve has a full arc where he goes into alcoholism… I think we learned a lot from writing the first season which was largely based on my stand-up.
The entire first season was written before we cast anybody. So we didn’t know what the actors were going to be good or bad at. We didn’t know we’d get DJ Qualls or John Ratzenberger. So now, we start writing it based around the strength of the actor and where they are going to be able to take the character. Where you never thought the character could go before.
In season one Steve Nugent was so one-dimensional, then Dan Bakkedahl came along. He is such a good “improver.” I realized that he made such a good drunk that this year I made him an alcoholic.
MAS – The tour you are on now is obviously new material. Is it something that you are using towards a new comedy special or are you just focused on Legit?
JJ – Some bits and pieces I did on the last tour, but for the most part it is all new material. There is nothing that you have ever see me do on one of my specials. If you only have ever watched me on TV, you have never seen any of these jokes.
I will be recording a new special in Boston in couple months. It will probably be 6 months later when we release it. I am fine with the network who will release it, I can’t say who it is yet. I could do that special tomorrow. I am ready to retire some of this material and start fresh again.
There will be a lot of stuff that I will be doing in the show at the theatre that won’t make it into the special or even the next special after that one. I try to keep an hour ahead of myself.
MAS – As far as the future, most talents tend to pick one or the other; stand-up tours or TV. Are you the type that is going to try and do both or do you see a time when show like the one in Durham will be less frequent?
JJ – I think I will always be a little better at stand-up comedy than I will be at acting. Maybe I will get good at acting or something. I always feel like that when I am acting that I am having an affair from comedy. Comedy is my wife and acting is this mistress that I see occasionally. Comedy is my main gig and I think it always will be.
MAS – I recently spoke with Gary Owen from Think Like a Man and Ride Along and he said he has to keep doing stand-up to stay sharp because acting makes him soft. Is that true for you too?
JJ – Once I finish a TV show it takes me another month to get back into the swing of things. I have to push myself and go out every night until I get good at it. I am back in the swing at the moment, everything is good. When I get to Durham it will be great.
MAS – If you could get anything across to the folks attending the show coming up, what would it be?
JJ – In my mind I would say something like, “There is no God” or something else like that. I just don’t give a shit anymore.
The main thing I want to get across is that I want them to have a good time. I’m not going to try and change anyone’s opinion. I’m going to give my opinions and you can do with them what you want. If you don’t agree, keep yours and just wait for the next joke.
MAS – In my research for this interview I went onto SoundCloud and DatPiff to find some of your stuff to get familiar with you. As I was listening I found myself bobbing my head and really getting into it. I then went your website and saw your picture and I was like, “What the hell?” The picture I saw was not at all what I expected.
WP – Wait? So you heard my music before you saw me? That is usually not the case. I kinda like that! Usually people look and then they get some kind of idea of what it is going to sound like before they listen. It is kinda cool that you were able to listen before you looked.
MAS – I was showing one of my office friends one of your videos and they were like, “When did Avril Lavigne learn to rap?”
WP – Yeah, I’ve been called that before. It’s kind of funny, that is the second time this week someone has said that I look like Avril Lavigne. That’s cool, I’m just doing by stuff, being Whitney Peyton from the suburbs of Philly. I’m just rapping mad, it’s the easiest way. I’m just being me, so people can either take it or leave it.
MAS – Who is Whitney Peyton? Introduce yourself to North Carolina.
WP – I’m what would happen if Machine Gun Kelly, Missy Elliott and Eminem had a love child. I am excited to play North Carolina, I think I did once before but it was so long ago. I don’t really count it, because back in 2008, when I was real fresh, just started, I played this car show. The DJ that they hooked up with was wasted, he was playing by backing tracks and he was scratching during my songs. It was really messing me up. He was putting me at different places in the song, jumping me around as I am trying to rap. It was all kinds of crazy. It was in front of a lot of people. It was like, “Whoa this guy has too many drinks, and he doesn’t need to be playing my backing tracks right now.” So, I am ready to come back to North Carolina for the re-do. Let’s get it crackin!
MAS – How did you get in to Hip hop? Philly is a bit of a hotbed for Hip Hop so I can see that part.
WP – I’m from the outskirts of Philly so I had to go into the city when I started record or perform or anything. There is not really a venue out in the suburbs near me.
I was doing spoken word, just rapping a Capella. I didn’t know any producers and I didn’t know how to get any beats at that time. I was just writing. I was like, I am really into poetry but I also really love hip hop. So, I kind of want to transform this into not just spoken word but I want to rap too. They can sound the same but they are totally different. When you are rapping on beat it is way more rhythmic, a capella doesn’t have as many rules, you can be all over the place. On beat, you have got to be more in the pocket. It took a while to get the hang of it; I was so used to spitting a capella.
I started going into Philly and knocking on everyone’s door, like any producer. I was like, “I really want to record” and a lot of them just laughed. It took a while for someone to say yes they would record me. It started picking up from there.
At that time, there were definitely girls in the industry but it was still really scarce. Now there is more and more of us popping up which is a cool thing, but when I started recording there wasn’t really that many of us. It was hard to get people to take it seriously.
MAS – How long have you been in this game?
WP – I have been writing for a long time, so it is really hard to say. They didn’t let me in the clubs to perform until I was 18. So do you count when I was actually allowed to perform or do you count all of the stuff I have been writing in my notebook in math class. It’s kind of hard to gauge that, I have been writing since middle school. I think my first mixtape or EP came out in like 2008. I have got way better since then.
Artists go back and are like, “I hate my old stuff” because they feel like they have progressed so much. It’s been a few years that I have been heavily involved.
MAS – If you think you old stuff is something you hate or are ashamed of, we are in trouble with any new stuff.
WP – <Laughing> I’m not ashamed of it. You listen back and you compare it. Any artist, probably, listens to their newer stuff and compares it to their old stuff and is like, “wow, it’s a massive change.” Even people who are not artists, if they look at their style of anything, dress or how they acted, years ago they are like, “what was I thinking?”
My first song that I ever released as a single, Crazy, remains one of my most popular songs. For me, I’m like wow that was my first real track so I feel like I can rap way better since then, but it remains a fan favorite. I can’t really say that I regret any of it, it has all made me better. But, I for sure rap way better now.
MAS – Your flow is one of your biggest assets, but also the way you rap. Your roots in spoken word are very evident. As you are spitting those rapid fire lyrics, you can still clearly hear every syllable.
WP – Cool. That is something I think about when I listen to other rappers, I want to hear what they are saying. That’s the biggest part. As a rapper, obviously you are a lyricist first and foremost. That’s the whole point.
MAS – Where do you draw from for your lyrics?
WP – Because I am not a normal rapper, I don’t rap about the normal things. I don’t have that hood life that a lot of rappers are able to talk about. I just talk about things that I have been through; struggles with anxiety, struggles with relationships, stuff like that. I think that is relatable to the average person no matter where they are from. I feel like that is why I have been able to be versatile and have a wide demographic. No matter where you are from; the suburbs, the hood, the middle of the country somewhere it’s a relatable thing.
MAS – You are very motivated by what goes on your community.
WP – There is such a negative reputation that goes with rap music. We always think of rappers with violence, drugs, living the lifestyle where they are showing off the material items. That is what it always seems to be about. I just want to show that there is positivity to it as well. With my career I can also help charities and donate my time to those things on the side so that I feel like I did accomplish something positive. It’s not all about negative things.
MAS – How did you get hooked up with this tour? The artists don’t seem to have a lot in common.
WP – I was on tour with RA The Rugged Man and before that I was on tour with Twiztid. People are always like, you are mismatched all the time. If you think about it, it’s hard to find a demographic that is for me because I am so different from a lot of other artists. It’s like, who can you pair me up with? I like the fact that we are different because it makes for a more interesting show. If you are going to a show and there are four artists and they are all similar to each other, I think that would get old after a while. The fact that each of us, on the tour, has our own style makes it interesting when you go. I won’t be monotonous.
But to answer the question, I got hooked up with it while I was on the RA The Rugged Man tour. There was someone in the audience that was a booking agent. He was putting together this tour with Da Mafia 6 and he saw my performance and he approached me about it. He was like, “hey you put on an energetic performance and I think you’d be good on this tour.” I didn’t think… People tell you things and you take it with a grain of salt. In the music industry, of all things that you are approached a very low percentage actually gets followed through on and actually happens. So I took like, “yeah that would be cool” but I didn’t put all my eggs in one basket. But its real and I leave Friday to go meet up with Three 6 in Tennessee. We have about 60 tour dates or so that are back to back, it’s going to be wild.
Bio courtesy Comedy Central
Solidly ensconced in the 30-40 demographic, comedian Todd Glass may now be considered ineligible to be labeled a wunderkind — but he certainly was one, having launched his career in comedy at age 16. Since that precocious start, the Philadelphia native has developed into a polished performer with a bent for inventive material that often mocks the conventions of standup.
Todd’s comedy is often satirical, sometimes irreverent but always funny. His television appearances are many, including performances on “The Sarah Silverman Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Late Night with Conan O?Brien,” “Showbiz Show with David Spade,” “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn” and “Politically Incorrect.” With his unique delivery and divergent style of witticisms, Todd quickly becomes a host and viewer favorite.
This weekend Goodnight’s Comedy Club in Raleigh will play host to the nationally regarded funnyman, Todd Glass. You have seen him on all of the late night talk shows and on the occasional episode of Tosh.0. Todd will perform 5 shows starting Thursday and wrapping up Saturday night.
MAS – I recently took the opportunity to go on to Netflix and watch your comedy special. I was really impressed; I really like your comedic style. I have seen you on Tosh.0 and other stuff like that, but that is a little different. Where does your style come from, how did you develop that?
Todd Glass – I guess for everybody it is a little different. For me, I guess, the more you do comedy hopefully you start talking about things that mean something to you. It doesn’t have to be social or political, although it could be. It could be, also, anything that means something to you. It’s just something personal. Maybe that is the best way to put, something personal. Personal has a wide array… it’s wide as to what personal means.
I always use the example of, because it helped me when I was starting comedy, Steve Martin. He talked about something personal, even though it was silliness. It was something that was personal to him, this very unique silliness. It wasn’t a formulaic generic silliness that he tapped into, it was something personal. I think that is where it comes from, hopefully.
MAS – You mentioned Steve Martin, what other comedians have you looked to for guidance, who has molded you?
Todd Glass – Indirectly, probably a lot of comedians. Mostly, the things is, comedians that I always say, make me want to punch somebody that is sitting next to me or punch a wall because you are laughing so hard. They are the ones I tend to… Over the years, whether it’s comedians in my generation… Legends, like Rodney or Don Rickles guys in sort of my camp whether it is Brian Regan… I’m a big Eddie Pepitone fan. I tend to watch guys that make me want to punch somebody because I am laughing so hard. Those are that guys that probably make you.
MAS – From your style of comedy, and from the material you used in your special, you are not afraid to tackle some of the more politically incorrect issues all for a little social commentary, if not satire. I have seen you do it in a way that isn’t necessarily family friendly, but also not your typical R Rated comedy. You seem to have found success in your shows with tackling these issues while keeping your show as clean as it is.
Todd Glass – I don’t give people anybody credit for being clean; I give people credit for being funny. So, it is probably just naturally what I talk about, but I never want to make it sound like, “That’s the best way to do it.” Obviously, it’s hard to be fucking hilarious whether it’s clean or what we perceive to be blue. We see a lot of comedians that use language, not at its best. But I’ve seen guys with not one curse in their act that use suck and blow and others. There are tools, there are clean tricks too; they are both offensive to me. I really don’t ever give anybody credit…
I give people credit for just finding a way to be unique and funny. If you give people extra credit, if you go, “and plus your clean and that’s the hardest.” No it’s not. You are sort of saying, “Richard Pryor and George Carlin are funny alright, but you gotta admit they took the easier path”; of course not! It is sort of just who I am.
MAS – Let me put my question into better context. I have done several interviews with various comedians. I have interviewed comedians that actually bill themselves as family friendly comedy. I have also interviewed comedians that are the polar opposite to that. Both styles can lead one to being a very successful comedian. I am in no position to say who has it easier and who has it harder but, those two styles are so dramatically different you have to appreciate a comic that has chosen to do things that way. Why did they choose to do things that way?
Todd Glass – If they are a good comedian, they didn’t choose it. Maybe, it is just who they are. It’s like people that don’t do comedy, they might not choose to be who they are, but it is part of who they are. So I think it is just representing what makes them laugh, if you are doing it right. I think whenever you decide to please an audience, and give them what they want; it is probably a sure sign if you are not really enjoying yourself onstage.
It’s like if you were doing artwork and you were painting and I ask, “What do you do?” You answer, “Well, I try to figure out what people like, and then I paint it.” Well, is that fun?
MAS – I am hearing that you like to do what pleases you and if somebody else finds it funny, great.
Todd Glass – I do want to make a living doing this, but I think the ultimate goal is go onstage each night and express what is in your heart and what you feel and at the same time you find an audience that appreciates it.
MAS – You have been in comedy touring for around 20 years and have been to, easily, hundreds of cities and played in hundreds of venues. Looking back, which of your shows do you feel like is your crowning achievement to date?
Bruce Bruce – I don’t really know, I don’t think I have gotten to that point yet. All the shows I have ever done in any theater or in any club I have so much fun and all of my crowds are basically the same. Also, I always give 100% with whatever I do. So, I haven’t gotten to that theater yet where I think I achieve anything like that. I am still out there having fun.
MAS – On the other side of that, are there any shows that you have done that you wish you could do over again?
Bruce Bruce – Oh yeah, there are shows that I wish I could go do again. I have never had one that I can’t go back to, never had a bad show. But shows that I would like to do again, I would like to host BET Comic View again. The previous show that I did, I thought that it was very good and it was a very good year. I think we had over 2 million viewers, and that was pretty good.
MAS – What is there in your career that you would like to do that you haven’t already done?
Bruce Bruce – I would like to host my own TV talk-show. I would like to host a show like Johnny Carson. I think I could get anybody to do the show and I think I am a great person to interview them. I have the personality for it. That’s one thing I’d like to do. I’d like to have a long run like Jay Leno, who took over for Carson. I’d like to have a show like that. I’d like to have the desk, I’d like to have the whole setup, couch everything.
MAS – I forget which show it was that I was watching of yours, but I watched you go person to person lighting them up joking on them as they were walking to their seats during your set. Have you ever really pissed anybody off doing that?
Bruce Bruce – Yeah, I think I have pissed someone off but I have a way of making it up to them right there onstage. I don’t know how I do it, but I have seen people really get pissed and then said things to them and done some things to them in the midst of the show and they have forgotten about the whole entire thing. They are laughing and loving it, they are like “First, you pissed me off, but we really like you, you are really good.” By the way, when I do it, it is nothing degrading, nothing personal, nothing to intimidate you, it’s all in fun. If I see a big guy, I’m gonna talk about me and him. He’s gonna think the joke is on me and him, but it’s really on him. He doesn’t realize it, but that is how I do it, a maneuver that I do.
MAS – You have a huge library of material, like an encyclopedia Britannica of comedy to pull from. What can we expect from you?
Bruce Bruce – Definitely different, I have different stuff that I do. Also, I do a meet and greet after each show. I always have the, “Why didn’t you do that joke?” Some people really want to hear some of the old stuff, so a lot of time when I go out on stage I ask, “What do you want to hear?” because a lot of time people just want to hear the old stuff, I definitely have new stuff that is really, really good. The key thing is how my show goes…You go to a comedy show and you see the comedian and they give you a roller-coaster ride. One minute they are very funny and then they come down and then they go back up again and then they come down. I don’t do the roller-coaster ride, I pick you up and I leave you right there. That is my whole goal, I want to pick you up and leave you laughing right there. I don’t do the roller-coaster ride; that is not comfortable to me. I come do a great job, so I am going to pick you up and up.
MAS – I have talked to some of the more controversial comedy acts; Jim Norton, Tracey Morgan, etc. They are all not afraid to push the envelope in subject matter. In hearing your set, you talk about some of the same subjects; race, women, sex, etc. but with a completely different tone. What has pushed you to use that type of material and the tone that you use?
Bruce Bruce – Well, honestly… I think, once you have a person’s attention, once you get their attention you can just about sell them on anything. When you go to church, you go anywhere, you go to a seminar; once they have your attention; you have a tendency of listening. When I have people’s attention I think that is my outlet, especially with guys, to let them know about racism, and relationships; I do a lot on relationships. They need to know these things. A lot of guys, they don’t know, they think they know because they feel they are a grown man, “I’m a grown man now, I’m a big man,” a lot of time we just don’t know. Once I have their attention, I just lay it on them and it just comes natural for me.
MAS – You have been in this business for around 20 years…
Bruce Bruce – 24 years in 2014, I’ve been doing it for 24 years professionally.
MAS – That kind of experience makes you a subject matter expert; you are the man to ask. Let’s pretend I am an up-and-coming comedian, I want to be the next Bruce Bruce… How do I do it?
Bruce Bruce – The key thing is, you have to have a passion. I need to know if you have a passion for doing stand-up. If you do have a passion for it, be creative and use your own material. Don’t take bits a pieces of other people’s material. I can see you taking somebody’s style, but not their material. Use it to your advantage. It’s not hard to pick up a lot of material. I tell every young comedian, I go up to the mall and I sit and I watch people and that is how I gather my material. I learn things about the city, so when I come up on stage I’m gonna say something about the city that you think I don’t know anything about. It is about bringing creativity and being original and using your own material. Energy, you’ve got to have energy, but first and foremost, you’ve got to have the passion for it. If you have that passion, you can go to the top…
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MAS – Your Proud2Pay program, and Crenshaw, have generated a ton of recognition for you as a business mind. I see interviews with you all over talking about your marketing strategies and business acumen. I’m not seeing a lot of people talking about your lyrical style or your album content. I know the old saying is “there is no such things as bad press”, but what do you think about all the attention being paid to your marketing strategy instead of your album content?
Nipsey Hussle – I think that people have already accepted that fact about Nipsey Hussle; that Nipsey is a great lyricist, that Nipsey is a true artist, and that he represents a real condition. You know what I’m saying? The condition of South-Central Los Angeles and the West Coast in general. I think that is a known fact. I think for them to see me take a stand as a businessman and innovate in the category of marketing and release strategy that was new information about Nipsey Hussle. I think that was something that was a new discovery. I think that is why you saw a lot of attention being paid to the campaign Proud2Pay, Fuck the Middle Man, $100 Mix Tape. The direction we chose to go in with our stance in the game as an owner, I think that was all new information. I think artists, like myself, who have been around 3, 4 or 5 years, that’s what people look for in your conversations. When they get a new convo from you, they look for the new information; they look for the new discovery. I think that was what was new about Crenshaw and just that moment in time. You know?
But I felt that also, I told my team, the marketing plan was the single for this album. The tape’s strategy was the single because that was what was the most important to us. At my show, that’s where I get the feedback for my lyrics, my energy and my message; my concerts, that’s where I really check and see. The people can say whatever they want in the magazines and in the interviews. When people come out, pay money, stand in line, scream your lyrics at the top of their breath, sweat, you know what I’m saying, and get hysterical. To me, that’s the most honest form of feedback.
MAS – Right now you are still working as an independent; I know the typical path to success is to get hooked up with a major label or group like Shady, Cash Money or something like them. Are there any specific groups out there that you think you would be a good fit? I know that you tried to get something going with Rick Ross and MMG that go derailed, but are there any others that get you thinking?
Nipsey Hussle – The Rick Ross and MMG thing didn’t get derailed; it was just conversations, getting to know each other. Respecting what we are doing and seeing if there was a situation that makes sense businesswise. That is still an ally of mine and a friend and a homeboy I look to for life and advice. Just a real individual outside of music, you know the capacity of what he can do within music. As far as just focused, passionate talented dudes, I draw them type of people.
To answer the question, you know, I think that my goal is to exist in the game the way that the people that we grew up looking up to existed in the game. Master P exists as an owner. Brian Williams and Slim Williams, you know the Williams Brothers, they exist as owners. You know what I’m saying? Jay-Z, Puffy, they all exist as owners. You know, their careers had ups and downs but I think the thing that really distinguished them from the rest of the pack is that they fought for ownership and they fought for excellence. And so, I am just doing what I was raised looking up to. I always looked up to those individuals because they fought for that and they were different than the way the industry owned artists and creators. They exceeded that, and they also were successful as artists but they reaped the benefits as owners. I’m just trying to take my craft to the next level, be as big as I can be but remain in control of the ownership and the equity, to some degree.
MAS – You got a good role model in Bryan Williams, The Birdman. If you can live up to that role-model…
Nipsey Hussle – Yeah, it’s not just Bird though; he’s one of the dudes I respect. I respect TIP. I respect and even Ludacris. They came in and got a joint venture for DTP. I’m looking at it from the perspective of a shrewd businessman. This is a billion-dollar industry you know? I don’t think we just walk through it as just happy-go-lucky artists. I think we should be concerned about where income is generated and what our true assets are.
MAS – You said it yourself, you have been in the game for some time now. You have seen some good things and some bad things. I know you’ve had your troubles with labels, just like everybody else has. With your overall, different level of business acumen, what do you think is the number 1 problem facing artists, like yourself, from being able to take that next step? If you could change something in the game, what would it be?
Nipsey Hussle – I think that I would try to integrate the systems a little bit more. I think that is one of the main things that plague major labels and big operations. Systems become separated; marketing doesn’t speak to A&R, A&R doesn’t speak to executives, executives don’t speak to business affairs, business affairs don’t speak to radio. And not necessarily only speak, but work hand in hand and mobilize everybody under the same philosophy.
That’s the advantage that small companies have; the photographer, the designer, the head of design, the brand manager, the videographer, the tour manager, the engineer, the executive branch down to the legal, everybody is 100% on the same philosophy and business understanding. This is the goal, this is what we are doing, and it’s more focused and singular. It helps everybody, artists, and the actual companies. It takes the actual process to the next level. We go off of processes of creating albums on a mainstream level. You know just evolve that process a little bit.
MAS – On the east coast, North Carolina specifically, people know Nipsey Hussle. They know you based off of some of the work you’ve done. I want to give them a little background about you. I want them to learn who you are.
The name you have chosen to perform under, Nipsey Hussle, is obviously a play on the name of the late comedian, poet and entertainer Nipsey Russell. A lot of guys in Hip Hop draw from elements of society that have a lot of negativity. We mentioned Rick Ross earlier, his namesake Ricky Ross is not known as the best guy in society. What made you decide to link yourself to someone like Nipsey Russell?
Nipsey Hussle – Originally, I just liked how it sounded. I wasn’t even educated on Nipsey Russell. It was something that one of my homeboys threw at me being playful and I liked how it sounded. I invited the Hussle part naturally, with how I grew up. The Nipsey part, come to find out, it was just a play-off of Nipsey Russell. I did do my research on him and see that he is just a lovable person; a comedian, a poet, an actor, someone that was respected. People loved to hear him; he was a fun person, somebody that did stand-up and TV shows and was just a character of love.
Originally what drew me to the name was; it rang, it sounded good. I’m a person that, I trust my instincts. When I hear something or see something I like, I don’t question it I just roll with it a lot of times. That was one of the instances of me expressing that part of my personality. I just liked how it sounded and I stuck with it.
MAS – To talk about your style and upcoming album, when you were just getting into the game, who did you look to as a guide for how you wanted to perform? Who did you draw from stylistically to help create your personal lyrical style?
Nipsey Hussle – I grew up in the 90s, I was born in 85, so I grew up in the 90s. So, you know, a cumulative collection of hip hop is where I derive my style from, everything dope. Up until 2006-07, when I ended up coming into the game. Once I got in the game, I stopped drawing and I stopped letting other artists influence me. I was at a level where I had to influence and I had to lead.
Just a collective of hip hop; everything from Snoop, Slick Rick, Jay, and even the new stuff. The dudes that came out with me I was influenced by their style. It was dope to see their take on what we grew up on. I’m sure I influenced a lot of them myself, you know. It’s just the collective of hip hop.
Urban creativity is what I was inspired by. People that came from places similar to where I came from that were also creative and successful at being creative. I looked at their story; I looked at the type of music perspective that they offered. I decided I want to evolve that, you know. I wanted to add to the conversation of urban creativity.
MAS – Of your mixtapes/albums, I have listened to Crenshaw and I am working on The Marathon and The Marathon Continues. From what I have heard so far, your lyrics carry a tone positivity and being lifted out of struggles or problems. Normally when we think of artists that have, or claim, any affiliations their lyrics are attached to drugs and violence exclusively. What has led you to go a different way with your lyrics while still being devoted to, and repping, the 60’s?
Nipsey Hussle – I think it is just refreshing to me bro. I think that one thing I learned about music; “the closer to an artist you are, the better the music comes off.” Recognizing that makes artists probe themselves and really focus on who they are, try to get to the core of what makes them who they are. Once I went down that path I started to see that I’m a believer, I have faith, I believe. I’m a motivator. I’m a person that, I don’t accept, “you can’t”. I don’t believe that. I think that there is a difference between everything; the people that believe they can and people that believe they can’t. I think, if I can offer anything to the world, it would be that understanding. There is nothing that you can’t do; it is all about what you can convince yourself to believe in.
As humans we have a lot of power that we don’t necessarily tap into or that we are not necessarily conscious of or aware of. Or, that we sometimes use our power in a negative direction, in a negative way we create unflattering circumstances in our life. But, it’s just easier to expend energy to create positive circumstances. I believe that in my core and I live by that. So, through my music, if you were to go into the core of what my message is, it would be a law of attraction or mind over matter. Faith in your thoughts, that’s what I am really trying to get across.
I came from Crenshaw and Slauson, I came from 60th street. I grew up in the environment and in the culture of gangbanging. So, naturally, my conversation is going to start there. When it came time to really present myself, and present the person and the spirit that’s at the core of this person in this flesh. That’s what it is and that’s what I would like my message to represent; positivity, evolution, and forward progress.
MAS – I know calling out people by name can be more trouble than it is worth, so I’m not going to do it and I’m not asking you to do any of that either. But when you are described, you are often portrayed as a return to the glory days of rap. Back to when lyrics had edge and meant something. What do you think has happened to Hip-Hop and Rap? How did we get to this point where the guys getting air play are so slack and not really putting in the effort they should. They don’t have the talent or skill? How did we get to this point?
Nipsey Hussle – If you look at the history of Hip Hop, it goes in cycles just like everything else. We just came out of a real serious era before our generation came of age and became physical, before the Nipsey Hussles started popping up and the other artists from our generation that came around when I came in. You had seriousness; it was 50 Cent, it was G-Unit, it was Game, there was Street, everything, it was Young Buck. I think that, out of that, the people kind of got that story. They were like, “alright, we get that.”
Not to say that, if somebody from these environments or that lifestyle contributes something true to Hip Hop that it’s not going to connect. I still believe that’s not. I just think overall, collectively, the cultural message is about love, there are messages about free-spirited carelessness, and there are messages about partying. These are all things that happened in real-life.
For someone that is in lover lyrics or serious content, that might not be your cup of tea. But at the same time there is a level of, it’s necessary, to a degree. And also, it’s a form of evolution. It takes us out of the era that we were just in the thick of and brings us somewhere else.
I always think that being a street artist, and an artist that comes from the streets, the condition that we speak to never changes bro. It’s our place, it’s always a struggle, and it’s always the ambition to do better in the streets. Street artists are going to be good at all times, but I think that the production might have changed a little bit. The angles artists take change a little but because of the wave of new age “emo rappers” or pop style stuff that’s working. It just changed the way street artists do what they are doing a little bit. It may influence the street artist to get with a different producer or be a little more melodic or come with a different cadence with their flow. As long as people are telling their truth and being honest about their experience, there is no one type of rap that is better than the other. It’s just cups of tea.
Me personally, I’m going to listen to the motivation music. I’m going to listen to the Jada, Jeezy. I’m going to listen to the… When you hop in your Benz and your leather smelling brand new, the song you want to hear when you do that. I want to listen to the songs that motivate you to reach for more and do better, that is “my cup of tea.” I can’t knock the party rappers; I can’t knock people that’s putting records in the club every week and talking about doing drugs and partying. As long as that is what their lifestyle is, and they are true to that, it’s all taste, it is all “eye of the beholder” type stuff.
MAS – In the coming weeks and months you are going to be releasing your next album Victory Lap, who all can we expect to hear featured on the album, producers and such?
Nipsey Hussle – As of now, we are so much in a record mode I don’t want to start leaking too much info yet. I want the story to be hot when the album date gets set. This is my full focus, is Victory Lap. It’s a lot of people that I have been working with; it’s a couple of people that I haven’t worked with before that came in on the project, producer wise.
Gary Owen is a fast rising star in comedy today. He has appeared in movies Think Like a Man, Ride Along and will reprise his role as Bennett in this summer’s Think Like a Man Too. He has appeared as a regular on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. His comedy special Gary Owen: True Story is one of the most popular on Netflix. He has been a part of some of the best comedy tours going today and now he is coming to Raleigh.
Gary Owen is coming to Raleigh, along with the rest of the Top Shelf Comedy Tour, to the Duke Energy Center on January 31st.
MAS – For your show that is coming up, what kind of new material do you have in store for us?
Gary Owen – It is all new material, nothing that is on the internet. I just finished some of my new hour special back in November. Once you do an hour special you try to put that material to bed and you start working on a new album. The thing about it is nobody in Raleigh has seen it because the album isn’t out yet. So, it will be all new material that’s for sure.
MAS – How has the tour been for you? I know with all your work on TV and in film being on a tour like this has to be different, how is it going for you?
Gary Owen – The tour is actually a little easier than doing comedy clubs. It’s just one a night, you’re in and out. Usually we are doing two cities a week, it’s like you leave home Friday and you are back home Sunday. It gives you all week if you want to film something, if you are on a TV show or you’re filming a movie. It easier to work around your schedule; the tour is the easiest to me.
MAS – Putting the paycheck aside, what would you prefer to do the most; Movies, TV, Touring, Clubs?
Gary Owen – The comedy club is like your gym. That is where you work out all your new stuff, get your timing down, move a joke from the beginning to the end of your set to see where it goes. The big theater shows, like when I come to Raleigh; that’s our game day, like if you were an athlete. That’s when people are getting their hair done and they got their clothes in the cleaners; you know you gotta look good. You gotta give them a good performance because the probably paid a little more than they would in the comedy club. But you are also getting four headliners, instead of one. I think it all works hand-in-hand. One hand feeds the other. It is not like you like one better than the other it is just… With movies and TV, it builds your fan base a lot faster than hitting the road. That is really what, in the end, dictates how many people pay to see you.
MAS – I saw Think Like a Man and loved you in it, you were hilarious. When I saw that all you guys were back together to make Think Like a Man Too, I was like “cool”.
Gary Owen – The sequel, we filmed it all last summer in Vegas. I think it is coming out June 20, that’s the tentative release date. In the sequel, you get to meet my wife, finally. A lot of people have been asking about that. My wife is Wendi McLendon-Covey who is from Bridesmaids; she is on The Goldbergs right now. She also used to be on Reno! 911; that is who my wife is. Our chemistry, on set, is crazy; as a couple. You know, Bennett is kind of like the homebody and you wonder where he gets that from. It’s just funny to see… You are always curious to see what his home life is like, because he is always going home to his wife. You don’t really know what to expect. I don’t want to give too much away, but we are just a very funny couple.
MAS – In doing some looking at it on IMDB, I was scrolling through the cast list and it looks like this has quite the cast assembled. This could be one of those “sleeper” movies of the year.
Gary Owen – The thing about it is, if you get a summer release as a comedy the studio is thinking two things. Either they are very unhappy with it or they have huge expectations. For them to give us a summer release; that’s when all the blockbusters come out; they are expecting big things from the movie. I’m excited, I can’t wait. Every day we came on set you had no idea who was going to be there. There are some cast members that are not announced that I’m not allowed to say, they are under wraps.
MAS – I get that feeling, Ndamukong Suh, lineman from the Detroit Lions and running back Steven Jackson makes an appearance. That is a little interesting.
Gary Owen – There is a lot more of that, and not just in football. There is some huge entertainers, let me put it that way.
MAS – You have another movie out, Ride Along. Tell me about that one.
Gary Owen – Kevin is gonna get engaged to Ice Cube’s sister. Ice Cube goes, “You wanna be a cop, I’m gonna take you on a ride along”. It’s like a play on Training Day, with Denzel and Ethan Hawke. It’s like a comedic version of it. So he takes him on a ride along and shows him all these scenarios during the day. Basically, what happens is I have a grocery store held hostage and Ice Cube tells Kevin, “You need to go arrest this guy. This guy doesn’t have a gun, you can handle this one.” Kevin doesn’t handle me very well. To anybody that doesn’t like Kevin Hart, you are going to enjoy my character; I beat the shit out of him.
MAS – You know, comedy seems to go in cycles. Ten years ago, Chappelle was the thing, before that you had Jeff Foxworthy as the thing. Today, guys like Kevin Hart are becoming the thing. That cycle seems to keep comedy getting better and better and more dynamic. Do you think you would be as successful as you are now, 10-15 years ago?
Gary Owen – Here’s the thing about this business, you never know when your number gets called. Just have to be ready. That is what I tell comics, be ready. What I always tell up and coming comics, the best way to make it in this business as an up and coming comic is be on time for the show and do your time while you are that show. Which means, if you are scheduled to do 15 minutes, do 15. Don’t do 25 or 30, do 15. Then the other comics will be like, “Oh ok, you know, I wanna work with him. He does what he’s told.”
You had the Kings of Comedy there for a minute. It went from them to Mike Epps. You know Mike Epps has really sustained for the last 10 years. It kinda went Chappelle and then Katt for a second and then now it is Kevin, probably. You just never know. I’m being funny of course, but it’s like an email goes out to the country saying “this is who we’re going to go see now.” Some unknown email gets sent to everyone in the country, “Alright, this is the comic right now, this is who we are all going to go see.”
MAS – In your touring history, you have obviously been through North Carolina before. Where all have you been?
Gary Owen – I’ve been to Charlotte, to the BoJangles Arena. I’ve done that a few times. Me and Mike Epps were on tour last year, so we hit every major market. Raleigh, obviously I have done Charlie Goodnight’s numerous times. I’ve done all the colleges in Raleigh, every single one. I think I’ve done the two-year school; I’ve done some many schools in Raleigh. The Shaq tour came there a year and a half ago. I like Raleigh; I like it a lot. It’s a clean city.
MAS – As far as the crowds go from city to city how do your audiences change or are they pretty consistent everywhere you go.
Gary Owen – Well I make the joke that I have to be the only comic in the history of comedy that has to crossover into my own race. Black people know me; it’s the white people that are finally getting to know me now. It’s funny, at the airport or malls when black people see me and they ask for a picture, you see the white people going, “well who is it?”
MAS – That’s something else too about you that I think is truly funny. Watching your standup, I’m watching the audience go nuts laughing. Then they will do the camera shots of the one or two white guys in the audience that are afraid to laugh. They are like, “He can get away with, but can I get away with that?”
Gary Owen – I don’t think that it is they are afraid to laugh, I think they are in shock that the crowd is in such hysterics over a white dude. They are like, “I never thought I’d see this.” A lot of the time, if you look at the crowd, the white guys or white girls are looking at the audience members. They are like “Whoa!” It’s almost like seeing a Johnny Manziel play or seeing a white guy win a 100 meter dash at the Olympics. You are not expecting it, so when you see it you are like, “Whoa, did I just see that?”
It is changing, especially over the last year. A lot of it can be attributed to Think Like a Man and me being on Netflix. Now they are getting familiar with me. Now you are getting lots of people paying to see me and they don’t care who else is out there. In the past the black people were paying to see me and the white people might be coming just to see a comedy show just to go to get a night out.
MAS – Every comedian is good for a stinker or two during their careers, you haven’t had one yet. How have you kept you material at such a high quality?
Gary Owen – It’s odd; I don’t have a lot of joke jokes like with setups, middles and punchlines. A lot of them have just been stories about my life. Honestly, my act is my life on HGH and steroids. It is really my life; I am just adding stuff into it to be funnier.
That’s why it is always important to hit the comedy clubs because that’s where you really work out your material. There’s jokes like my Black and White Church joke, when I first wrote that joke it was a one-liner that I used on a Sunday night where I said, “Glad you guys made it out of church because I barely made it here.” The crowd went into hysterics and I was like ‘whoa, there is something here’. I took down a note that just said, “Black Church.” Let me keep working on this.
Something else about that joke in particular. People would want me to do that joke and I don’t really do it anymore. So what I did was, in my newest hour special, which we filmed back in November in Atlanta, I’m gonna open that special with the church skit. Like I really turned the joke into a skit now, it’s going to be me going into the black church; you see me reacting. I did it at a real black church and I hired real church members; I didn’t hire actors and actresses. It came out so funny; I can’t wait for everybody to see it.
MAS – I know it is a really old joke too, but your “Boy Bands” routine… It has the funny words, but then the physicality that you put into it just put it over the top. You would do very well in an improv type thing.
Gary Owen – A lot of times I do that. A lot of times when I am at The Improv or Funny Bones I will close my show and just say, “What do you guys want to talk about?” I’ll get jokes out of that as folks yell stuff out. It’ not me attacking the audience, it’s me having fun with them.
MAS – One of my buddies sent me a YouTube clip of you handling some heckler named “Dusty”…
Gary Owen – Aww crap, yeah!
There’s some backstory to that. I was getting ready to do the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I live in Cincinnati, so I drove up to the Dayton Funny Bone because I wanted to work on my 5 minute set. It was open-mic night, so they were going to have me close the show.
So this guy, named Dusty, had heckled all the open-micers and they were getting ready to kick him out. I said, “Don’t kick him out, put me up next. Don’t kick him out, I’ll handle him.” So I was standing up for the young guys that couldn’t. So they put me up about half-way through the show instead of closing it and that’s when I just attacked the dude; he ended up leaving. They only showed about 5 minutes on YouTube, I went at him for about 45. He was done.
It’s funny, there was only about 100 people in Dayton Funny Bone that night but you would think there was thousands. I get it all the time, “Dude, I saw you handle Dusty” and I’m like, “No you didn’t there was like 100 people in the room that night.”
MAS – I admit, it was on YouTube for me because I don’t live anywhere near there… When you broke out “The Whistle” joke on him…
Gary Owen – <Laughing Hard> I don’t know where that came from. I hadn’t told that joke before and I haven’t old it since.
MAS – You were in the Navy and decided to pursue comedy afterwards. You won Funniest Black Comedian in San Diego. I think that is hilarious on its own. You were the one and only white guy to ever host BET’s Comic View. What do you attribute that crossover success to? It can’t just be because of being in an inter-racial relationship; I’ve done that and got nowhere near the level of acceptance you have.
Gary Owen – Dave Chappelle said it a long time ago that most comics start comedy because they have always wanted to do it, and they want to try it. Before you start thinking about it as a business or money. Another reason comics go into comedy is to pick up girls, you find out girls like you.
For some reason, I don’t know what it is, I always liked black girls. I don’t know why. I always say it was like being gay. Gay guys know they are gay but they don’t want to come out the closet because they are scared of the backlash they will get. It was the same way with me growing up. I was like, “I really find black girls attractive” but I don’t want to say anything because it wasn’t always cool.
The reason that I am accepted, and white, is because I am the same guy onstage and off. I’m not a character onstage; my pants aren’t sagging I’m not using black lingo to get the jokes across. When I first got on scene some black comics were kind of standoffish because they were like, “Let me see what he’s about.” Since then, I’ve been accepted in the black community, especially with black comics, because, “Ok, he’s being genuine with this stuff. He’s really married to a black girl; he really does have mixed kids.”
I think a lot of times when the only black comedy you know is the Apollo or Def Jam you don’t give black audiences enough credit. With me, I’m just myself and that’s all they have wanted. They don’t want you to be a character, just be yourself.
I think a lot of white comics don’t take that chance with black audiences; they don’t market themselves toward it. Just because of that fact, “I don’t want to get booed.”
There are several different ways that you can approach comedy and be successful. We have all see performers that do hilarious impressions like Frank Caliendo. We have truly successful ventriloquists like Jeff Dunham. There is also the tried and true method of finding a societal subject or stereotype to focus in on like Jeff Foxworthy and so many others have done to create a routine.
One of the less often used methods to find a laugh is the style that is used by Myq Kaplan. When you listen to Myq perform, it is almost better if you are able to NOT laugh at his jokes. He delivers one-liner after one-liner in such fast succession; you will often miss a follow-up joke because you are still laughing a previous joke. I would describe his style as automatic rifle comedy; once the trigger is pulled you no longer have control of the number jokes you are going to get.
During our conversation, I tried to pin Myq down to learn how he developed his routine. What I got was very enlightening; from Myq, “Stylistically, in the beginning it was just a joke then another joke, a joke, see if it works, another joke see if it works. A few years later I had chunks of jokes that were still one line things. But now here were all the lines I had about being a vegetarian. Here are all the lines I have about certain movies, TV shows, books, relationships, sex, religion, or whatever; so, little topic chunks started forming.”
Every comedian has jokes that don’t always work, when Myq talked about his experience with dud jokes, he showed me how is used it to get better. “It is possible that it was out of insecurity, initially, that I wasn’t comfortable with the silence. It would often accompany a joke not working so, ‘Oh there is silence there; move on to the next joke, move on to the next one. When the jokes started working a lot I still had that ‘Oh that jokes over, move on to the next one’. I was packing more punch lines in the setups.”
As we continued to talk about his development Myq let me in on some not-so -secret, secrets of comedy as it relates to joke writing and connecting with the audience,“When most people start out doing comedy, if you know anything at all, you know that, probably, you are not good at it or are not going to be any good at it for a while… I never wanted to just write something that an audience would like, I wanted to write something that I enjoy and see what the audience likes.” He continued, “In the beginning it was more passive like ‘is this funny’ and then see if they said yes. Now it’s more, ‘this IS funny’. Over the course of time, I gained more confidence in some of the jokes by sheer volume. Some of them started working more than others.”
As Myq continues to talk, I learned that he really is machine-like with his comedy, “I don’t necessarily use that information to craft new things, but I get more confidence in myself and in those jokes in general and become a better performer. I can then go back and those jokes that didn’t work in the past, I do actually like them and now I am a better comedian and can use them better.”
Myq succinctly sums up his style in saying, “What I have done is not necessarily actively to pursue anything specific other than to talk about what I think is funny.”
This weekend, we have the opportunity to see this unique comedy style in person at Goodnight’s Comedy Club in Raleigh. Myq Kaplan will be performing a series of 4 shows on Friday and Saturday night. Be sure you take this chance to see a truly unique comedian.
In doing what I do for this website, I get to talk to people from all types of backgrounds. I have talked to drug dealers, gang bangers, self-proclaimed company men and a good number of people that should probably be checked by a doctor. When I get to talk to someone that is honest, genuine and truly authentic I really take notice of how lucky I am.
In my recent conversation with Corey Smith, I got reminded of that luck/blessing in a large way. The time I spent talking with him felt like I was having a conversation with an old friend from back home that I hadn’t seen in a while . He is an example of what a true southern man should sound like.
Corey is about to start a tour with Darius Rucker and the Eli Young Band. That tour is going to be stopping for a show at the Crown Center in Fayetteville on April 18th.
MAS – In reading your bio, you have an interesting backstory. You decided to “go pro” with music a little later in life. Before deciding to make your way through music, on a full time basis, you were a high school Social Studies teacher right? Tell me about the decision to leave a “sure thing” job and paycheck to take on the world of music.
Corey Smith – I wouldn’t have done it if the numbers didn’t match up, I guess. I’m not a big risk taker; I’m not a big gambler. It took me a few years to make that decision. Looking back on it, I could have made it a little earlier. I had to look at the finances; I was married, had a mortgage and we had already had our first kid, so it was a scary thought.
Corey Smith – By the time I could make that decision the crowds at the shows had grown so much, it really wasn’t that risky. I had it figured out… I knew I had to play a certain number of shows each month and gross a certain amount and I would be doing better than I was teaching and those numbers added up very quickly. I was just blessed that the fan base was already there, I owe it to them.
MAS – Even before you left teaching to pursue music full time, you were releasing good music. You are now on your 8th album since the early 2000s. Tell me a little bit about your creative process. What are your influences in your musical writing style?
Corey Smith – I think that since I had decided to become a teacher I didn’t think about music in terms as a way to make a living. It wasn’t a means to an end. I wasn’t writing songs because I thought they would be hit songs or anything like that. I was writing because I thought they were cool, it was what I liked to do with my spare time. It was fun. It was nice when my friends got together, break out some songs and get feedback. It is just what it was.
Corey Smith – I’ve tried to maintain that approach through all of this. I write from heart and not look at the art as a means to an end. The making of the art is what it is all about. From the writing standpoint, I hope that nothing has changed. I am really trying to stay focused on that same method.
Corey Smith – Making the albums has certainly changed. Early on with the albums, I was very pragmatic. I only had so much money and I only had so much time I could spend in the studio. To me, what was the most important was getting the song down; getting decent guitar and vocals. If I could get decent guitar and vocals and people could understand the song. It was about the fundamentals.
Corey Smith – So my first few records, that is mostly what it was. It was mostly acoustic and vocals. If I had time, and money left over, I would bring in the other instrumentation. Depending on how much extra time or extra money I had in the studio. That is why the records sounded the way they do. There was no pre-production, none whatsoever, it was all living within my means.
Corey Smith – Now, I have been blessed. I look at it like I have the responsibility to the fans to reinvest the money they give to me in record sales and tickets sales to make better and better records that they can be happy with as well. So that is where I am with this 9th record. Now I am in a place where I actually have the type of budget a major release would have.
Corey Smith – It is a lot more pressure, because there is so much more on the line. There are a lot more factors now. What I am getting at, I hope that the writing hasn’t changed but the production process of making the records is what has changed.
MAS – I know for the 9th album you actually brought in a producer for the first time. The first few, you did yourself and now you have brought in Keith Stegall, to help you out. How is that process working out, actually using a producer?
Corey Smith – In the past, I have worked with co-producers. All the decisions were up to me and I was still involved in the process. Working with Keith has taken a lot of the pressure off of me. I can focus on writing and performances and getting in and recording the best performances. I am turning over the reins to people who have a whole lot more experience and credibility than I do in the studio when it comes to the editing and the mixing. The final product has been a whole lot easier on me.
MAS – With the album that you and Keith are working on, where are you at in the process?
Corey Smith – Everything is tracked, I believe. I have already got more than enough stuff recorded. I am in the later stages of whittling it all down. Which songs do I think will make the final cut? Doing the final mixes and figuring out how to get it out. If I want I do it on my own, like I have for most of my other records, or if I want to find a partner. Now that the budget is so much bigger, there is a lot more at stake. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of the way I used to do things.
MAS – I recently spoke with an up and coming hip-hop artist that is taking the same route that you have in doing things on his own, his way. Not relying on major label distribution and going the direct digital route. That actually has potential to be “the way” going forward.
Corey Smith – A lot of that depends on … economy of scale I guess. Once you spend a certain amount on a record you are not going to recoup the money unless you are going to have the types of records on a national level. All of my other records, except for the very last one, I have been able to turn a profit on very quickly because I made them at such a low cost. My fans bought it and I didn’t have to spend a lot of money promoting it on a radio campaign or anything like that.
Corey Smith – Whereas the records are more and more expensive now, all the sudden, you need that promotional push. Sadly, that process can really water down the product. Then the whole record becomes about the promotion. It becomes about getting it on the radio to be advertised. Therefore it all starts sounding like a commercial.
Corey Smith – Unfortunately, I think that is what a lot of popular Country has turned into. It is a bunch of commercials to advertise the artist. There is not a lot of artistic integrity there. I hate to generalize too much, but I have been wary of crossing that line. I feel like I am well short of that line. It goes back to what I was saying before, continuing to write from the same place that I have always written from. That is, sort of, my guiding light.
MAS – In the bio that your publicist sent over, it mentions that you strive to represent what it is to really live the rural lifestyle. There is a quote from you, “Country music is all those things that art is supposed to be. It’s populist, it’s infectious and, most importantly, it’s about people.” “So country music should be about artists holding a mirror back to themselves to reflect what they’re experiencing in their own little towns.” In music today, authenticity like that is pretty hard to come by. With Country music today all about promoting the artist, why did you choose to pursue music in that way?
Corey Smith – I feel like I owe it to my fans, first of all. I think that the reason that I have fans is that see me as an alternative to the stuff that is out there. I owe it to my family and my community to be honest. I am not going to give in to the temptation of sacrificing art to get popularity.
Corey Smith – Maybe it is the social studies teacher in me, but part of me is disturbed by the image that popular country music perpetuates about people who live in small towns. I don’t live in that. I am still in the same little town that I grew up in. I can tell you right now, we don’t ride around in trucks every weekend and drink moonshine with girls out in the country. There maybe a few people that do that, but I don’t.
Corey Smith – There is a lot more to our lives than that. We are people that are working to survive and raise our families and trying to teach them the values that made us who we are. As the city sprawls out, things change so rapidly we really lose touch with the heritage that makes us who we are. My grandfather, who just passed away, was my link to what this place used to be like. He grew up a barefoot farmer. These are the things that we deal with. This is what it is like in these small towns.
Corey Smith – I don’t like the fact that the music that is supposed to represent us only perpetuates the negative stereotypes of who we are. We are not stupid. We are not ignorant. There is a lot more to us than back roads, trucks and drinking moonshine.
MAS – The single that you have out now “Ain’t Going Out Tonight” is off of that new album and it has a very grown-up theme to it. Does the theme of that song play into your life as it is now? Are you at the point in your life where you are ready to shun the party life and just curl up at home with the wife?
Corey Smith – Not all together, making music is certainly a party, it is certainly fun to get out there. I think I was just capturing a certain mood. I think that is what songs really are, taking a snapshot of a certain mental state. That day I was sitting on the front porch, it was a Friday night and we had decided not to go out because I had been out on the road and was tired. It made me think of that time period when you first start settling down, when you have to make that choice for the first time. The idea of the song just hit me and I ran with it.
Corey Smith – When I look back on it, there are a lot of different meanings to me. On one hand, I was thinking about how… When we focus on what is the most important to us and sacrifice things that are getting in the way of what is most important to us, even though they may be fun. That’s when we grow, that’s what growing is. I was even thinking of my own career. I have been through so many changes in the last year. You have to make tough choices and that is what it is all about. Short term sacrifices lead to long term gain. I think that is what this song is really about.
MAS – You are going to be at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC on April 18th With Darius Rucker and the Eli Young Band. Are we going to be hearing any additional tracks from the new album?
Corey Smith – I’m not sure yet; not a lot from the new album because it probably won’t be released by that point. Probably some of my older songs. I am really excited for the dates with Darrius and Eli Young. I haven’t really done a lot of shows like that. We are going to have to play it by ear.
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