an e-mail interview by Mike Baker
Doug Stanhope is one of the most volatile, energetic, devistatingly funny stand-ups working today. You probably know him from the Man Show and the Girls Gone Wild video, but if you haven't seen his stand-up you don't know Doug.
He is often spoken of as a descendant of the Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Bill Hicks lineage of boundry pushing socially relevant comics. Stanhope has a take no prisoners stage presence. He's rough, he's loud, he's vulgar, and he rattles some cages. Add to that the perfect mix of being a likeable guy and you have the makings of some of the best stand-up shows you're likely to see.
Doug is currently assembling a group of comics that don't quite fit the current trends in comedy club humor called the Unbookables. This "Land of the Misfit Toys" tour will hopefully make it to Cleveland. Stay tuned to Cleveland Yucks for Details.
Visit Doug's Website and read a Cleveland Yucks review of his recent Youngstown show.
Doug was gracious enough to answer a few questions by e-mail:
MB: I’ve read some interviews where you said that doing comedy is extremely
easy for you and you don’t understand how it can be so hard for
some people. I find it really hard. Were you good right from the start
or was there
a period
of sucking like most comics have before you got your chops and stage
presence together? If so, how long did that last?
DS: I don't know what interview you are referring to but I guess its all in what part of "doing comedy" you mean. Writing material, performing in front of crowds, getting laughs, getting work, etc are all part of doing comedy. Sure I sucked when I started on some level but I didnt realize how much I sucked until I got better and looked back at it. By the same rule, I very well may suck now.
MB: You do pretty confrontational humor and your shows are fairly rough edged. Was this the type of stuff you started out doing or was there a point where you shifted to it?
DS: I was always fairly vulgar in my act but there wasnt much social relevence at the beginning. The content has shifted more as I've got older and my interests have changed.
MB: Did you have trouble getting bookings early in your career because of the type of humor you do?
DS: Probably. But when you start out its always hard to get work and you are rarely told why you arent getting booked. They might not think you are funny, they might think youre too dirty, they might simply hate your guts or think you'll fuck their favorite waitress. But they dont usually tell you. They just say "Call me next February, I'm all booked up," or "I havent had a chance to watch your tape."
MB: How many times have you had your ass kicked after shows?
DS: Once, but it had nothing to do with my act.
MB: Most people are going to know you from the Man Show and the Girls Gone Wild video. Neither of those seems to be even close to the level of humor in your standup shows. Do you have any regrets for doing either?
DS: Overall, no. It's frustrating when people only know you from something that sucked but I'd be completely unknown otherwise. And as much as the finished product stank of killed shit, the experience was well worth it. And the money allowed me to do a lot of things I wouldn't have been able to do.
MB: When I spoke to you in Youngstown, you said that you weren’t happy with the Man Show. What do you think was the problem with that show that it never seemed to click for you?
DS: Too numerous to count. Lawyers, censors, network douches, production company fingerfuckers and not enough knowledge of the business to know how to override all of it. Not to mention that the whole concept of the show was completely wrong for our sense of humor. If we could have done it the way we wanted, I still dont think fans of Adam and Jimmy would have liked it.
MB: Speaking of Youngstown, did you hang out in that horrible disco in the front of the comedy club after shows? Any stories?
DS: I'm sure I drank in a dark corner somewhere. If any good story came out of it, I don't remember.
MB: Do you find the current conservative bent in the country now an obstacle to your comedy or a benefit in that it provides so much material?
DS: It cant help but help in a live show. That threat of angry dissent from part of the audience - even if its only my own paranoia - puts a lot more adreneline into my set.
MB: You’re currently putting together a tour of comics you like that are too unusual for the club circuit called the Unbookables. This seems like an act of defiance to the stale state of comedy in America. How do you see the current state of stand-up, why do you think it is that way, and what do you think the future holds?
DS: Its as self-serving as it is defiant. I'm as bored with this business as I think the audience should be. I want to work with people that challenge me, that add that level of chaos that a live show should have. Opening acts shouldn't be something that the audience has to tolerate in order to hear you. And thats what happens in too many clubs. There is some unwritten rule that a show has an mc, feature and headliner and they will stick to that even when they have no budget or local talent pool to make sure that all those acts are worth watching.
Then you have new comics who are worth watching but aren't going to get booked in any supporting bill because the rest of the line-up is selling wet shit on a buckled paper plate, so to put anything challenging in front of it will fuck up the sauce.
People rarely walk out of a club because they are bored. If you push them, you'll get the occasional disgruntled walkout or complaint but if you bore them, they'll quietly leave and they wont come back. Thats what happened when the comedy boom died. Clubs kept giving them a diet of observational fat-free mayonaise and other hokum and they quietly got bored and stopped coming. "Did you ever notice...?" Yes we did. And we didnt think it was worth mentioning.
But the clubs don't notice that. They notice the one angry outburst or comment card because a comic had a great AIDS joke and that comic isn't going to work anymore, regardless of the rest of the crowd that was pissing themselves.
MB: How did you pick the comics for the Unbookables? How did you run across them in the first place?
DS: A lot are guys I've worked with, comics who only get to work in their home club when the odd "dirty" act is headlining. Some are loose cannons who have reputations for snapping or getting too fucked up on stage, comics who just don't go out on the road because they are tired of the bullshit. It'll be like the Oakland Raiders of comedy without the gang-member following.
MB: What’s next for Doug Stanhope?
DS: Enjoying my days.
MB: I’m really looking forward to the Unbookables and hope we can bring you to Cleveland.
DS: Cleveland is one of the first places we want to hit.