New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
CHAPPELLE MENTOR TONY WOODS AT STRESS FACTORY.
Washington, D.C., comedy veteran Tony Woods — the guy Dave Chappelle says is “the first person I ever saw do it absolutely right” — flies by the seat of his pants on stage. And it works.
“I don’t sit around writing jokes or going over my material or practicing,” Woods said. “I just kind of go. Yeah. It’s frustrating to some people who are sitting around and writing and rewriting and writing and rewriting.”
Nope, Woods is not that guy. “If you want it written down, I’m, ahhh, stuck,” he said.
Instead, he’s all about the truth and whatever’s on his mind. Take, for example, when we asked about a 2019 New York Times article in which Chappelle pays tribute to him, he shared that a framed copy hangs in his mom’s house. But he’s never read it.
“Some other family members have it up. I have some friends who have it and say, ‘You gotta come over and see it.’ I say, ‘I didn’t read it’ and they say ‘Yeah you did.’ I didn’t. But I talked to the guy, Jason (Zinoman), who wrote it, and I thanked him.”
Woods is aware comics like Chappelle and others say he influenced their careers, but he downplays such things. “I can’t say I was Dave’s main influence, but if Dave says I was his main influence, I’ll go with that.”
The Stress Factory in Bridgeport is where Woods will share his comedic gifts next; the five-show gig runs Thursday, Dec. 10 through Saturday, Dec. 12. Woods spoke about what the audience can expect and more, in a phone chat.
“I was born in New York and raised in Charlotte, N.C. Then we moved to D.C. People always told me I had a different angle on things, which made them laugh,” said Woods, whose credits include a half-hour Comedy Central special, plus appearances on HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” and other shows. He was also part of the Funny or Die Oddball Comedy Tour and will appear on Tiffany Haddish’s “They Ready,” on Netflix, according to his bio.
A military medic (during Desert Storm), Woods said he’s always had a relaxed demeanor and was never one to walk around mad at life. His mellow way of being was helpful at times, like when he needed to calm people in medical situations. But it could also be problematic, when seriousness was stressed. He found his calling with comedy.
“One thing about comedy is you can get up and talk about your crazy ex-girlfriend. At first you think it’s just you, but then you hear people laugh and go ‘Oh,
OK, we all got one.’ Oh, we all got bad kids. Oh, we all have bills. Oh yeah, we all have a raggedy car.”
Being an off-the-cuff comic who “can’t read the future,” Woods couldn’t go into detail about his Bridgeport shows. But he did say, “It’s like Christmas morning. You don’t know what you gonna get, but it’s gonna be good.”
Think of it this way: Something special is coming, but it’s still in the box and he wants it to be fresh, so he’s not going to put it together just yet.
“Let me talk about this.
Let me talk about that,” said Woods, who is known for his cool conversational delivery. “I gotta go with how I feel. I go with the flow. What I’m going through or what makes me laugh seems to make other people laugh, too.”
There will be loads of stuff about Christmas and the holidays, he said, but not everyone is happy around the holidays.
“Don’t get me wrong, my comedy is like, you know how Lucy was, you know, ‘Lucy! Don’t do that!’ That’s how my material is. From the beginning you’re thinking, ‘Oh, this won’t turn out right.’ But it’s gonna turn out funny!”
The Stress Factory, 167 State St., Bridgeport. Thursday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday Dec. 11 and 12, 6 and 8 p.m. Two-item minimum per person. You must purchase the table for the number of people in your party. $40 table for two, $80 table for four. Masks required except when seated at table. bridgeport.stressfactory.com