Glen Wien

June's Featured Artist: Glen Wien Interview by JD Desharnais

JD: Assuming you are funny, lol, when did you first become aware that you were?
Glen: I’ve known for a long time that I was funny, but I’ve realized that being funny in everyday life doesn’t always transfer to being funny on stage. Ever since I could remember I was always the class clown or the person people would look to when they needed to laugh or smile. But that’s the easy part because anyone can be funny for a few seconds, the hard part is being consistently funny for an extended period of time when you’re on stage. I’m still learning that myself.

JD: Honestly, what do you think it is about observational humor that makes people laugh? Do you think it's the familiarity of a situation, something being said that people always wanted to say? What is it that connects a room full of people with the guy on the microphone?
Glen: I really enjoy doing observational humor because its such an easy target, not as easy as asian people but its up there (laughs).Seriously though, it’s the easiest form of comedy because youraudience doesn’t really have to think about a joke before laughing since most likely they have already witnessed something close to what you’re making fun of and like you said I am just saying something that other people wanted to say with a little twist or exaggeration to get a larger laugh from the audience. As far as the connection with a crowd, its simple because we have a huge advantage; and that is people come to comedy clubs for one thing…to laugh. So that’s a huge leg up for me. They already want to laugh so I need just need to do what I do best and help them achieve that laughter.

JD: Best "worst/corny" joke that you know is...
Glen: Writing comedy for a little over a year now I am finding out that everything I find funny isn’t always comedy gold and I have definitely written my share of misses and I will share a few of them now. When Martina Navritilova was diagnosed with non evasive breast cancer I said it really scared me and made me think, not because it struck a well conditioned athlete, I just didn’t realize men could suffer from breast cancer. Silence fell over the room and that made me laugh. I just wrote an other one that probably was a little too soon that they say death comes in 3’s and in the last week we lost Art Linkletter, Dennis Hopper and Gary Coleman so my question is “who is going to be the last half?” (laughs) I’m sorry I just find that funny.

JD: Who makes YOU laugh?
Glen: Well I’m at a disadvantage because I really happen to enjoy laughing so there are a lot of people who make me laugh. I use laughter to get me out of awkward or boring situations everyday. When I’m around people who like to talk a lot I usually zone them out but still pretend to be listening and just throw in a laugh every now and then to give the illusion that I’m actually listening. I haven’t been called on it yet but this interview may actually put an end to that. As far as comedians go, my two favorites hav e to be Bill Burr and Louis CK because I just find them hilarious.

JD: Where and when did you first perform your comedy on a stage? And give us the gory details!
Glen: Wow my first show was November 22, 2008 at Comix Comedy Club in NYC and it was definitely an experience I will never forget. I’ve been saying for years and years and years that I was going to be a stand-up comedian and I saw an opportunity and I grabbed it. The club was offering an eight week course on performing stand-up and the graduation class would be a live show at Comix in front of friends and family. So there I was in front of a crowd of over 300 people doing what I’ve always wanted to do.

JD: Is new material for your set something you set aside time to think up and work on or do u just get ideas out the blue and write them down or what?
Glen: Well writing plays an extremely important role when it comes to comedy unless of course you’re Carlos Mencia and you feel free to use other comedians' material, but I’d rather not go down that path. But seriously I’ve always hated writing, whether it was in school or work. Even office cards, when someone has a birthday or an anniversary and someone always wants you to write something funny because you’re a comedian. Like seriously, what can you possibly write that’s funny for a guy recovering from liver cancer? But I’m still re-training myself to enjoy writing, so I always carry a notepad and voice recorder on me so when I see or think of something that I find funny I’ll record it that minute and play with that idea when I get home.

JD: They say laughter is the best medicine. If your comedy was a prescription drug or an illegal narcotic, which drug would it be?
Glen: I actually agree with that statement because I truly believe that laughter is the best medicine and I believe that if doctors would give out tickets to comedy clubs instead of writing prescriptions for antidepressants it would eradicate depression. There was actually a study done in California where they would take seriously depressed people and have them watch funny movies for 8 hours a day for 30 days and wouldn’t you know it they were more likely to beat their depression than the people taking the medication. So I guess to answer your question in a really really long way I would say my comedy would be Prozac or Zoloft, the choice is yours.

JD: Whats the best and the worst venue you've ever played?
Glen: The best venue I’ve ever played had to be my first show at Comix Comedy Club simply because a large part of the crowd was friends and family which I believe to be the toughest crowd. I mean you have to see these people everyday and if you weren’t funny on stage they would definitely let you know it. Since I’ve first started performing comedy I’ve said all I need is one person to tell me that I’m not funny and I’ll give up and so far no one has taken me up on that offer so I must be doing something right (Laughs). As far as the worst venue I’ve played at, I would have to say this bar I performed at for a weekly comedy show because it was just down right awkward. I mean none of the customers knew they were having a comedy show so it was a really tough sell trying to make people laugh that were there simply to watch a ball game, play darts and get drunk, but I don’t blame them because I would have been pissed too if the roles were reversed.

JD: What's your goal during the time from when you step on stage until that little light that tells you that your time is up starts flashing? Are you more concerned with cracking people up or just not bombing? Or are you just thinking about what you'll eat after the show?
Glen: You know what, you never think about bombing on stage because you’re brain is very smart and it picks up on those things and tries to make it happen just to mess with you so when I go on stage I just focus on being myself and having a good time. The most enjoyment I get out of comedy is making myself laugh and it usually turns out that what I find funny, so does everybody else, so it’s a win-win. I remember, when I was taking a comedy course, my teacher told me to focus on something you're getting after your set (whether it’s a drink, a cigarette, a blowjob …whatever ) and I asked, "you said getting, right? Because I don’t know how good my blowjob skills are. I have a sharp tooth; it may get painful for somebody."

JD: Have you, or are you, considering writing something funny? Like a book of anectodes, jokes, or a collection of lists? Would that be something you'd consider? Or are you better at face to faces comedy?
Glen: That is always something I’ve wanted to do but for now my focus is on being a performer more than a writer. I’ve always been more of a people person than I was a behind the scenes guy …and the fact that I graduated college with a degree in accounting and ended up doing stand up comedy should speak for itself. Once I’ve mastered the world of comedy, I’m sure I’m going to get that itch to churn out a few books, but for now seeing people laugh makes me smile.

JD: Okay, quick.. Funniest movie? Go!
Glen: No doubt about it, hands down has to be Dodgeball because that movie is hilarious from beginning to end. Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller were an awesome combination and I could sit here and quote the movie all day if that’s what you want to do. Okay, I’ll give you just one, “Go ahead and make your jokes, Mr Jokey…..joke maker.” I’m sorry it's so stupid. It's funny… and that’s what comedy is all about; making fun of obvious everyday situations and I love it.

JD: Funniest hairstyle?
Glen: Dude, I remember when I was, like, 13 years old I asked the barber to give me a short haircut but I wanted him to shave the back to look like a “V”. To this day, I have no idea why I did that. I had never seen anyone with it, no one told me that I should do it, I just did it …and after getting abused and beat up for the rest of that week, I quickly realized that was not a good look and that I should never do that again. Lesson learned. But, now, anytime that I see someone with a hair color that is in the neon family, whether it's blue, green, orange, etc... I have to laugh because we all crave attention as individuals but if you don’t have any other skill to rely on to get people to notice you that you have to fall back on having “highlighter” hair… then more power to you.

JD: Worst interviewer ever?
Glen: Absolutely not, these questions definitely made me do some serious thinking and brought back some memories that I could definitely use for new material. I’m actually surprised I was able to stay focused through the entire interview because usually my ADD would kick in and I would just lose all concentration. So that says something about your interviewing skills.

JD: You’re too kind. Do you have any info to spread here in case anybody wants to check you out? Like showdates, links, or a website?
Glen: I do have a few shows coming up over the next few weeks ..the first being at Broadway Comedy Club in NYC on 6/3 at 7:30pm, and the next being at New York Comedy Club on 6/11 at 10pm. I always update my shows on facebook and twitter because seriously does anyone still use myspace?
You can find me on Facebook by simply typing in my name and on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GlenWien and Youtube atwww.Youtube.com/GlenWien I am constantly updating the information on there regarding upcoming shows, videos of previous performances as well as up and coming projects that I'm working on like my own Internet Reality Show - 'Wien In The City'.