Revised!!! In January, 2009. Finally Answered Questions.

Part TWO is here. And, even older FAQ's are here!

The usual stuff:

What is your comedy about?

I write about life as a disabled person. My comedy also reflects a background in improvisation and music, which usually leads to at least one song per set. I'm also known as someone who talks about the lovely absurdity of life in general, sports, and certainly life as a person trying to follow the American Dream.

Are your animals in any of your show?

For those unaware, I do have rats. Lots of them. I have more rats than I've had boyfriends. Maybe even more than that. I also have chinchillas, cats, fish, and the neighbors call me "Dr. Doolittle". About ten years ago, I brought rats with me on stage, but I discovered that some comedy clubs schedules and food regulations made it difficult to keep a critter content, or a waitress from tossing an expensive girly-drink. You can see the rats doing their thing on Youtube.com under RatRoomTV.

How has comedy changed since you started out?

I started just as the stand-up world was heading for a bombardment of new talent. In the 1980's, you could go to two or three comedy clubs a night, and although the pay wasn't always great, it was not uncommon to work in the same night as Jerry Seinfeld, Jake Johanssen, Rita Rudner, and Roseanne. By the end of the Reagan years, comedy wasn't as lucrative for club-owners, and they closed their doors. We went from working paid gigs nightly to hunting for any rooms that would allow any stage time. As a result, a lot of comics weren't really writing as well, and certainly weren't working to be better comedians, even the ones who wanted to be seen by casting directors. You'd find that the people who were doing intelligent, smart, really skilled stage work, (Charles Fleischer for instance), were pushed aside by younger voices who wanted to talk about sex, drugs, and MySpace.

One of the biggest changes was the advent of Youtube. People who couldn't get stage time were producing their own channels of creative comedy. Brandon Muller is a great example of someone who harnassed the net to promote his work. Dane Cook became a marketing genius and used MySpace to be a household name. Satellite radio introduced millions of people to the work of Jackie Kashian. With instant comedy comes a strange club based comedy change- the audiences weren't interested in what TV shows their comics were on- they wanted to see how many hits they got on Facebook or MySpace. A comic could fill a room in any city if they had enough internet friends who lived there.

There seems to be a swing back towards clubs again, is that going to change stage time?

Yes. Rather than just finding headliners in nationally recognized clubs that weathered the highs and lows of stand-up, you'll find them at the local bars, and even at backyard parties. Doug Stanhope is brilliant at bringing the crowds to him wherever he is. Smaller theaters are discovering that stand-up is a great way to fill dark nights. And, whenever we're in an economic downturn, you'll find a low-cost, great night out is often in a comedy club.

Where is comedy going to be in five years?

Cell phones. Seriously. With the changes in communication, the increase in immediate-media, (immedia?), the world of iphones, net, all of it- we're going to see a lot more comedy using the forms of communication that we're placing into our every day life. Any comic can have a channel, a podcast, and even their own interactive fan club. It's wonderful.

You've produced a lot of shows and tours, what do you think a club can do to become a comedy club?

I had this question sent to me by several schools that wanted to start their own comedy club, several club owners who wanted to switch from Music to comedy, and even a casino owner who said they had trouble getting people into their club. The basics of a good comedy room include the following:

• The ability of the comedian to see close to eye level with an audience, rather than looming overhead.
• Lighting that doesn't make the audience wonder what color the comic is, or the comic shouldn't be blinded by spots- and should be able to see at least the first few rows.
• A sound system needs to be clear, with good mics, (more clubs skimp on microphones!)
• Keep the comics to a set time- and ensure that they STAY on their time. No one wants to work with a stage hog, and no one wants to see a comic who just stammers well past the light.
• Audience has to have the ability to afford not only the door price, but the bar fare, too. (Overpricing drinks to make up for a low door is just ludicris.)
• The discipline of waitstaff and bar staff makes a huge difference. If you have a club that is filled with loud, rude staff, you'll bring a crowd in that is equally loud and rude.
• The club owner's needs to be able to maintain a heckler-free atmosphere. No one wants to be around a heckler, except the heckler, and that makes for a memorable night for all, comics and audience members, who weren't planning on being annoyed by someone hell-bent on being the center of attention. Yes, we all know that hecklers exist, but more comics and more audiences have a much better night if there is less of that nonsense. A club owner who can't control the heckler isn't doing himself any good.
• A club does well when the audience feels important. The audience needs to know the club will have a great wait staff, clean restrooms, special 'deals' for them.
• A club does well when booked comics can tell other comedians, "hey, I'd work for this club again." No one wants to work in a club that charges performers for drinks, demands the comic pays for a ticket to his own show, (comps, people, comics bring bodies in with them). No one wants to work for a club that decides to censor after hiring, or that wants to tell a comic, "you should just do material about grandparents tonight." A green room is a place to focus for the show, not to be the store room for the bar back.
• Press is not just a comic's job, and a good club will have a marketing plan in place- and not just "Oh, you need to bring in 10 people to play here." Pay-for-Play rooms are not a smart move on the club owner's part, expecting the comedian to be the ONLY marketing is just nonsense. A majority of touring comics have NO idea what your city does for press- what radio, newspaper, TV is more popular than another. If the club puts effort into filling seats, the comic will have a better time working on getting his or her fan base into those seats, too.

What makes a good comic?

No one can say " You're funnier than.." and be right. What Ida in New York thinks is funny, Andy in Santa Monica may find boring and vice versa. But, you can tell when a comic has a command of the stage, knows material, understands what an audience is laughing at or not, and one who can work in any atmosphere, whether it be a high school assembly or a 2am Strip Club. A good comic is someone who tries to be true to himself, true to his material, and true to his profession. It's easy to see what a bad comic is-

• Goes over time during sets
• Shows up right before his set, and leaves right afterwards when there isn't another gig scheduled.
• Talks over another comic's set, or belittles another comedian's work.
• Uses another comedian's material as his or her own.
• Bad mouths another comedian, club, or even booking agent (burning bridges is bad, bad, bad.)
• Only does blue material, and doesn't have a clean set. If you want to work road, colleges, conventions, or anywhere that is not just a local bar- you have to be able to do your show in a clean version as well as how you would normally do it if you're naturally a blue comic. Redd Foxx, the ultimate blue comic, still held court on Television without dropping F-bombs nonstop.
• Does street jokes, (the stuff you've heard as "jokes" your whole life), or rambles over his punchlines so the audience doesn't hear it.

What do you think of Alternative Comedy?

Love it.

So, here are the FAQ's for 2003. The more personal ones? They're here.