Prescott Tolk is a Chicago-based stand-up comedian who stays very busy working the road, goofs off with the Blerds gang (see his "Jewel Osco" video here), and has enjoyed a spot on Comedy Central's Premium Blend, the video of which can be seen here. He performs regularly around Chicago at the Lincoln Lodge, Chicago Underground Comedy, and can be seen on Rooftop Comedy as well. He may or may not be working on a novel about a sexy alcoholic bartender who wants to go to beauty school, and definitely has a few things to say about the allegorical power of the bagel, the charms of Nazi-themed restaurants, and the naughty braggadocio of certain scientists.

What are you up to these days with stand-up? Anything new and exciting on the horizon?

I'm taking stand-up to the next level. I'm talking about the level below the one we're on now. I miss that level. Everything on the horizon is exciting. That's why it's so hard to reach. If everything goes according to plan, I should be releasing a CD this spring and debuting a one-man show in the summer. If everything doesn't go according to plan, I should be reading this interview in The Bastion archives and feeling like a failure. Ready. Set. Go.

How did you get started in comedy, and what brought you to Chicago?

I first considered comedy as a career when I was eight years old. I was a mischievous kid, and stand-up comedy looked like a profession that rewarded a person for being a screw-up in society. As long as it's witty, it's okay. Look at Richard Pryor. Half his act is about messed up shit he did, but the audience loves him because he can convey all that with humor. Again, comedy trumps humiliation. And if you can make humiliation look cool, then you're a winner in my book.

I auditioned for a high school talent show and did not make the cut. I had gotten so amped about doing it at that point that I decided to do go to an open mic in Manhattan (I was a Jersey kid) and try it. I wound up performing in the back of Hamburger Harry's in Midtown Manhattan. A neurotic middle-aged Jewish woman named Gladys had created a comedy room in the back of this burger joint. It was actually a pretty nice room and the stage even had a big neon sign with Gladys's name hanging on the wall. I got two big laughs that confirmed what I had thought. It is so awesome to get laughs on stage. So I was hooked.

I didn't do any stand-up during my first two years at Northwestern. But in my junior year, I started to journey into the Chicago comedy scene. I moved to Jersey after graduation and spent four years doing stand-up comedy in New York City. As much as I loved New York, I felt a strange yearning to return to Chicago. It turns out that it was a great move for me. I have seen a hip comedy scene grow and feel good to be a part of it.

How did your spot on Comedy Central's Premium Blend come about, and what was the experience of filming that like?

I made a deal with the devil. At the time it made sense because I had been born with two souls. Plus, I'm Jewish. I thought I had diplomatic immunity. But now I'm kind of screwed. I still want to do Conan. Although, to be honest, who really needs a soul? I think it was probably necessary in neolithic times or something. Kind of like the appendix.

I enjoyed every moment of my experience doing Premium Blend. I love watching television, so it was great to be able to be on television and then have the opportunity to watch myself on television. I also like when I walk into a drug store and suddenly notice myself in the television monitor above the bargain bin.

You are a popular performer in clubs and colleges across the country. What are some of the pluses and minuses about working the road?

Pluses? (Doesn't that word look dirty?)

The road is where you get tough. If there were a comedian that was getting ready for a big battle against another comedian, there would be a montage of the comedian typing on a keyboard, standing in front of a mirror, and performing at a Best Western in Dubuque, Iowa. The minuses are inherent. The pay is bad and the audiences are often worse. But, in truth, the road shapes a comedian's voice and trains a comedian to adapt. Weekend shows are generally great everywhere, so whatever price you pay during the week is worth it.

If I could revert back to a childhood fantasy vocation, I think that the appeal of the traveling comic is that of the gunslinger's ballad. You come into a town alone, enter a bar with a bunch of staring strangers, and destroy the place. What a feeling. Of course, then it's back to a stuffy motel room with rough sheets and free CNN. At least that is what I tend to do. Although I'm sure if I tried, I could find a brothel with a poker game somewhere.

Your Bombast show with TJ Miller was pretty well received on both coasts as well as here in Chicago. How did that show come about, and what was it like to take it on the road?

I had been hosting an improv show at a theatre space called Frankie J.'s Methadome Theatre. It was a gorgeous 55-seat black box theatre that was worth performing in no matter how small of an audience showed. I wanted to do a stand-up show in a theatre, but I wanted to frame it in a way that appealed to a hip alternative crowd.

Aside from being a fan of TJ's, I thought his high-energy absurdism (both physically and verbally) complemented my low-key gritty minimalism. I loved Mr. Show and wanted TJ and I to introduce the show differently each time like Bob and Dave. This is where we started exploring the sketch component to our show. When it came time to take the show on the road, we invested more time into the sketches. Soon enough, the show looked like good dessert. People ate it up (no he didn't!).

Your Blerds offerings are pretty great. What's it like hanging around with that gang, and shooting those short films?

I don't believe that things happen for a reason, but if I were one of those absurd people, I guess I would surmise that my purpose for moving back to Chicago was serendipitously linked to the formation of Blerds. I don't want to sound like a nut here, but let me just say that if I didn't care about sounding like a nut, I could easily say that the very existence of blerds is an example of Divine Intervention. Do those publicity shots scream apostolic or what?

Truthfully, Blerds is pretty much the new Wu-Tang Clan. Thanks to Kumail, it is slightly more diverse. But I could not have pieced together a cooler group of people. I predict that Blerds becomes a formidable comic force in the coming year.

Are you really working on a novel? What's it about?

I am really working on a novel. I write novels the way a lot of people do math: in my head. But this is the real deal now. I'm adding this to that list about things on the horizon. By May, I will have completed a comic adventure about a sexy alcoholic bartender and the romantic exploits that complicate her efforts to win a scholarship to beauty school. "By May," means the end of May, right?

What are the top three pieces of advice you would offer someone just starting out with stand-up?

I'll do one better. I'll give you four.

1. Watch and imitate the comics you like best.
2. Just be yourself.
3. Never be hypocritical.
4. Get on MySpace comedy, not just MySpace.

- Elizabeth McQuern