Chicago stand-up comedian John Roy has been stamping out a place for himself the last few years, pursuing his craft with national performing tours and spots on Star Search, Last Comic Standing, the Craig Ferguson Show, and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, to name just a few. We were able to catch up with him and chat for a few minutes on one of his recent stop-ins at home, about his thoughts on the biz, his career path, and words of wisdom and advice for those thinking about giving stand-up a go.

What were your early years of comedy in Chicago like? How and where did you get started, and what experiences do you think taught you the most important lessons early on?

My first open mic was at the Bird's Nest by DePaul. There were 13 people on the list, and 13 in the room. My friend Mick Betancourt and I wandered in and were not allowed to go up. We had no way of knowing at the time that this was ridiculous and wasn't until months later that I realized the people were just being dicks. No one who was in that room still does stand-up comedy. It was very different in 1997. There were few open mics and far fewer comedians. Stand-up was fairly absent from television. There was a scene at the Elevated, a room that was fairly full every week, though it was mostly the friends of the regulars that made it work. There were open mics at the Monkey Bar and the Morseland, but they were mostly attended by comics. The Chicago scene as we know it today had not really gotten started, but I could still see great sets by Dwayne Kennedy, Craig Robinson, Mike Lukas, Bang Balutansky, Allen Olafsen, and Greg Mills, and get a sense of where the quality was.

I think the experience of booking and hosting the Map Room over the next few years taught me to stick to my guns no matter what the audience response was, and that the number one key to the success or failure of a room is delivering good comics and only good comics every show. It's the only thing that keeps people coming back.

You've done lots of road work since honing your chops in Chicago. What are some of the pros and cons of being an itinerant comedian?

Pros -- no day job, ability to do shows every night. Cons -- no home, no feeling of continuity in your life, and difficulty in sustaining a relationship.

You've been doing more and more stand-up on TV - Star Search, Last Comic Standing, Comics Unleashed, and so on. What's it like doing a live art on tape? Are the technical challenges worth the chance to meet other comics and get your face out there a little more?

TV is essential to getting your act recognized in the public at large. It's worth all the hoops that must be jumped through to achieve it. Essentially, the fundamental difference in TV stand-up from the live act is brevity. The comedian that wins on TV is the comedian that has the best laugh per set-up ratio that they can achieve. Working within the time constraints is challenging as well, which is why I appreciate the Tonight Show's willingness to be flexible on the running time of the comedian's set. Taking the "race against the clock" out of the equation does wonders for the comedian's nerves and ability to be relaxed, and consequently, funny.

What's your writing process like? Do you keep little notebooks with random little ideas that occur to you at odd times, or do you sit down in a concerted effort to write new material?

I basically write down anything funny that I say or think, and then try to process any premises that I've written down into material which I'll try on stage. I wish it was more systematic than that, but I am at the mercy of the creative faucet in my brain, which sort of turns on and off by a subconscious process I'm not fully in control of. I admire comics like Pete Holmes who just sort of sit down and decide to grind it out, but I haven't found that process successful for me. Once I have the basis of a bit down, more and more punchlines will present themselves to me during the process of performing the bit, but I need to bring at least one fully formed idea to the stage before it can grow.

What's the comedy landscape like in LA? Is stand-up different there because of the proximity of industry?

I like the LA scene, though it is hard to get much money out of it. The proximity of industry does intrude a little on the freedom to experiment, but there are still plenty of untouched stages to develop away from the industry eye. Those who view it as a stepping stone and not as something to practice for its own sake aren't around for very long. They either achieve the stepping off point they wished for or they give up. You have to REALLY want to do this to stick with it. There are simply no other good reasons to build this into your life.

Do you audition for movies and TV shows, or do you mostly stick to stand-up?

Depends. I try to write movies and TV shows more than I audition for them, but overall stand-up is my first love.

Can you describe for us the best stand-up experience you ever had, and contrast that with the worst?

Best: The Tonight Show. Almost everything went perfectly. You can see the result on my Web site. Worst: A one nighter in the UP of Michigan. Thirty minutes of silence. My first joke was greeted with the critique, "That's not possible." Then they tried to get the headliner drunk.

You cite George Carlin, Richard Pryor, David Cross, Dave Attell, Louis CK, and Eddie Izzard as some of your favorite comedians. Have you even been a position to meet any of your idols, and what's that like?

I have met many of my idols, and made a few of them laugh. It is a surreal honor to see the face that inspired you to do comedy laugh at one of your jokes. It's a great validation that I'm doing the right thing with my life, which is a validation performers need all the time.

What would you like to be doing in five years?

Stand-up, hopefully for a group of people who came to see John Roy, rather than just a group of people who came to see "comedy." I think that's what we all desire, to build our own fan base, who appreciate what we do enough to seek us out.

What advice would you offer to anyone considering giving stand-up a whirl?

Do it three nights a week. Every week. Do that for a year and you should have a good idea if this is something you want in your life. Any level of commitment less than that is not sufficient to see if comedy is right for you or if you are right for comedy.

John Roy can be seen this Tuesday, February 26, at Zanies Comedy Club, 1548 N. Wells St.. Call 312-337-4027 for reservations; John will be featured as part of Zanies' 30 Year Anniversary celebration. Free admission on Tuesday!

-Elizabeth McQuern