Inside With: Dave Odd, Comedian
Dave Odd is a Chicago-based stand-up comic and the producer of The Edge Comedy Shows. He does a lot of road work, which he believes is important for a comic's development in many ways, and is starting a new series of Edge Comedy classes as a way to help new performers learn the ropes.
When did you start playing around in the Chicago comedy scene? What prompted you to begin?
At the tail end of 1997 I had dropped out of community college the year before and was waiting tables. The only class I ever really liked was creative writing, so I decided at some point that I would like to be a screenwriter. I saw that a lot of big names in Hollywood came from a comedy background, Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Adam Sandler etc. etc. I decided that comedy would be a good start, I was always a funny guy, why not? So I went to Io's late night Improv Jam, where any old jackass could get up and perform in the games. I began to lose my stage fright quickly and would just burst into outlandishly loud and obnoxious characters within sketches, which made the audience laugh, but pissed off all the other improvisers on stage. It was shortly thereafter I decided to try my hand at stand-up, it was the week before Christmas 1997 and I went up at The Morseland Music Room open mic. That first time wasn't so great, but after a few weeks I was hooked and abandoned and hopes of ever being a screenwriter to do stand-up. Now, 9 1/2 years later I am a full time working comic and produce 25-35 comedy shows a month in Chicago and the Midwest.
You've seen a lot of comedy talent evolve over the past few years. Any observations of patterns, missteps, or good strategies that you'd like to share?
Well one thing I have noticed for sure is that if comics are good off the bat, and they completely sidestep the boys club mentality of the Chicago scene (hanging out in the back of rooms, schmoozing, getting too cozy within a particular group or room, etc.) they seem to make huge leaps and bounds within just a couple years. A majority of the touring feature comics I know have only been doing stand-up for a couple years, some have already acquired TV credits, and none of them ever stuck around long enough to be noticed or even care about the local showcase rooms. On the other hand, some of the funniest people I have ever seen, seemed to have performing in the same rooms for years without ever doing much more. Even when they are doing bigger and better things they are still doing it within a group, it a very pack mentality, like high school cheerleaders. I know a a lot of people are going to read this and get upset, but it's the absolute truth, thats part of the reason I take so much flack from the Chicago scene, I am very vocal about the problems I see in it. I am very passionate about comedy, it is my life's work and I want to see other people go as far as they can go with it, and take it seriously.
One of the principles I will be teaching in my class on day one is NEVER get too comfortable with where you are at, because no matter how you feel or how many pats you get on the back, the ceiling is nearly unlimited in this business. There is always room for advancement and improvement, no matter how good you, your audience, or your comedy buddies think you are. It is important to have your friends in comedy, and your favorite rooms, but don't make that your entire existence or you are only shooting yourself in the foot. I encourage new comics to seek out rooms and open mics where nobody knows them, even poetry and music open mics, after all the business of comedy is about making strangers laugh, not your buddies. If you want to do stand-up as more than just a hobby, you have to get comfortable, with being uncomfortable. 9 out of 10 paid comedy gigs you get, you are going to have no idea what to expect on the other side of that door when you walk in 30 minutes before you are supposed to get up on stage.
The Edge Comedy Classes sound very comprehensive for someone wanting to learn a lot about the art and business of stand-up. How did that idea evolve, and what can participants hope to gain from the experience?
Well I have been giving new comics advice and stages for years and years now. It has always been my passion to help out other people and get them on the right track, frankly because no other producer or comic in Chicago will and it is something I find rewarding. So I almost feel like I am a necessary part of the framework in Chicago stand-up.
Quite frankly I am tired of seeing a new comic show up in town, kick ass in my rooms for 8 or 10 months, and then settle into the same comfort zone everyone else does and never have the drive to go beyond that. I am running a full time stand-up comedy agency, and I book at least 20 local showcase rooms and at least 5-6 road gigs, private gigs, and bigger shows a month. The amount of shows, and consequently the amount of money I am paying out for shows is growing exponentially every week and there are legally binding contracts that come along with those that I am responsible for. But because many of the better comics in Chicago don't seem to look at comedy as an actual career, they are very likely to drop out of shows last minute, show up late, forget about shows, or not even show or call at all.
So what I am doing with my class is guiding people into looking at stand-up as a viable career choice, not just a weekend hobby you do when you are filing papers at a law firm or an insurance company. I want people to stop treating stand-up like a hobby, and start treating it like a career and be professional. I want to build a literal army of solid performers that I can send all over the Midwest to wow audiences at shows I set up not to mention countless other shows they will be able to do.
I want to help mold comics that speak from their hearts and are absolutely true to themselves when they are on that stage, I want them to have passion and conviction behind everything they say, I want every audience member walking away from their shows saying "Man, that comic was hilarious....and he made an excellent point." Comedy like it or not, is an art form, and in any kind of art, it should be an expression of the artist, and I don't think enough performers realize that.
I hear the scenester comics complaining about mainstream comedy all the time and how trite and hack it is, which they also site as a reason why they don't want to do the road (along with excuses like no car, day job, etc. etc.) But I keep telling people, the only way to change the public perception of stand-up comedy is by getting out there and bumping all the hack road dogs out of the rotation.
These ideas and about a thousand more are what I want to convey to my students. It's actually called Stand-Up Boot Camp, and there is a reason for that.
How is the The Edge $3500 Comedy Competition going?
It's going really well, I have about half of the comics in place for the semi-finals from all corners of the Chicago comedy scene and we still have 8 prelims left. Last week a woman came up from Cincinnati with a busload of 41 friends to be in the competition. The semi finals start on Sundays at 7:30 at the Garv Inn 6546 Windsor Avenue in Berwyn. I can't say for 100% certain, but I believe this is the largest cash comedy competition that Chicagoland has ever seen.
Did you grow up in a funny family? Where did your sense of humor come from?
I grew up in a very casual Jewish family in Skokie IL (Passover and Hanukkah, that was about it). I guess both of my parents have a pretty good sense of humor. I came home from school one day and my Dad told me there was a pie in the microwave, when I opened it up there was a puppy in it. A live, non-cooked puppy. That probbaly explains a lot for people who know me.
I realize much of my humor comes from a dark place, I attribute that to watching way too much Tom and Jerry as a kid, the rough psychologically volley I was constantly in with my father, and the fact that I was always kind of runty and getting picked on. I think originally my humor came to me as a survival mechanism, when bullies would pick on me, the only thing I could do was make them laugh. For instance if I saw one of my antagonists coming down the hall, I would turn and run into a locker head first (which if you hit it in the center doesn't really hurt, but makes a loud noise). I guess I was a weird kid, I opted to go to the pond and catch frogs instead of going to the park to shoot hoops.
I read somewhere that you were considering a move to one of the coasts. Are you still thinking about that? What is the ultimate destination for you, careerwise?
I think that is basically in inevitability. One of the goals I have set is that I want to be headlining before I decide to move anywhere (probably LA). I rather have people know who I am before I go to a bigger scene, I know for a lot of people that move it's sometimes months before they can even get on an open mic. I feel like if I have some solid street cred it will be a lot easier for me. Thats at least a couple years down the road for me, plus I just incorporated Dave Odd Productions Entertainment, so I have an official licensed Illinois comedy agency now.
Ultimately I think I'd like to achieve some level of comedy success (like at a Paul F. Tompkins, or a Greg Fitzsimmons type of level) and then come back to Chicago and open a full time club. I don't think I will ever stop performing though. That's part of the beauty of doing the type of comedy I do, I am always trying to get a point or an opinion across, and I never get tired of trying to get an opinion across.
We're jealous that you got to meet Todd Barry. What's it like to meet and work with some of your favorite comics? Any fun stories you'd like to share?
Todd is a very cool and laid back guy, he said I was one of his favorite emcees, because I don't bullshit around and talk to the audience, I just launch into my material. He said he hates it when the emcee talks to the audience, because then they think they can talk to him, and he isn't the interactive type. I hung out with him for a couple hours after the show, just talking shop, he was very down to earth. A lot of comics are a lot more normal and un-intimidating when you meet them than you would think.
I worked with Mitch Hedberg a few weeks before he died and when I went up to close out the show on the Friday night, Mitch kept me up on stage and did a "joke off" with me. It was a lot of fun.
Kevin Meaney asked me and Robert Buscemi if we had any pot when we worked with him at Zanies in Vernon Hills. Dave Chappelle told me to "Keep on doing my thing." Doug Stanhope told me to stop trying to guilt people into buying my book after they bought his CD. Emo Philips recorded my outgoing voicemail message for me, twice.
This is one of the main reasons I think everyone should try to get in with the clubs and do roadwork. You meet some awesome people and have some great stories to tell. Comedy is one of the few professions where you actually get to meet and hang out with your heroes.
You spend a lot of time on the road. What are some of the pros and cons of roadwork?
I would say 80% of it is truly positive, in just the experience of sizing up and audience and figuring them out, not to mention going to some ridiculous town you've never heard of. I for one love traveling, roadtripping, seeing new places, meeting new people, and seeing what kind of snakes and beasties I can find in those places (I'm a wildlife buff). Even if the show itself is a total bust, you still get a pay check and a place to sleep at the end of the night. I've always said I'd be happiest in life if I could just travel the country and see places I have never seen. Of course Burlington Iowa, Portage Wisconsin, Wolcottville Indiana (where I had one of the bets roadshows ever at a place called Coody Brown's), and Mankato Minnesota were never on the top of the list of places I wanted to visit, but sometimes you have to compromise.
Regardless of all of that, roadshows are a necessity to anyone who wants to do stand-up professionally. There is no better example of out of the frying pan and into the fire than performing for a room full of truckers and born again Christians in Kansas. When I started doing the road it was like learning how to do stand-up all over again. You have to size up and read your audience, cut out huge chunks of your act, and change profane words to something more benign. You cannot truly achieve greatness as a comic until you have mastered the art of bringing your viewpoints and humor to the level of the most unlikely crowds. If you are saying "I don't want to have to come down to the level of those people.", then who do you want to perform for? 32 twentysomethings in the back room of a bar for the rest of your life? Hope you enjoy waiting tables.
When you tell people you're a stand-up comedian, what are the top three annoying things they respond with?
"Oh with Second City?" (request the Second City/Al Queda bit next time you see me.)
"Tell me a joke." (Yeah I know, hack response to this question but it's true)
"Oh like Jerry Seinfeld." (Yeah, exactly like Jerry Seinfeld)
Do you think we're heading into the era of a new comedy boom? What do you foresee happening in the next five years or so, for yourself, and for comedy in general?
I am fairly certain that comedy will never again reach the level it was at in the late 80's and early 90's. There are too many forms of competing entertainment out there, and clubs like Zanies and The Improv are constantly giving out free tickets to fill seats. I do believe however stand-up comedy is moving in a new direction. A few comedy clubs out there realize that and are embracing the younger generation of comics and audiences, but far too many clubs are set in their ways (the ways of the 80's and early 90's).
In the next five years I see many more young comics breaking into the club and national scene and the old road dogs that all the young punks like to complain about retiring and making room. I see the old club owners slowly but surely catching on to new trends and embracing them. I see puppies, and flowers, and rainbows, and hugs.
Dane Cook is the biggest comic in the US right now, not because he is the best comic or even the funniest comic, but because he saw a demographic that was being completely ignored by the mainstream comedy scene and attacked it.
For me, I will continue to do the road, and my own shows, and hopefully get the shows at the Chicago Center for The Performing Arts kick started to be running like an actual full time comedy club. I will start headlining, doing colleges, and of course my Blue Stater Tour with Tom Simmons and Steve Hofstetter (debuting on October 18th 8pm at The Chicago Center for the Performing Arts). I am also working with an agent to get on Live at Gotham and I have a few other things in the pipeline. So long as I can continue performing, and make a decent living at it, I'll be happy. For every day that goes by, every gig I do, every headliner I work with, every show I headline, every interview I do, I am one step closer to the next rung on the ladder. And if you keep focusing on the next rung, you shouldn't have to worry about where that ladder leads, because it can only go up.
Edge Comedy Classes will be starting Wednesday May 9th 2007 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm and will be held at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts at Halsted and Chicago Ave. in downtown Chicago.
Comments
For info on the classes go to www.edgecomedyshow.com, call me at 847-409-8623 or email me at edgecomedy@hotmail.com.
Posted by: Dave Odd | April 16, 2007 6:46 AM