Graham Kay is a comedian who grew up in Ottawa, Canada, and currently lives and performs in New York City.
Quirky, self-deprecating and sarcastic, Graham has three comedy albums out, which you can hear on Sirius XM radio. He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Show with Steven Colbert and NBC’s Bring The Funny. He also has a podcast talking about his autistic brother.
Graham will be in Louisville this week headlining at Planet of the Tapes on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 12 and 13, at 8 p.m. Tickets are available here.
Graham took the time to answer 5 Questions from Louisville Laughs.
Louisville Laughs: You and Kirk Smith host a podcast — Autastic: A Comedian’s Guide to Autism. Neither of you is autistic, but you have a brother who is autistic and he has an autistic son. How did that podcast come about, and how is it received?
Graham Kay: We met while both living in LA and doing comedy. A mutual friend introduced us saying we both had autism in our life. Kirk came up with the idea to do a podcast and I was hesitant. How many podcasts can you do about autism?
It turns out 270 and still counting. People really love hearing about autism. Turns out this disability is HUGE! Lucky us!
You tell a story about accidentally painting the wrong house as a new house painter when you were a teenager. Is that true? If so, did that seem funny at the time?
It’s true and we were really scared about going to jail and losing our jobs. Turns out we only lost our jobs, and the summer was almost over so it was OK. I’m old enough now that I’m pretty sure the statute of limitations has passed and I won’t go to jail.
What is your comedy horror story?
I once got beat up by a group of bandits in Marrakesh. I was able to escape but my opener was beaten until dead. I heard word from our guide Tic Tac that his severed head was used as a trophy. Poor Brian 🙁
You have a clip from an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with pants way too short and Hawaiian shirt with a jacket. Was it awkward showing up that way for a national TV appearance?
I’m sorry I wasn’t dressed in duck hunting gear or whatever you country rubes wear.
Your first national TV appearance was on The Last Show with Stephen Colbert. What was that like?
Good.
Follow Graham on Twitter, Instagram , YouTube and Facebook
You can find more of Graham’s videos here.
