Author: njalex02

Q&A with Louisville’s June Dempsey and Lucious Williams

Comedians June Dempsey and Lucious Williams answer questions for Louisville Laughs.

By Nathan Alexander

June Dempsey and Lucious Williams are co-headlining Good Standup Comedy in Louisville this Wednesday, August 7th! The Louisville natives are some of the regions most exciting rising stars and they’ll be at Whirling Tiger for one night only. They will be joined by Cali Botkin, Nathan Alexander, and hosted by Dan Alten.

June Dempsey is a stand up comic from Louisville. They have opened for Nimesh Patel, Geoffrey Asmus, and Sam Tallent. They’ve been a part of the Midwest Queer Festival, Middleground Festival and was named “Best of the Fest” in the Rubber City Comedy Festival as well as “Best Writer” in the Cleveland Comedy Festival. You can find them growing tomatoes in their backyard.

Lucious Williams is also from Louisville. He travels all across the country doing shows and has opened for Eddie Pepitone and Sean Patton. When Lucious is not on stage, you can find him at the slaughterhouse working or playing video games.

June and Lucious were kind enough to answer some questions for Louisville Laughs.

Louisville Laughs: Where and when did you start comedy? How has your style evolved since you started?

Lucious Williams: “I started at The Caravan Comedy Club in Louisville, KY. My style has evolved from someone who couldn’t tell a joke to someone who tells pretty good stories now.”

June Dempsey: “I started January 2017 at Kaiju and The Bard’s Town mostly. I went to a show that was promoted in the LEO as being queer and it had Reed Sedgwick on the cover. After the show, there was an open mic. It was at Kaiju and it was a packed room. I happened to be standing next to the list and an older woman was next to me and asked if there were any women on the list. I looked at the names and based on names there were not. She told me I should go up, and I obeyed my elder. Now I do not listen to people older than me – that is how my style has evolved.”

Lucious Williams performing at Planet of the Tapes in Louisville.

Louisville Laughs: What do you love about comedy?

Lucious Williams: “I love everything about comedy: the grind, bombing, the rush I get from performing.”

June Dempsey: “I like that there’s a community around it. I appreciate that there are people who value and strive to be the funniest they can be and put on the funniest shows they can. It is fun to be in a community with people who are working on bettering their art. I also like that I have a reason to go to a bar and not be awkward- if I didn’t have that, I would stay home all the time. I also like watching specials. I like discussing them with other comics, and people who go to comedy who are willing to actually get into what they like and don’t like.”

June Dempsey performing on a Don’t Tell Comedy show.

Louisville Laughs: Who are your favorite comedians and why?

Lucious Williams: “Earthquake because of the way he puts his jokes together and the rapid fire style of his jokes.”

June Dempsey: “Jo Firestone, she’s a true Midwest weirdo who really goes for it. I like lowkey weirdos. Her joke “Liquid Telephone” is my favorite. Michelle Wolf- I love how effortless her jokes come off, and how she combines her sharp view of the world with silliness. Mandal from Atlanta has been the most fun comic to watch live, he plays with the audience and riffs brilliantly. Brad Wenzel always brings the tightest hour of classic jokes every time I see him. Gavin Matts’s delivery and pacing is my favorite. I haven’t seen Ali Siddiq live yet, but his Domino Effect hours are, to me, the best specials coming out now. Paula Poundstone is the best at interacting with a crowd and I wish she had more specials out. Josh Johnson has been very fun to watch, especially how he’s evolved in his approach to clips/content and how he’s been able to adapt an approach to topical and political jokes for today. Atsuko Okatsuka is another lowkey weirdo whom I love. The structure of her last hour “The Intruder” is so impressive to me. Eagle Witt has my favorite Don’t Tell set.

My girlfriend’s favorite comedian is Katt Williams. She’s a dramatic. “

Louisville Laughs: This one’s just for Lucious. What makes you and your comedy different?

Lucious Williams: “My different experiences in life and the different adjustments I’ve had to make on the journey.”

Louisville Laughs: This one’s for June. In addition to standup, you also run Unhinged Louisville, which hosts game nights, speed dating, friend mixers, and bingo with a comedic, zany twist. What gave you this idea to insert comedy into other types of events and shows?

June Dempsey: “When I started comedy in Louisville, we had a much larger alt and weirdo scene. Greg Welsh used to run a show every Tuesday called “Kaijuesdays,” which was a different weird show every week. It included the still running Thunderdome, but also a storytelling show called “The Mothra” and a slideshow-based show called “Zed Talks” among others. This was my favorite part of comedy when I started, and nothing has really taken its place – a truly lowkey spot where comics can try out weird shows with very little stakes and money doesn’t matter at all. Jo Firestone is also an influence here. I listened to her talk about one of her weird shows where everyone had to hold onto the mic stand, and the last person holding onto the mic stand won. Apparently it got very competitive and went into the wee hours of the morning, and the winner used trickery to get the other person to take their hand off the mic stand. This is what I want from comedy: a competitive environment of weirdos who really want to win, but the prize is nothing (or a drawing of a bird).”

You can catch June Dempsey and Lucious Williams at Whirling Tiger on August 7th. Get your tickets here!

Follow June and Lucious on their social media pages for more opportunities to see them live!

Q&A with Louisville Comedian Sean Smith

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!

Q&A with Louisville comic Dan Alten

By Nathan Alexander

Dan Alten, a Louisville favorite, has released two stand-up comedy albums and headlined shows in 27 states. He will be headlining Planet of the Tapes Feb. 23-24.

Dan will be joined by feature comedian Cali Botkin and host Ali Gautier.

Get your tickets here.

Dan was kind enough to answer some questions for Louisville Laughs.

Louisville Laughs: How long have you been doing standup, and what made you decide to get on stage? 

Dan Alten: I started at the end of 2012 after graduating college with a degree in Journalism and Folklore and having no career prospects or dreams or goals or ambitions or hobbies outside of making folks laugh.

So I moved to Louisville with the hopes of learning how to be a comedy writer/journalist/comedian, and because I’m a lazy procrastinator I got into stand up, because signing your name up for a mic forces a deadline on you, whereas there’s endless time to keep tweaking the next great American comedic novel. Was that last sentence too long?

Did you have any performance experience before comedy? 

Dan Alten: I was a college radio DJ for 4 years and a general comedic relief around town, hosting various events and doing various duties and being a drunken clown. In high school I ‘coached’ my friends’ indoor soccer team called the Lava Tigers and I was essentially just a cheerleader goofball who got to interact with the overly serious opposing teams coaches at the coin toss.

When I did fake high school Congress I would introduce bills about how we should claim the moon as a National Park and protect it from future developers so as to not make the moon less romantic for evening walks. Stuff like that.

You tour all over the country in comedy clubs as well as record stores, basements, bars, train museums, etc. What do you like about headlining Planet of the Tapes specifically? 

Dan Alten: Planet of the Tapes is great because the audience is made up of comedy fans. When you have a big 200+ club it’s hard to get 200+ comedy nerds in there every night, but when it’s 60 comedy nerds you can get more wild with folks’ imaginations and take more chances. It’s intimate but still big enough where it feels special. I love it. It’s a great room for riffing.

Also nice parking and the bartenders (Adam & Katie) rock.

You produce a monthly show at Kaiju called Good Standup Comedy with Dan Alten where you showcase fellow Louisville comedians. What do you like about the Louisville comedy scene? And what do you see as an opportunity for improvement? 

Dan Alten: We have a lot of good folks at a lot of different levels so it’s very easy to put together a nice lil lineup of comics who can deliver a hot 5, 7, 11, and 15 minutes, and it’s great because I think it gives newer folks a thing to work towards.

In some ways Louisville is the wild west in that we have clubs, but no one really guides the newer comics and there isn’t a logical ladder of progress. It’s a very DIY scene, which is good in many ways and allows folks like me to develop unique styles and learn how to start our own shows and get our hands dirty for better or worse.

But it also makes it harder to give younger comics the necessary advice (and have them actually hear it) when you’re not the booker of a big corporate club with a nice carrot to dangle.

What are your favorite standup specials? 

Dan Alten: I really like Me Doing Stand Up by Norm Macdonald and Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle (and that Dane Cook one where he’s showing off his muscles).

Do you have a comedy horror story you’re willing to share? 

Dan Alten: One time [in a state where this anecdote is legal] 5 minutes before going onstage an opener offered me a blunt of marijuana. I normally smoke when in states where it is legal, so this was no issue. However, I rarely smoke blunts and never smoke tobacco, so I did not realize that a blunt is wrapped in tobacco leaves and I now had basically tooken a big ole deep lung rip off a cigarette.

I instantly ran off to “get ready,” which was actually me puking in the bushes out of sight of the opener so as to not make them think I wasn’t cool. I then ran onstage with a wild tobacco head rush and having just thrown up for 2 minutes, and without even having time to do my stretches!

Had a good 35 minute set. Then threw up again while going out to my car to grab merch. That time I was seen by an audience member. That audience member did not end up following me on Instagram or buying a shirt.

You have a very unique and specific energy on stage. You seem to really feed off the room and bring the audience in to be your sparring partner. How has your relationship with the audience evolved over the years? 

Dan Alten: I’m afraid all my jokes will bomb, and if the audience isn’t currently laughing they hate me, so it forced me to develop a very fast and fluid style so I don’t hear the crickets sharpening their pitchforks.

I’ve been doing stand up full time for over 6 years now and some of the money deals and venues I’ve played in the past have made me terrified of bombing, because if so, the Arkansas biker bar isn’t going to pay me, no one is going to buy a sticker, I’m not going to have gas money to get to the next gig, no one is going to let me sleep on their couch, and then my girlfriend will be mad when I get home and can’t pay rent.

My weird early hipster jokes wouldn’t always work so I’d need to find ways to get the job done under every circumstance, which made me a very malleable performer. My job is to pull the laughs outta the audience, and it’s easier to make someone laugh when you know them.

And as much as I don’t like crowd work in the sense of “What does everyone do for a living?” I do rely on the energy and specificities of the laughs to guide my performance.

And at the end of the day we’re all having a shared live experience, so as important as it might seem to get the words out in the exact order you wrote them in the notebook 6 months ago, the ability to mix it up is what makes the live element unique.

It’s like a jam band. I’ve got a repertoire of tunes but if the crowd does the wave I might play the next one in the style of surf rock. (or serf rock and its peasants complaining about the duke over cool guitar).”

Do you have a pre-show ritual? 

Dan Alten: I do my aforementioned stretches and I write out my lil setlist and in my head I sing either the theme to Ken Burn’s The West or the sample from Enigma’s Return to Innocence of the tribesman they didn’t pay (you know the one). I also have a playlist I listen to on shuffle while driving to the shows of music that gets me jazzed up and silly.

A thing I tend NOT to do pre-show is bring in my merch suitcase. I feel bringing your merch into a venue when you could hypothetically be boo’d off stage and need to escape is a bit presumptuous, and the 9/10 times your fear is unwarranted you can jog to the car to get your merch while singing ‘I love selling merch’ to the tune of I Love Rock N Roll and feel even cooler.

What do you hope to achieve in a standup show? What do you want the audience to take away from the Dan Alten experience? 

Dan Alten: My favorite compliment to hear after shows is folks telling me that watching my show felt like being on a really good psychedelic trip, which feels awesome considering I’m just talking and not playing guitar through a wah pedal with a laser show.

I genuinely just want people to have a good time and stretch out the fun part of their brain. The world can be quite harsh, and our thoughts can be even harsher. In my life I most appreciate the things that give me a break from that and let my mind have some fun.

A lot of comics have points or points of view that (they feel) are important and they use comedy to express them (which is great!), but what draws me to comedy is the sugar, not the medicine. Let someone else be your spinach, I wanna be your candy.

Don’t miss Dan Alten at Planet of the Tapes! Get your tickets here before they sell out!

You can find more Dan on his Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Listen to his podcast Funny Dinner and subscribe to the Patreon.

Q&A with Cincinnati’s Andrew Rudick

By Nathan Alexander

Andrew Rudick is a Cincinnati comedian and he’s coming to Planet of the Tapes this Friday, February 16th for one night only! You can get tickets here. He will be joined by Louisville favorites Lucious Williams and Annam Choudhry.

Andrew has appeared on Bob and Tom and can be heard on SiriusXM. He released his debut comedy album in 2021 titled A Well Behaved Young Man which neared the top of the Apple Music charts. He tours clubs all over the country and has been a featured performer in Brew Ha Ha Festival, Whiskey Bear Comedy Festival, Crossroads Comedy Festival, and Devil’s Cup Comedy Festival.

Andrew was kind enough to answer some questions for Louisville Laughs in the following short video.

https://videopress.com/v/vzKzDw6k?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&autoPlay=true&muted=true&persistVolume=false&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Don’t miss your chance to see Andrew Rudick at Planet of the Tapes on February 16th. Get your tickets here!

You can get more of Andrew on his YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Q&A with Louisville Laughs Founder Creig Ewing

By Nathan Alexander

If you are a fan of Louisville comedy, you’ve probably heard of Creig Ewing or attended one of the many shows he produces.

Creig works hard to showcase the pool of talent in Louisville, Nashville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Bloomington and beyond. Creig has brought standup comedy to venues all over the city and this Thursday, he will be headlining Laughs at Mellwood, a brand new, monthly standup comedy showcase at The Mellwood Tavern.

He will be joined by local favorites Ehrin Dowdle, Bonita Elery, and Alex Grove. Seating is limited so get your tickets here!

Creig was kind enough to answer some questions. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Louisville Laughs: When did you start comedy and why?

Creig Ewing: I’ve been doing it about 6 years. I started comedy when I was in my 50s. I always wanted to do it, but was told it was hard so I put it off. I was an English major in college and I wanted to write comedy papers, but I was discouraged by professors.

I had some friends who did standup, but I never had the guts. Then I just decided, “Hey I’m gonna try it. I’m gonna write things out and see if it works.”

Louisville Laughs: So at first you wanted to just write? Or was standup always the goal?

Creig Ewing: At first I wanted to write comedy, and I was the sports editor at The Courier Journal and we had this page where we’d have smaller fun items, so I’d throw some funny things in there about UofL or UK without being too mean. I thought, ‘Well if I can do this, I can figure out standup. No one has cancelled their newspaper subscription because of my stupid jokes so far.’

Then I started posting my own humor on Facebook and Twitter and people encouraged me to take the stage and try standup.

Louisville Laughs: When did you start Louisville Laughs? What made you want to start producing your own shows?

Creig Ewing: I started it after about one year doing standup I put on a show at a Holiday Inn, and it didn’t seem too hard. It was harder than it looked. The first show I actually said the wrong name for the very first comic.

After that I joined Tim Northern and others to put on a festival here, and we started the company Louisville Is Funny. Unfortunately, it didn’t survive COVID so after bars and clubs started opening back up, I decided to start Louisville Laughs on my own.

Louisville Laughs: How have your comedy goals evolved since you started?

Creig Ewing: When I started, I just wanted to get three laughs in my first five minute set. Then I wanted to be able to host, then feature, and now the goal is to headline. I’m really doing more producing and booking shows than I am focusing on my being on stage.

I’ve kind of unintentionally made that shift. With the shows I put on, I try to give people a shot that are newer, or in between hosting and featuring, or in between featuring and headlining and give them a chance to develop so they can get more opportunities.

Louisville Laughs: You’re clearly one of the hardest workers in Louisville comedy. You throw these shows to help young comics develop, but comics can be very annoying. My question is why do you work so hard to help these terrible people?

Creig Ewing: You must be reading my posts. I like helping them and I see myself in a lot of them. I didn’t know anything when I started, and I thought I was George Carlin, but you get humbled quickly. People just need to learn, so I want to give them the opportunity to do so.

What’s frustrating to me is I think confidence on stage is the main thing that a comic needs, and you see people who are really funny, but you wish they could be more confident. Then you see other people on stage and think, “Why is this person so confident? They’re not funny!”

Louisville Laughs: Who are some of the people that helped you out when you were getting started?

Creig Ewing: Tim Northern let me help out running festivals and things. Eric Kimbrough closed out the first show I was on, and he does things so differently than I would so he’s a great source to see what he does because comedy isn’t just one thing.

Melissa Doran used to be here in town and I really love her attitude. She’s got a certain Jersey spirit that’s really fun to watch on stage. And I’ve worked a lot with Mandee McKelvey. She’ll sometimes reach out to connect other comics with me and I always take her suggestions seriously.

Keith McGill and I now do classes together, and he is great help to comics. I still use several of the suggestions he had for my jokes. If Keith is at a show, ask him before you go up for feedback and he’ll give it to you.

Louisville Laughs: Is there a joke you wish you had written?

Creig Ewing: For me, it’s less about the writing, but there are some people who’s confidence and attitude I really admire. I’ve seen Keith McGill come on when the crowd is just not receptive and do great. I wish I had his ability to just get a crowd totally on your side.

Louisville Laughs: Do your friends and family find you funny or do you save it for the stage?

Creig Ewing: That was the criteria that made me decide I could give standup a try, when I could finally make them laugh. Because for 50 years they did not laugh. So at first I would work things past them, but now I make them laugh all the time.

Louisville Laughs: What’s a piece of advice that made a difference in your comedy career?

Creig Ewing: Just getting up there and doing it. I think that you see people who get good quickly, and they’re the people who are constantly on stage. There are good joke writers who maybe only get on stage once per month and they develop more slowly. Constantly edit, edit, edit your jokes. Don’t use words that don’t serve the joke and always work to make a joke better.

Louisville Laughs: What keeps you excited about comedy in Louisville?

Creig Ewing: I think we have a really strong scene. We have all different types of comics and it’s amazing to me that we have four comedy clubs for a city this size. We have The Caravan Comedy Club, Planet of the Tapes, Louisville Comedy Club, and Laugh Louisville.

Louisville Laughs: We also have comedy coming back to The Mellwood Tavern! Thursday, January 25th get your tickets here! Have you done standup at The Mellwood Tavern before?

Creig Ewing: Yes, we used to have a great open mic at The Mellwood Tavern. They have a terrific setup in the downstairs area for shows. We’d actually routinely get told to quiet down because the upstairs used to be apartments. Now they’ve renovated the space and it’s called the Rendezvous Room with it’s own bar and it looks like a great place for a show.

Louisville Laughs: What is your goal with a Creig Ewing show? What do you want the audience to take away from the Creig Ewing experience?

Creig Ewing: I want them to think, “Dang, that Creig sure is funny. And he had a new joke! I wasn’t expecting that.”

I want people to see that we put together a good lineup of funny and diverse comics. Not just the same people you’d see somewhere else in town. I take pride in having lineup of diverse funny people from all over and comics that they might not have seen before.

Get your tickets before it’s too late. Doors open at 6pm so come get some friend chicken and a drink and be ready to have a good time!

You can find Creig on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram!

Follow Louisville Laughs at their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all information on upcoming comedy shows in the city!

Follow Laughs at Mellwood for all the info on this exciting, new monthly showcase!

Q&A with Louisville’s Own Mandee McKelvey

By Nathan Alexander

Mandee McKelvey is headlining Planet of the Tapes for two shows this weekend. Indiana’s rising star, Tennah McDonald, will join Mandee as the feature act. Get your tickets here before they run out!

Mandee is truly one of the best comedians out there and has captured the hearts of audiences all over the country. She was recently named one of the 50 best undiscovered comics in the country by Thrillist magazine and has performed award-winning one-woman shows at festivals across the country.

Mandee has worked with juggernauts of the comedy world like Anthony Jeselnik, Whitney Cummings and Laurie Kilmartin. Earlier this year, she filmed her debut comedy special after being awarded a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.

Mandee was kind enough to answer some questions for Louisville Laughs.

Louisville Laughs: Did you always know you were funny? Were you the funny one in the friend group? How easily were you able to translate your sense of humor to the stage?

Mandee McKelvey: “I was never funny. I wasn’t a funny person. I was anxious and regimented and obsessive and quiet and very sensitive. Very hard to imagine why I wanted to be a standup, but I’ve always known I did. I just had zero proof to back up that desire. I had no idea how to translate my sense of humor to stage. I just felt like I had to, so I began the long process of trying to figure it out.

“I have grown much slower than most of my peers. I was always interesting, but I wasn’t reliably funny for 10 years. But I never questioned that I would one day figure it out. My little comedy career has really been about never giving up. The tortoise wins the race.”

LL: Did you get your start in Louisville? How has the Louisville scene and the Midwest in general influenced your comedy journey?

Mandee: “I did. My first open mic was on May 30, 2006, at The Comedy Caravan (now The Caravan).  That club was one of the gold standards, but I wasn’t ready for the “scene.” There were no other dedicated comedy venues in the city at that time. There was one open mic per month. 20 spots. 3 minutes each. 

“Every month I found myself the only girl. If another girl showed up for the mic, the guy comics would make jokes about us being in competition for the “girl spot.” A respected working comic saw me absolutely drowning in that environment and put me in contact with a fantastic weekly mic in Indianapolis and also one in Dayton. Once I started traveling and doing frequent mics I started to feel hopeful. A nice comic in Dayton gave me my first paid hosting gig.

“Being a midwestern road comic is a wonderful skill to develop. You are rarely performing in an echo chamber of like-minded people. You are often performing for people who have, at best, differing view points, and, at worst, deep disdain for you. 

“Learning how to make people who don’t like you laugh is such an incredible feeling. Lots of people are hilarious when you agree with them or when you have a lot in common. Laughing at someone you don’t like is magical. I feel like working the road without a name or a following has made me so confident in my skill. I never worry anymore.”

You have a unique style to your writing that keeps the audience laughing with joke-dense sets, while also allowing you to perform longer stories that have people on the edge of their seat. Is this always how you’ve approached comedy? Or has your style evolved over the years?

“LOL, yes, not by design but by necessity. I am such a long-winded storyteller and a lot of new comics get big criticism for stories with no punchlines. I was the same exact way when I started. But I also knew I was never gonna stop being like that so my challenge was always how to get laughs all throughout my stories.

“If it gets enough laughs throughout, I’ll use it for standup. If it has longer pauses of laughter in it but I really like it, I’ll take it to fringe shows and give it a theatrical twist.”

You shot your debut comedy special last month. Congratulations! What was that process like? How was it different from preparing for a regular headlining weekend at a comedy club?

“Thank you! I don’t think the two can compare. Working a club is kinda loosy goosy. You are trying to figure out your audience and draw on your experience to give them the best show possible. Filming a special is like, you better make sure that everything is structured and worded exactly the way you want it cause that’s how it’s gonna sound forever.

“I think it was very different from everything I’ve ever experienced because I had a producer, named Jessica, who was this driving force making it all happen. She saw my show, approached me about raising money to film it, raised the money, selected the crew, directed everything, planned the event, got the people there, and the list goes on.

“I don’t mean to be a negative person, but comedy has taught me to wait til the other shoe drops. People talk big but you never know who you can trust. So during this entire yearlong process, I kept waiting on it all to fall apart. I kept thinking that it could never possibly all work out. But I got my first look at some footage last night and I’m speechless.

“This woman actually captured my dream on film. It looks beautiful. It sounds beautiful. And I was my best self up there. I was up there in a room packed with friends and I was churning them for 90 minutes. No matter what happens in my life after this, I now have this little piece of art that only I could make and anyone who wants to see it … can.“

What’s a piece of advice you’ve been given that has made a difference in your comedy career?

“My favorite comic told me early on that I should never believe any of the criticism I get but that I should also never believe any of the praise. I thought that was so harsh at the time but now it makes perfect sense. Letting the highs and the lows affect you is a recipe for pain and burnout.

“Comedy is made up of the continuous experience of being the most loved person in the world one day and being an embarrassment to the artform the next day. You have to learn how to regulate your own emotions and your own sense of identity if you don’t want to be driven mad.”

Do you have a comedy horror story you’re willing to share?

“I’m a female road comic so that’s a real choose-your-own-adventure. I could tell you about the bombing and the heckling. I could tell you about the sketchiest, dirtiest and scariest rooms, hotels, ad comedy condos. I could tell you about the clubs that don’t pay, or reduce your pay when you get there, or make you fight for weeks to get paid.

“I could tell you about which comics really need to have a talk with their wives instead of trying to get female comics and waitstaff to look at their wieners. I could tell you which door guys at which clubs make me feel super safe and which door guys will actually create a distraction to help a creepy guy catch up to you in a dark parking lot. And I could tell you about all of the drunk audience members who feel very inclined to touch me after a show.

“But one I love to tell is about how I jumped out of a window into a shrub to get away from a booker who was yelling at me. He was an old-school booker, absolutely beloved by old male comics, and he decided that he was gonna “teach me a lesson” after a set didn’t go well. He backed me into a corner and yelled at me until I cried so hard it soaked through my shirt.

“When I tried to get away, he grabbed my arm. But the audience was staring at us so I ran to the bathroom and hid. I felt like a caged animal. I opened the window and saw the parking lot so without much debate, I jumped out. I drove home. It was never discussed, and he booked me like seven more times after that.

“People think that is so nuts, but that’s how comedy used to be. There was no HR department to talk to or anything. You either take the gig or you don’t.”

What is your favorite show you’ve done so far?

“It would be easy to say that my special I just filmed was my favorite because nothing can really compare to being the center of the universe like that. But as far as unexpected surprise wins go, I was recently asked to be a headliner for the first Middleground Comedy Festival. I was honored because the scene in Indy has always been so good to me. 

“I knew it would be fun. I knew it would be a wonderful weekend. But something different happened when I was up there. I just sorta got in the pocket where I wasn’t “performing” at all. I was just flowing and being myself and everyone just jumped on my back and rode along with me. It’s the least amount of “trying” I’ve ever done. It was just a perfect storm of feeling amazing, being funny and connecting with a crowd. I will chase that feeling forever.”

In addition to standup, you also act, performing acclaimed one-woman shows at fringe festivals all over the country, and produce the hit show Character Assassination roasts of fictional and historical figures. How do these other creative endeavors inform or influence your standup?

“It’s all the same thing. It’s me wanting to do and say all of these different things and then trying to find homes for them all. Standup is the base, the foundation. Acting is great for a little while because you don’t have to write and you get to be a different person, but you always end up missing being able to say whatever you wanna say.

“One-Woman shows are pure freedom. They can be laughs, laughs, laughs, and then suddenly be sad or quiet or mad or nervous. Roasts are an incredible exercise for getting out of your own skin and trying on different points of view. All of that stuff makes you a better writer and performer.”

What do you set out to achieve in a standup show? What do you want the audience to take away from the Mandee McKelvey experience?

“I love when something a performer says or does becomes a part of my daily life, or affects the way I think about a subject, or becomes an inside joke between me and a friend. I remember standup bits from when I was 5. I think that would be the greatest thing I could accomplish, to become a part of people’s lives by inserting my dumb little art into their memories.”

You can find more Mandee on her website, Instagram, and Facebook.

Get your tickets for Mandee McKelvey at Planet of the Tapes this weekend!

Q&A with Good Cop/Rad Cop

By Nathan Alexander

Good Cop/Rad Cop are coming to town to perform at The Whirling Tiger on Thursday, August 31! Don’t miss your chance to see this one-of-a-kind performance. They will be joined by some of our Louisville favorites Dan Alten, Ehrin Dowdle, Ali Gautier, Qsmoke, and Aaron Love!

Tickets are $7 online and $10 at the door. Get your tickets here.

Dave Hannah and Ryan Darling comprise the musical comedy duo Good Cop/Rad Cop. They headline shows all over the country and leave audiences laughing and singing along. They have performed in Red Eye Comedy Festival, Epic Comedy Festival, Lookout Comedy Festival, and are booked to perform at Laughing Skull later this year.

Dave and Ryan were kind enough to answer some questions from Louisville Laughs.

Louisville Laughs: How did you guys get started in comedy? Did you start out writing and performing together? How did this partnership come to be?

We both got started in comedy as standups. I met Dave one night while I was bartending and hosting a mic at JJ’s Bohemia in Chattanooga. We got along great and have been friends since then. We did a few goof-off songs and weird experimental shows here and there, but we didn’t really start writing together until the pandemic. We were roommates during lockdown, so we stopped doing standup and moved to music.

Where did the name Good Cop/Rad Cop come from?

Our band name came from nowhere. We were submitting to an internet competition for a punk band called “Pup,” and in order to submit our video we had to have some kind of name, so Ryan shouted that out and we ran with it because we didn’t plan on it getting anywhere.

Who are some of your comedy heroes and why?

We’re big fans of Rory Scovel, Jo Firestone and Andy Daly. We’re also big fans of each other. We both enjoy experimental comedy that breaks the rules. We’re big on breaking rules.

Being such a unique act, have you found that you’ve had to create your own opportunities in spaces that don’t typically showcase your style of comedy?

Yes, sort of. A lot of places are welcoming to our act because it’s so different. However, some places are reasonably concerned about taking a chance on something so unique.

What advice have you gotten that has made the most difference in your journey as comedians? Do you have any advice for new comedians, writers, performers, artists?

Our best advice is to be willing to fail. If you’re not failing at least sometimes, then you’re not doing anything that someone hasn’t seen before. Also, stay true to what you enjoy. You will get the career that you work alongside of. If you want to work at a club, then work with the club. If you want to work at a bar, then work with the bars.

Do you have any comedy horror stories you’re willing to share?

A multitude. We’ve both done incredibly good shows and incredibly bad shows. Dave once drove to Atlanta on three separate occasions to do a show at a bed and breakfast in which he was never remembered, not even one time. At one Good Cop Rad Cop Show, Ryan misunderstood that a person in the audience was genuinely disliking our sound. Sarcastically, he threatened to fight him, which was met with a legitimate offer for combat.

Do you have a specific show you’ve done that stands out as your favorite?

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but we always have a good time at shows where we get to go a little crazy. At Epic Comedy Hour in Huntsville, we take off our shirts and get insane. Once, Dave was crowd-surfed out of a house party. It is uncertain if they enjoyed it or wanted him to leave.

You’ve performed at Red Eye Comedy Festival, Epic Comedy Festival, Lookout Comedy Festival, and will be featured at Laughing Skull Festival this year! What do you like about performing in festivals? And how is that experience different from doing an independent show with just your musical comedy variety show?

Festivals are great because we get to spend time with other comedians, not just at the show but often for a couple of days. There is nothing more entertaining than rolling around with professional comics and finding the humor in literally everything that you encounter. Sometimes you laugh so much that existence is weird for the next few days.

Do you have a pre-show ritual?

Why yes, we do, and thank you for asking. Before every show, Ryan and I will usually push and slap each other. We recently started butt bumping. We don’t know why, but for some reason, it gets us very amped up for the performance and has yet to be ineffective.

You have a hilarious podcast called The Itty Bitty Ditty Committee in which you teach the audience how to write a little ditty. How does the podcast inform your act? Do you find that the podcast helps you develop material?

Honestly, we haven’t done much of the songs live, though we have tried it in the past. It helps us get into a songwriting mindset and reminds us that not all songs have to be good, but the ones we’ll be doing live definitely are.

What do you set out to achieve in a show? What do you want the audience to take away from the Good Cop/Rad Cop experience?

A recent report said that people who see Taylor Swift live might forget they were there because they were so entertained. This is exactly what we hope to achieve. Our goal, every time, is for you to wake up in a Good Cop/ Rad Cop t-shirt and have no recollection of how you got it.

You can find Good Cop Rad Cop on their YouTube, podcast, and socials. Don’t miss your chance to see them live Thursday, August 31st at Whirling Tiger. Get your tickets here!

Q&A with NYC Comedian Caitlin Peluffo

By Nathan Alexander

Caitlin Peluffo, the “lovable loose cannon,” is headlining a weekend of shows at Planet of the Tapes from August 11-12! Get your tickets here.

Caitlin delivers a high energy performance that will keep the audience hanging on every word.

Caitlin is based out of New York City and is a regular at the world famous Comedy Cellar. She tours all over the country and has opened for Maria Bamford, Fortune Feimster, Matteo Lane, and Brian Regan.

Caitlin has performed on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Comedy Central, and Don’t Tell Comedy.

Caitlin also hosts the podcast Good Time Gal with Caitlin Peluffo where she and a guest revel in the “worst decisions that alcohol ever helped them make.”

Caitlin was kind enough to answer some questions from Louisville Laughs.

Louisville Laughs: How long have you been performing standup and what made you decide to go for it? Were you always the funny one in the friend group and if so, how easily were you able to translate that to the stage?

Caitlin Peluffo: I’ve been doing comedy for almost 10 years (wow… a decade… that’s terrifying). I wanted to try stand up for a few years before I actually had the guts to step foot onstage. Of course, a breakup inspired me to actually pull the trigger (nothing says “you’re gonna miss me” quite like becoming a clown).

I was always the loud, outspoken class clown but had no idea you could make it a career. I had assumed you’d needed special schooling to do comedy, but once I went to an open mic I realized pretty fast that anyone would try stand up.

Where did you get your start? Do you remember any jokes from your first open mic? Are there any jokes that made it to a headlining set?

I got my start with Laughing Buddha open mics. Before I started, I googled “how to start stand up comedy” and Laughing Buddha had a free seminar on getting started with open mics, so I went!

At the end of the seminar they pulled a name out of a hat where the winner got a free class, and they happened to pull my name. I love a deal, so I had to go. There I wrote a joke about my thighs that ended up being in my Colbert set.

Who are some of your comedy heroes and why?

My favorite comic is Dave Attell. He’s a unique blend of sharp and silly. I admire Maria Bamford for her honesty and creativity. 

What advice have you gotten that has made the most difference in your journey as a standup? Do you have any advice for new comedians, writers, performers, artists?

The best advice I got was from a comic who told me that a comedy career is a marathon and not a sprint. Now with social media it’s important to remember that. We can’t have all our success all at once.

Also, you must keep your eyes on your own paper, so to speak. Focus on your own goals and what you can control (writing, open mics, etc) otherwise you’re gonna burn out fast.

Do you have any comedy horror stories you’re willing to share?

I once had a Jack and Coke thrown on me by a very drunk, very grumpy (and racist) Long Island housewife. Woof. 

Do you have a specific show you’ve done that stands out as your favorite?

I really loved performing on The Late Late show with James Corden. My parents and my fiancé were in the green room with me which made it very special. I also had about 5 days to really prepare for the set so I was proud of myself when I pulled it off.

You’ve made appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Comedy Central, and Don’t Tell Comedy. Do you approach these recorded sets any differently than a regular show at a comedy club?

The only main differences in these sets and the ones I do every day is makeup. And clothes. It’s the only time I care about my appearance.

Do you have a pre-show ritual?

For a long set, I write out my set list 3 times in a row and put the last set list in my back pocket. I’ve never looked at it, but it’s like a safety blanket.

You went to art school before becoming a comedian. Do you see yourself ever incorporating performative video art in your comedy?

Oh god no. … Haha I was so serious when I was in art school, so earnest. It was too much. 

What do you set out to achieve in a standup show? What do you want the audience to take away from the Caitlin Peluffo experience? 

I want people to leave my show in a better mood than when they arrived. At this point in my career, a lot of people come to shows not knowing me or what to expect, and my main focus is to bring joy and a needed distraction from everyday life.

Whenever someone says “I needed that” at the end of a show, that’s what makes me feel like I did my job.

Caitlin Peluffo on The Late Late Show with James Corden

Don’t miss the hilarious Caitlin Peluffo this weekend at Planet of the Tapes! Tickets are available here for shows on Friday, August 11 and Saturday, August 12.

You can find Caitlin Peluffo at her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and her podcast!

Q&A with Cincinnati standup comedian Tabari McCoy

By Nathan Alexander

Tabari McCoy will be performing in Louisville on July 20 at Gravely Brewing Company! He will be joined by one of Cincinnati’s rising stars Gretchen Schultz and Louisville favorites Eric Groovely and Peter Swanz.

This is a free show, but you can reserve your tickets here!

Tabari is known for his conversational style of comedy and cites pop culture, music, sports, movies, and his personal experiences as his influences. He has released two albums and his debut special Be Happy was released on YouTube earlier this year.

Tabari was kind enough to answer some questions from Louisville Laughs.

Louisville Laughs: How long have you been performing standup and what made you decide to go for it? Were you always the funny guy of the friend group and how easily were you able to translate that to the stage?

Tabari McCoy: I began performing stand-up comedy in April 2006. I had loved stand-up since I was a child, literally, as I recall seeing a very famous special by a very famous (but now disgraced) comedian playing on the television of a long-closed department store. As an only child, there are plenty of lonely times growing up and when you’re laughing, you don’t feel alone, you don’t feel scared… You just feel happy. 


At the time I started, I was working for a lifestyle publication produced by hometown newspaper, The Cincinnati Enquirer. I wanted to do a story on the local stand-up comedy scene and as part of that, I decided I was going to finally bite the bullet and do an open mic. I got laughs despite the jokes being half-baked and even less executed, and I was hooked.

I could be funny as a kid and knew how to use humor as both a way to get positive attention and as a defense mechanism having also done emcee battles 8 Mile-style in college despite not fitting a traditional battle rapper look. Over time, translating every day conversation to the stage has become much easier.

Did you get your start in Cincinnati? Do you remember any of the jokes from your very first open mic set and are there any that made it to an album? What’s the comedy scene like in Cincinnati?

Tabari: I started at Go Bananas Comedy Club, one of the best and most respected independent comedy clubs in the nation. I don’t remember one single joke from my very first set thankfully and none of them made it to either of my albums nor my special, “Be Happy,” now streaming on YouTube.

The stand-up comedy scene in Cincinnati is very good and filled with talented comedians who will push you to get better simply because if you don’t, you won’t last and/or fade into oblivion. Our proximity to several other major cities within a four-to five-hour driving range also makes travel and networking better than other situations.

Who are some of your comedy heroes? Have you gotten to work with any of them yet?

Tabari: There’s an old expression – “Never meet your heroes.” The real version of people can often be disappointing compared to what you think they are like. That being said, I’ve been very fortunate to meet several comics I respect and admire and save for a few random weekends where the comic in question would never remember meeting me, I’ve been very fortunate to avoid nightmare circumstances. 

What advice have you gotten that has made the most difference in your journey as a standup? Do you have any advice for new comedians, writers, performers? 

Tabari: The one piece of advice that readily comes to mind was something the late David A. Arnold told me one time at the Cleveland Improv. The Cleveland Improv is one of the most urban – that means filled with black people in the audience – clubs in America. I’m not built in the mold of many black comics who grew up in ‘hood situations. That is not a knock or judgment by any means; it’s just a fact.

Anyway, I used to struggle in front of crowds that I didn’t relate to because I went into the situation thinking they wouldn’t get me. A comedian’s job is to bring people into your world and make it relatable to theirs while establishing that “This is my stage” for the time they are on it. 


David told me he got over those hardcore audiences “when I realized they wouldn’t stop coming just because I didn’t want them to.” Going up with confidence, swagger and establishing that you are in control helped me far more than just working on my jokes did – but those audiences definitely made me improve my joke writing and knowing how to perform for more than one audience. Does that mean I’m everybody’s cup of tea? Hell no – but I definitely have more people sipping from my cup than I used to.    


There is also a Chris Rock quote that haunts me. I started stand-up late at age 29 and I have a house, like my neighbors and enjoy sleeping in a real bed. I know my situation is too comfortable – and I chose that word purposefully – for me to give up. But Chris Rock said “You can be the funniest guy in Detroit, but you’re the funniest guy in Detroit.”

The industry is in LA and NYC and it is extremely difficult to advance outside of those cities to be headlining nationwide and get other opportunities. I wish I was more of a risk taker, but I’m not in that sense. If I had some momentum or something to build on, then I would move to LA or NYC, so start before you have real responsibilities or commitments – that would be my advice. 

What’s your comedy horror story?

Tabari: I’m not rich or famous enough to go into detail, but I’ll say this: There are few things worse than working with someone who needs to FEEL like a star off stage at all times versus simply being a good person. I’ve had that happen more times than I care to remember.

Every comic gets booed at some point – anyone who says they haven’t hasn’t been doing it long enough and/or is just a liar – but egomaniac comedians make me wish I didn’t have a mortgage, family I care about or no common sense so I could just wild out and go full Rick James/Charlie Murphy (who I got to emcee a weekend for once at the old Louisville Improv) on them.

What’s your comedy highlight so far?

Tabari: I’ve put out two albums (Remarkable in 2018 and Laughing with a Panther in 2013), performed on the main stage of a major event in front of thousands of people and even put out a special which has 5,000+ views (and counting) on YouTube. I also got to perform on the main stage of a historic theater in my native Cincinnati. I’ve got miles to go, but the ride has had some nice highlights thus far. 

You have a podcast called A Tight 45 with Tabari McCoy, you’re a movie blogger, writer, journalist, and standup comedian. How do all these different creative endeavors inform your standup?

Tabari: I haven’t put out a new episode of my podcast in months because it became too hard to try and book guests on a routine basis and every comedian (or person that THINKS they’re a comic) has a podcast. I enjoy doing it, but I gave it a year to build and it didn’t reach where I wanted it to listener-wise if I’m honest. I am thinking of bringing it back because I enjoy it, but when you are juggling so many balls, it’s best to focus on a couple to do them well as opposed to possibly doing them all mediocre. 

I have a STRONG belief that drives me, however: People make time for what’s important to them. That applies to every avenue in life. I made time to do my podcast, my daytime hustle, my movie blog (http://mccoyonmovies.blogspot.com/) and of course stand-up because I make time for them. The same principle applies to dating and any other job/hobby. If it’s important to you, you’ll find time to do it and do it well.

I try to make opportunities when I’m not getting them because it’s important. I’m doing this interview because anyone that might be interested in seeing me perform after learning more about me is important to me. And going up on stage and making people laugh and showing I’m a good comic is important to me. That will all come out Thursday night.

What do you hope to achieve in a standup performance? What are you aiming for the audience to take away from the Tabari McCoy experience?

Tabari: My goal is to make the crowd laugh. If I can make them think, cool. But the job is to make them laugh. I love comedy for two reasons: (1) Comedians are the last truth tellers we have in society and in every good joke is a modicum of truth. (2) You can cry from laughing, but rarely laugh from crying – people that do that probably have bodies under their house. 


I will say this: I’m single. If women come out and see that I am an honest, decent human being that can make them laugh, that’s my in. I just saw the Barbie movie tonight before doing this and having seen Ryan Gosling’s physique in that movie, I NEED to be funny!

You’ve released multiple comedy albums. You released a special this year called Be Happy. Congratulations! What was that experience like and what made you want to put out a special? How did you prepare for the special and was this preparation different from what you’ve done ahead of your past album recordings?

Tabari: The internet is to comedy in 2023 what The Tonight Show was to stand-up in the late 1970s and mid 1980s. You have to get eyes on you to make other people be willing to book you to put asses in seats. Why do you think I’m doing this interview – to NOT have people show up?

I prepared for this special by doing everything possible to make it feel special to the audience. Jokes are jokes; a special should feel like a moment in time captured on video and/or audio. There were jokes I look back at that I could have tightened up, added to, said differently, but it was all captured in one take in real time. I literally only cut out one joke from the final cut and added the monologue at the end back in because it meant something to me that I wanted those watching to feel, too. 

Now, I’m working on building a new 45 minutes to hour of material and I already have new material I didn’t have when I was in Louisville earlier this month. If you want to come laugh and maybe help me pay for another pair of sneakers by buying my merch after the show, I hope to see whoever is reading this at Gravely Brewing Thursday night!

Come see Tabari McCoy and friends tomorrow, July 20th at Gravely Brewing Company! Free tickets can be reserved here.

You can find Tabari at his website, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and McCoy On Movies.

Q&A with Nashville Comedian Chance Willie

By Nathan Alexander

Chance Willie is coming to Louisville to headline Planet of the Tapes and he is bringing a slate of local favorites for a show on Thursday, June 15th. Get your tickets here!

Chance Willie is a stand-up comedian from Nashville who has performed all over the country. He comes to us through Lexington comic and producer Jon Bass who has been booking shows in the area. Chance will be joined by some of Louisville’s best in Will McKenzie, Hilary Boston, Mairead Thomas and Jwal The Jerk.

Chance was kind enough to answer some questions from Louisville Laughs.

Louisville Laughs: How long have you been performing standup and what made you decide to go for it?

Chance Willie: I’ve been doing comedy for 7 years. I started after I spoke at my dad’s funeral and got some laughs. He and I watched a lot of stand-up together. I did my first open mic pretty shortly after that and got addicted to it.

Did you get your start in Nashville? Do you remember any of the jokes from your very first open mic and are there any that you still use today? What’s the comedy scene like in Nashville?

Technically, I started in Chattanooga where I did a handful of open mics. One of the jokes from my very first set was, “I live on the state line of Tennessee and Georgia, on the Tennessee side – which is great, because I don’t have to take out the trash. I just throw it across the street.” I don’t use that joke anymore.

The Nashville comedy scene is small, but everyone cares a lot. We’re all focused on getting very good at comedy. We all know each other and love to hang out, and it’s a great place to start. There are a few big guys around like Dusty [Slay], Nate [Bargatze], and Aaron [Weber] who are like lighthouses that help show us which way to go and navigate things. That’s really great to have.

What advice have you gotten that has made the most difference in your journey as a stand-up? Do you have any advice for young comedians, writers, performers?

Louis [CK] told me, “Live a life,” and Theo [Von] told me, “It’s a long race.”

My advice for new comedians is, “Don’t post mid – and keep writing.”

Do you have a comedy horror story?

I played a club once (which shall remain nameless) and as soon as I pulled the mic out of the stand, this dude in the front row yelled, “Fuck you, pussy!” and then I did 30 minutes of crowd work to a room full of people who won tickets on the radio. Fun night.

What’s your comedy highlight so far?

Playing the Chicago Theater with Theo Von. In the hallway you can see where every artist who has ever played there has signed their name. It’s every big act you can imagine. I signed my name on the fire alarm in really small letters. I didn’t even feel like I should be there.

I brought Theo up to the 90s Bulls’ walk out music. That feels like a dream.

What hobbies and interests do you have outside of stand-up? How does that inform your material and performance?

Playing chess with my girlfriend. She always beats me. Sometimes when I’m writing or performing I slip into a “cool guy” persona, but the funny stuff for me always comes from failing. There is no better exercise for that than being intellectually dominated by my hot girlfriend.

What do you hope to achieve in a standup performance? What are you aiming for the audience to take away from the Chance Willie experience?

I want them to laugh. A lot. That’s it.

What’s on your comedy bucket list?

I want to Kill Tony. I want to actually kill him.

Don’t miss Chance Willie at Planet of the Tapes Thursday at 8pm!

You can find Chance on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.