Ross Hyzer is a New York-based writer and comedian who pops into Chicago every so often and seems to make a lot of friends when he does. Earlier this year he pulled off a self-booked comedy tour that spanned a lot of the US, hitting more clubs than some comics do all year. We thought it was worth picking his brain about, so we did this interview with him.

You spent several months out on the road being sort of the Johnny Appleseed of stand-up comedy. When did the idea to do a self-booked, self-planned stand-up tour of the US occur to you, how long did it take you to plan it out, and what were some of your mail objectives and strategies?

To be honest, I'd say that restlessness was the primary impetus for my trip. I've always had a bit of wanderlust in me, I've got family and friends scattered around whom I don't see nearly as often as I would like. The restlessness figures into my comedy as well - I always want to try new material, I always want to perform in new places for new audiences. So I realized that I could roll all of this into one nice long ramble into largely uncharted territory and I set to work making it happen. That's how my homemade, exploratory Jokeswagon tour was born.

It took me about a month to plan my route and book everything. Once I'd figured out which cities I'd be visiting, I started by contacting the comedy clubs in those cities and just talking my way in. I didn't pretend to be Ross Hyzer's agent or anything like that - I considered it, but I'm a pretty lousy liar so I decided to play it straight. I told them that I'd be visiting from New York and I'd love to a guest set and directed them to my clips online. Once I'd set up some of these shows, I contacted comedians in each city (either via friends or on MySpace) and asked them to direct me to some shows I should do during my visit. That's how I got hooked up with independent shows, plus it gave me some people to say hey to when I got to town.

In the end, what was the span of your adventure, in terms of time and geography, and what sort of transportation did you use?

I ended up sticking to the Midwest, because it's my native turf (I'm originally from Iowa) which means that it had the highest concentration of couches that I could sleep on. All told, I was on the road for two-and-a-half months and hit eight cities: Chicago, Madison, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines, Ames and Minneapolis. I drove myself everywhere in my ten-year-old Mazda. I cracked a wheel in Lawrence, Kansas, but otherwise it was all without incident.

Did you crash with a lot of friends and acquaintances, or how did you find lodging arrangements in each place?

I had the good fortune of staying with friends or family everywhere I went. It made the whole trip possible for me and I still owe some people a fair amount of scraping and gratitude for their wonderful hospitality. My friend who put me up in Lawrence had to deal with me a few days longer than expected while I waited for a replacement wheel to arrive from Topeka and she was unbelievably gracious about it. I thought I'd have to stay in a motel in Omaha, but a high school friend and his wife turned up at my show and let me sleep in their guest room (which, incidentally, was the best night of sleep I'd had since leaving New York). An old friend and his family were good enough to take me in while I was in Minneapolis - I spent a few nights sleeping in a tent in their back yard. There was a really incredible thunderstorm one of those nights.

How did you manage all the bookings, and contacting all the clubs? E-mail and links to online clips of yourself? Were there certain venues that were tougher to establish "e-rapport" with?

Other than what I already said above, I'll just add that some clubs unfortunately do not handle their own booking and so are unequipped to deal with "special" cases such as I was. At such clubs I was unable to even find someone to whom I could give my pitch. Thankfully, there were enough clubs open to what I was selling to give me some great spots. And of course, any independent shows I contacted were very open and responsive and represented some of the best gigs of the whole trip.

Were there some surprises along the way, where maybe you found kindred spirits in unexpected places?

I found a lot of kindred spirits along the way but I wasn't necessarily surprised. I always like meeting and hanging out with other comics and because I'd contacted a lot of people before I arrived, I already had people whom I knew I would meet and who wanted to show me around their city and introduce me to their comedy friends. That, without a doubt, was the best part of the trip - getting insider looks at the comedy scenes in all these different places. I had the good fortune of performing with Kumail Nanjiani and Andy Ross right before they moved to New York, so when I got back to town I already had two friends from the road here. Comics in Kansas City were really warm and inviting - I had lots of fun their and met so many great people, one of whom let me sleep on his couch when I didn't feel like making the drive back to Lawrence.

Were there any places where the comic sensibility of the locals felt way off from where you come from? Which is to say, were there places where people didn't "get you?"

No, I've never been anywhere where people simply didn't "get me." It's good to know how to read an audience and find ways to bring them into what you're doing onstage - of course, sometimes that's easier and sometimes it's harder. The most difficult sensibility I ran into was in Kansas City, where comics tended to be pretty rowdy and raucous whereas I tend to be pretty wry and satirical. But that was one of my favorite stops because I learned a lot about selling my wares, so to speak.

Did you make new friends along the way? Are you still in contact with some of those folks?

I made a lot of friends along the way - you, for example, Ms. McQuern! I have several good friends in New York now whom I met on the road right before they moved here (not only Kumail and Andy, but also Danny Solomon, a great comic from Kansas City). And I made other friends whom I've kept in touch with and whom I hope to see and perform with again.

What are some of the most valuable things you got out of this experience?

Other than all the great comics I got to see and meet and hang out with, the most valuable thing I got from the experience was just doing comedy in new and different places. In general, I think you gain a lot when you push yourself outside of your comfort zone. This is certainly true for comedy - I learned so much about feeling out audiences, winning over audiences, commanding attention, projecting a voice, staying loose, things like that. I definitely improved a lot during my time on the road.

Do you plan to do something like this again? I have to think it would make for a very cool documentary project.

I've got nothing in the works, no, but I would love to do something like this again and document the whole thing. I'm pushing for some festivals this year, so maybe 2009 will be the time to hit the road again. Short of embarking on another ambitious expedition such as this, though, I'm eager to get back to Chicago very soon. Without a doubt, Chicago has one of the most fun, lively and inventive comedy scenes I've experienced anywhere. Lincoln Lodge and Chicago Underground are two of the best shows I've ever done and I was consistently impressed by the comedians everywhere I went in Chicago. I spent more time there this summer than I did anywhere else (thanks, Craig and Ruth, for your delightful couch) and even so, it wasn't time enough. Which is good, because I get to look forward to going back.

-Elizabeth McQuern