by Nathan Alexander
Sean Smith will be headlining Laughs at Mellwood this Thursday, April 18th! Get your tickets here. Sean will be joined by Neriah Romero, Maggie Kaleher, and Nashville comedian Miriam Kirk.
Sean Smith is a stand-up comedian born, raised, and living in Louisville, KY. He has been performing in bars, clubs and colleges since 2006, performing mostly observational and personal material. Along the way, he performed with some of the nations more talented acts, including Ryan Niemiller, Jay Pharoah, Erin Jackson, and Nick Cannon.
Sean was kind enough to answer some questions for Louisville Laughs.
Louisville Laughs: How long have you been doing stand-up? What is unique about performing in Louisville?
Sean Smith: “I started doing comedy in 2005 so 19 years. That sounds ridiculous, but true. I didn’t really start doing it regularly until 2006, so 18-19 years.
I love my city, It’s been fun to watch the changes in comedy throughout the years. When I started there was one club (Comedy Caravan), and people could still smoke indoors at that time. To go from a time where the entire comedy community HAD to come through one door to practice, to where we are now with three (maybe four if 4th Street feels like participating) clubs and multiple venues for performance has been a really fun ride. Louisville is also close to a bunch of great clubs in Bloomington, Lexington, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Nashville. Having so many places to perform allows for people to get better faster. Especially since stage time is a major factor in improvement.”
Louisville Laughs: Did you always know you were funny? Were you the “class clown” growing up?
Sean Smith: “I knew I was funny, but I never thought there was anything special about it. Growing up, I thought everyone was funny. My family is funny and really values humor. My Aunt Dianne did comedy and my Cousin Dawne Gee did shows with Sinbad vefore working in radio and TV. My friend group has always been really funny too. I don’t even think I’ve ever been the funniest person in my crew. I was just the one that liked to perform in front of people.
I definitely clowned in class, but I don’t know if I would be considered a class clown. I was really quiet in high school. I actually really liked to learn in class! I’d have some one-liners here and there and I’d laugh with my friends, but that’s about it. I didn’t really come out of my shell until about my junior year of high school when I got tired of being the “nice quiet kid” and decided I too had something to say. I hosted my high school talent show my senior year and I’ve been connected to the stage ever since.”
Louisville Laughs: What is your goal with a stand-up set? What do you want the audience to take away from the Sean Smith Experience?
Sean Smith: “My goal for myself is to trust my gut and use all of my learned skills to make people laugh. That includes not being afraid to try new jokes even if I feel pressure on me to perform as a “headliner” should perform. I want to perform to the height of my abilities on that current date and at that time and just have fun with some strangers. If I’m headlining, I’m bringing jokes, characters, music, and sometimes even a multimedia element to the show. I want to stand out and be remembered.
My goal for the audience is to stand out as something different than what they’ve seen before and make people laugh and feel good. If I get off the stage and an audience doesn’t feel anything about me or themselves one way or another, I’ve failed. I want to make fans of my work. That people can see me and have a favorite joke or song still blows me away. That connection is what I aim for with every show.”
Louisville Laughs: In addition to stand-up, you’re also an actor and can be seen in the Tubi series Hell of a Mother-in-Law. Do you find that your acting and stand-up inform each other?
Sean Smith: “They do inform each other, but they are also very different. I heard Kim Vaughn (local comedian) say it best. Being a stand-up is finding out what you think is funny and figuring it out so that people can understand it. Acting, specifically comedic acting, is figuring out how to make someone else’s words funny. It uses a lot of the same muscles, but it is different.”
Louisville Laughs: What’s a piece of advice you’ve been given that has made a difference in how you approach your art?
Sean Smith: “Stay present in your jokes. It’s easy to just ramble off words. Especially if you’ve said them 1000 times before. But remember, your words should have an emotion behind them and those emotions are where the jokes exist. Use your voice, your body, and the whole stage to express what’s happening in the joke.”
Louisville Laughs: Do you have a comedy horror story you’re willing to share?
Sean Smith: “I actually do have a video of it that translates to this form of interview:
Louisville Laughs: What has been your comedy highlight so far?
Sean Smith: “I think it’s soon coming. I’m working with a collective of talent from Kentucky known as Afrolachia and I think we are about to make something incredible. We feature some of the top comedians in Kentucky all in one spot. I think our aim of success with comedy in Kentucky has been way too low for the amount of talent we have. So many people are trying to be the best in the city or the state. Let me say clearly…. there is NOTHING wrong with that. But, you could be the best anywhere you step on stage if that’s who you want to be. The one problem I see in Louisville is that we are terrible collaborators. Too many people feel like they have to “get it out the mud” and do it on their own. The reality is, every comedian you’ve ever loved has shined because they are part of a collective. Everyone has a team around them. They might not all be comedians, but they’re not by themselves. Afrolachia is trying to change that success dynamic. We’re trying to collaborate and bring success home instead of having to chase it elsewhere. I’m really excited with what we are about to do.”
Don’t miss Sean Smith at this Thursday, April 18th! Get your tickets here. Come early for The Mellwood Tavern’s award winning fried chicken dinner before the show.
Follow Sean on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can watch Sean in Hell of a Mother-in-Law now streaming on Tubi.
Follow Afrolachia on Instagram!
Great interview!