Showered and ready for the big stage
Comedian and Bumping Mics star Dave Attell brings classic standup to JFL Northwest
JFL NORTHWEST When: Feb. 14-24
Where: Various venues
Tickets and Info: jflnorthwest.com
American comic Dave Attell may be a little out of his comfort zone when he first steps out onto the Vogue Theatre stage for a JFL Northwest comedy festival show on Feb. 14.
“I’m not really a theatre comic. It is a little bit different and interesting for me because I’m a club comic,” said Attell from New York City recently.
Used to sitting on a stool mostly in front of brick wall, Attell said he does prepare differently for theatre gigs like the one here on Valentine’s Day. (Vogue Theatre, 9:30 p.m., tickets $45.50 from eventbrite.ca)
“I shower,” said Attell who is praised and revered by his peers and was named one of the 25 Funniest People in America by Entertainment Weekly.
“I pick it up, I wear a bow tie. No, seriously, it is more about the space. A club is great. You can really connect and interact with the crowd. With the theatre you have to kind of perform up to a next level. It’s usually a little more. You saw Rent live? Something like that.”
If you are a fan and a lucky enough one to have caught him at his unofficial home club The Comedy Cellar in New York you won’t be disappointed with the theatre show. After all, Attell’s got 30-plus years in standup comedy, so nothing is going to rattle this veteran performer.
He even managed to sit through an interview with Larry King and not be put into a trance by what looked to be King’s freshly shoe-polished hair. Attell was there with his comedy pal and Netflix Bumping Mics partner Jeff Ross.
“Jeff is way better at show business than me,” said Attell.
He talked about the duo’s quest-like promotional tour for the three-part Bumping Mics special.
"It was all very weird. Here I am talking to a guy I grew up watching. My mother had a crush on him, that kind of thing,” said Attell about the Larry King Now interview from December 2018.
“At the end of the interview he got up and he was wearing jeans and I was 'wow, the king is wearing jeans.'"
Attell’s resume goes well beyond the live standup stage. He wrote for Saturday Night Live and appeared as a regular on The Daily Show. There are TV comedy specials, TV shows like Insomniac with Dave Attell and Dave Attell’s Underground, as well as roles in many movie comedies, including the hit Trainwreck.
Even with all that in his pocket, Attell — like many in show business — not only creates but has to sell, too. It’s kind of an entertainment Etsy business model.
“Comedy is such a job now. It used to be morning radio, you do one or two interviews and now it’s almost like a 24/7 job. With the Instagram, put up a viral video, put up a meme — all these different things. I’m definitely aged out of that part of the world of promotion, but when I see these younger comics they are all over it. It’s so natural to them, it’s like breathing,” said the 54-year-old comedian.
“Everybody out there is promoting themselves. They really believe in themselves. They must have had amazing parenting to be able to believe in themselves that strongly."
It’s a wonder that comics and other live performers care any more, as audiences are consistently disrespectful of the live experience and the concept of intellectual property and someone’s livelihood.
Hitting the record button on the phone is like a reflex for many audience members these days, and the result is often a bad video. When it comes to performers, especially comedians, the cellphone is a censorship device that forces them to engage the political correctness filter in a bid to avoid being piled on by a fast-forming social media gang.
“That is the question of the day,” said Attell about the cellphone issue. "Should people be allowed to videotape and audio tape you while you’re in a club?
"I say the answer is no, for a lot of reasons. First of all it is a unique experience — I think every standup show is really its own entity and it can never be repeated. At least the way I do it, the crowd is as big a part of it as I am. You never know what is going to happen.
“Knowing people are recording makes you put a filter up so right away there the show has become almost a defensive crouch. You know, that kind of show where these people are not fans they are just really more gawking and they just want to post it. For me personally, the introduction of phones into the whole world of comedy ... has hurt it, hasn’t helped it. Especially for the younger comics, every set they are ever going to do is going to be recorded."
It seems the point for the people recording is to just prove they were there and exist out in the world.
“A lot of it is people just want to post something. Content is content,” said Attell.
“That, to me, is really kind of sad because the real comedy fans they know that the comic is usually working on material. It’s not done yet. When the comic puts it out as a special or an album or something like that, that’s the thing they want to share with the world — not the prep up to it, you know?”
Comic Dave Chappelle has joined the ranks of British royal family members and George Clooney and takes away people’s phones.
"I think we have jumped the shark on that one. It looks like a senate hearing sometimes,” said Attell of the backlash and finger pointing that can come after a comic is posted online.
But despite the fear of a social media mob, the extra promotional requirements and the stresses of travel Attell is still a big fan of the comedy racket.
“It’s hard,” said Attell about working on jokes. “I’m not the strongest joke writer but I really put a lot of effort in to it. I also check my material trying to make sure I’m not going down old territory, trying to make it as unique as possible. That is to me the job of it and the fun of it and the excitement of it.”
Attell is part of a 2019 JFL Northwest roster that includes top names like the red-hot Michelle Wolf, Ken Jeong, Gabriel Iglesias, Howie Mandel, Whitney Cummings, Fred Armisen, Morgan Murphy, Todd Glass and Aziz Ansari.
The festival, which had 60,000 attendees last year, is not just a standup event. There are musical acts, live podcasts, cooking and chatting, special presentations and a film festival, now in its second year.
Comedy is such a job now. It used to be morning radio … and now it’s almost like a 24/7 job.”
Dave Attell