The Stand-Up Chronicles

Comedian Mike Armstrong sits down for an interview with us this week. You’ve heard and seen him on “Bob and Tom”, HBO, Comedy Central, CMT, and BET. He’s a former police officer. We talk about transitioning from being a full-time cop to a full-time comic. We also talk about the business side of comedy and why he’s never been scared on stage.

Here’s more on Mike:

Raised by loving parents in the conservative mid-west in a small town near Louisville, Kentucky, Mike Armstrong enjoyed a fairly normal childhood. So, what went wrong?

He’s an ex-cop - the kind of cop that most people hope for when they get pulled over. “I’d stop cars and warn the speeding drivers about the speed traps up ahead.”

“I think that when I quit the police department three other cops lost their jobs. They simply didn’t need that many internal affairs officers anymore!” “I’ve been married so long, I don’t even look both ways when I cross the street.”

Mike and his wife have a small herd of children (five). The kids are clones of their father. They’ll say and do just about anything to get attention.

When a teacher asked son Christopher “…is that a lucky rabbits foot?” He responded, “…it was the only thing left in the trap… pretty lucky huh?” When the teacher called Dad to complain about the youngster’s behavior, Mike offered his true feelings… “Shut up! I’m not married to you!”

Check www.mikearmstrong.com for more information on Mike.

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Our guest this week is Dan Conlin, the owner of the Jukebox Comedy Club. The Jukebox has been open for nearly 20 years and Dan has run the club for almost 10 years. We discuss his career in radio, what he looks for when booking headliner and feature comics, and he tells the tale of the time he got into a fist fight with a customer.

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Tim Bedore joins us on this week to discuss working in radio, moving out of LA, and discovering animal conspiracies. You’ve heard Tim on “Bob and Tom” and NPR and you’ve seen him on HBO, Comedy Central and NBC.

Here’s more on Tim:

Over the past 20 years Tim Bedore has spent thousands of hours entertaining audiences, first on the radio and then as a comedian, headlining comedy clubs across the country. One of the few young comics to have combined the disciplines of stand-up comedy and broadcasting, Tim knows the rigors of working within demanding parameters.

Tim has kept his hand in the radio business through his radio commentary feature Vague But True®, which is heard (since 1997) regularly on public radio’s prestigious Marketplace program by over six-million people. Tim has written and recorded over two hundred-fifty installments of Vague But True. Producing these weekly commentaries for the radio keeps Tim’s stand-up comedy material fresh and topical.

Unlike many comedians whose material is only appropriate for night-clubs, Tim has been able to work very successfully in many different situations, including charity and corporate events as an entertainer and host.

Tim Bedore is a stand-up comedian whose unique background has produced a very professional entertainer who knows how to cut across the boundaries of individual attitudes and get an audience to enjoy his way of looking at the world.

For more on Tim, check out his website: www.vaguebuttrue.com

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Costaki Economopoulos joins us on the show this week. You know him from the weekly Economonologue segment on “Bob and Tom”. He’s also performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival. We talk about poker, writing the Economonologue segment for “Bob and Tom”, and balancing hobbies and babies.

Here’s more on Costaki:

In the spring of 1993 Costaki was doing graduate work at the University of Georgia. He spent most of his time hammering out a thesis on the influence of political satire on our feelings about government. His off time was spent honing his stand-up skills in pizza joints and bars around town. When he had to turn down a couple of gigs to work on the paper, it made his stomach hurt. He hung in there, finished the thesis, got his master’s degree, and within a year was a full-time comic on the road. He has been creating funniness for audiences all over the country 40+ weeks a year ever since.

His humor has been described as smart, pointed, hip, sharp, insightful, socially relevant, and gut-laugh funny. A fellow comic once referred to Costaki as a “casually brilliant joke philosopher.” His take on politics and religion will leave you thinking and laughing. And his light swagger, playful squint, and wry smile tell you that perhaps there’s more to this multi-layered joke than you first recognized.

Costaki began to make some noise in the business by reaching the finals of the Seattle Comedy Competition, where he was discovered and invited to the prestigious Montreal Comedy Festival. He was just one of ten finalists in Comedy Central’s Laugh Riots national talent search. Over the years, Costaki has performed in 47 states, covering the country’s best clubs, dozens of colleges and private shows, and some of the worst bars in America.

Also a talented writer, Costaki’s jokes have appeared on The Tonight Show, The Late Late Show, and Best Damn Sports Show Period. He was a writer for BET, where he was staffed on two of their hit shows. He wrote jokes for Bette Midler’s Kiss My Brass tour. Costaki spent Spring Break one year in Cancun writing on the MTV show Parental Approval. He also wrote daily for The Complete Sheet, a DJ prep service that goes out to almost 500 stations worldwide.

But he is easily best known for “The Economonologue,” a weekly segment on the syndicated Bob & Tom Radio Show that reaches some 5 and half million people in 150 markets. This national exposure has opened the door to Costaki’s dream: people coming to see his live performances “on purpose.”

After a recent performance with Jake Johannsen, Costaki’s mother said, “You were better than that other guy.” And really, is there anything more to say after that?

For more on Costaki, check out his website: www.costaki.com

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Tom Segura joins us this week to discuss luck in comedy, the difficulties of starting your comedy career in LA, and finding feature work. Tom has been on Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham” and can be seen in the short film “Cutman”. You can see “Cutman” at atom.com.

Here’s more on Tom:

Born in Cincinnati, Tom Segura has never stayed long in one place. After fleeing Ohio at an early age, Segura soon followed his parents fledgling business ventures and volunteer work to 12 U.S. states and 6 foreign countries. Segura eventually settled in Los Angeles to pursue a career on stage and television. You may have recently seen him sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in comedy: Dave Attell, Jay Mohr, Robert Schimmel, Charlie Murphy, and Sarah Silverman, just to name a few. Tom continues to tour the country performing for audiences with his unique perspective and filthy charm.

Check out his website: www.tomsegura.com

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Jake Johannsen joins us this week to talk about being on the “Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist”. We also talk about his writing process and the strangest places he’s ever done comedy. Jake has been on Letterman 38 times and had his own HBO special called, “This Will Take About An Hour”.

For more on Jake, check out his website: www.jakethis.com

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Our guest this week is Dale Jones. You’ve seen him on “Last Comic Standing” and heard him on “Bob and Tom”. He just performed at the Just for Laughs Festival in Chicago. He joins us this week to discuss starting his comedy career in Nashville, his comedy influences, and his experience on “Last Comic Standing”.

Here’s more on Dale:

Since 1993 Dale Jones has been perfecting his craft and has become one of the most wild and energetic comics in the country. He has entertained audiences at comedy clubs throughout the United States and Canada. His zany on-stage character always sends club patrons to the exits with lots of questions but no disappointments.

His machine gun style of delivery and animated facial contortions combined with quick improvisations and non-stop physical comedy leave the audience wishing they had his energy. Forget “high energy”– this is frantic! His shows are always a most memorable comedy experience. Club owners and managers have gotten used to fielding questions about when Dale will be returning.

Dale has had numerous television appearances including NBC - Last Comic Standing Season Six, Fox Television’s 30 seconds to Fame and The Comedy Network in Canada. He also appeared briefly in the 2003 MGM movie “Out Of Time” with Denzel Washington.

Dale started his career in Nashville, Tennessee. While working (mostly wasting) his days away in a factory, his co-workers dared him to try his hand at his life long dream, making people laugh. He stepped on stage for the first time at a Zanies Comedy Club’s open mike night. Two years later, Dale turned a dream into a reality and started doing stand-up full time.

Dale has worked hard to develop an act that’s truly original and non- stop funny, Dale has fashioned a show that reminds his audience of the great comedians that have influenced him. Abbott and Costello, Buster Keaton, Jerry Lewis, Tim Conway and Don Knotts.

These influences along with Dale’s unusual observations, only enhance his unique gift for physical comedy and animated facial expressions.

He can be heard on 2 nationally syndicated radio shows; THE BOB AND TOM SHOW and The BOB AND SHERI SHOW. He was one of 8 finalists in “The Great Canadian Laugh Off and he was invited to perform at THE BOSTON COMEDY FESTIVAL, which is a great honor for any working comedian.

Check out his website: www.dalejonescomic.com

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Robert Hawkins joins us on the show this week. He was a writer and actor on “Titus” and he’s had his own Comedy Central Presents. We talk about comedian head shots, writing for “Titus”, and getting started.

Here’s more on Robert:

You know, an enormous number of comics–including the vast majority of those who pass through the friendly little place we like to call Cap City–maintain career objectives that include aspirations toward acting in a sitcom, or writing for one. But, hell, Robert Hawkins has already done both–in the same series, no less: the late, lamented “Titus.”

Indeed, he was hired as a story editor, which means he wrote a script or two per season, and contributed mightily to the scripts written by his colleagues, adding jokes, improving dialogue, etc. Before long, his work in the writers room so impressed the Fox show’s producers–who also knew of his acting aspirations and abilities (a few years prior, he had landed a development deal with Fox)–that they cast him in a recurring guest role as Titus’ brother-in-law, Michael.

So when it comes to working in network television, while we wouldn’t exactly say “been there, done that”–we’re guessing that under the right circumstances, he might be persuaded to return to such work–he has logged that experience, and his passion for stand-up has never wavered.

Not coincidentally, perhaps, he’s always had a tremendous flair and a considerable gift for it. One measure of this would be his results over the years in comedy competitions, or similar enterprises.

For example, in 1993, he won the California State University Comedy Competition, while the next year he was a finalist in the San Francisco International Comedy Competition, a contest as venerable and prestigious as Funniest Person In Austin. Then, in 1996, he wowed audiences and industry figures in Montreal at the Just For Laughs International Comedy Festival, which led to Robert being awarded the aforementioned Fox development deal.

In 2001, he was voted one of the 25 top comics in the country in a poll of comedy club owners nominating candidates for the American Comedy Awards. And, perhaps needless to say (given all these victories, achievements and accolades), he’s starred in his own Comedy Central half-hour special, appeared on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” and a slew of other TV shows.

Still, when all is said and done about his work–cable TV, network TV, writing, acting, etc.–Robert Hawkins’ first love is performing comedy in a club in front of a live audience, and obviously he’s pretty damn good at it. Do you want to miss that? Didn’t think so.

Check out his website: www.roberthawkins.biz

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Comedian Greg Morton has been seen on Bob and Tom and Comedy Central. His song “Obama Man” has over 3 million hits on YouTube. We talk about his former career in animation, his time at Second City in Toronto, and we get a little nerdy at the end with video game talk.

Here’s more on Greg:

In his more than 20-year long career in comedy, Greg Morton has been described as “Mr. Standing O”, “a whining cross between Jerry Seinfeld and Jerry Lewis” and “bizarre, original, slick and hilarious.” But when you see him perform, there is one other description that you can add to what Greg Morton is all about “The Ultimate Stand-Up Comedy Act.”

Greg regularly performs in front of packed crowds at comedy clubs across North America, where his shows are always highly anticipated, are greeted with loud, uproarious laughter and are constantly sold out. And he is a fan favorite at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, in Atlantic City and at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. And if you can’t catch Greg on the club circuit, you probably saw him do his original brand of stand-up comedy on the tube, in particular “Premium Blend” on Comedy Central, and “Comics Unleashed” with Byron Allen on the CW network.

But what makes up Greg Morton’s “Ultimate Stand-Up Comedy Act”? First of all, there’s his wide-eyed, anxiety-ridden style of observational comedy. Whether it’s politics, children’s toys, or even hurricanes, he pokes holes at what in the world bothers him in an approach that can best be labelled as “there’s a lot of stupid and absurd things in the world today and this is my stern warning to you.” Second, Greg also has a talent for impersonating voices of celebrities and fictional characters which has transcended into his two trademark routines ‘ condensing the Star Wars saga and the Lord of the Rings trilogy in two minutes each, complete with voices, mannerisms and sound effects. Finally, there’s his fast-paced musical salute to the 1980s, where through accurate lip-synching and quick costume changes, Greg transforms himself into the decade’s pop icons like Michael Jackson, Prince, Tina Turner, Mick Jagger and Aerosmith.

A native of Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, Greg began his career not telling jokes, but drawing cartoons, as an illustrator for such animated shows and films like “Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo” and “Heavy Metal.” However, a career at the drawing table was not enough to satisfy Greg’s extroverted, restless nature. So he put down his drawing pencil and took up the microphone as a mobile DJ, and performed at clubs where he played records, told jokes and did comedy skits between the songs. It was following one his DJ gigs at an Edmonton, Alberta club that provided the genesis of his signature Star Wars routine. While the club was being cleaned up after closing time, the bartender, a Star Wars fan, decided to play the movie’s soundtrack over the sound system. Greg then adlibbed some jokes into it, which convinced the bartender that Greg should include it in his act.

In 1986, following stints doing voicework and directing animated productions, Greg combined his talents for joke telling, voice imitations and spinning records and made the transition to stand-up comedy.

And Greg hasn’t forgotten his cartoon roots, as his talents as a voiceover peformer is much in demand, and he can be heard in such animated productions as “Police Academy”, “Super Mario Bros. 3″, “Hammerman” and “Hello Kitty.”

Three kinds of comedy - one comedian - that’s Greg Morton, the “Ultimate Stand-Up Comedy Act.”

Check out his website: www.gregmorton.com

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