WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.040 All right, welcome back to Good News York. I 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:08.019 am joined by comedian, friend, promoter, Kenneth 00:00:08.019 --> 00:00:11.279 McLaurin. Do you prefer Kenneth or Kenny? Let's 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:13.460 go with Kenneth. Kenneth. I know, it sounds way 00:00:13.460 --> 00:00:15.740 more professional. Kenneth McLaurin. We're here 00:00:15.740 --> 00:00:18.780 with Kenneth McLaurin. He is the Ithaca, New 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:20.660 York comedy scene as far as I'm concerned. I 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:23.420 live in Ithaca, and as a comedian, I appreciate 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:26.039 everything you're doing. The irony is that... 00:00:26.059 --> 00:00:27.920 When I just found out about all the great things 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:29.760 you were doing, I've been working in Syracuse 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:31.800 here, so I haven't been able to hit the open 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.619 mics like I'd like to, but that is coming. Kenneth, 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:37.280 welcome to the show. I'm so happy to have you. 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:40.460 As I said, I love what you're doing for the Ithaca 00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:43.100 comedy scene and in general. I met you through 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:45.140 Mike Peters, Homebrewed Comedy Circuit. We were 00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:48.119 on a bill together. You're hilarious, obviously. 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:52.420 Tell me, tell me how this all started, the idea 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:56.000 of Comedy on the Commons and... really cultivating 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.039 this amazing scene that you have in Ithaca. It 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:04.200 just started with, I moved to Ithaca from Raleigh 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:08.180 probably like 10, 11 years ago. And I just started 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:11.540 doing standup comedy there. And when I came to 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:14.480 Ithaca, it was really no comedy scene. I think 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:17.959 if I wanted, I used to drive to Syracuse every 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:21.760 day, once a week for standup comedy open mic 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.959 that they had. at the club that used to be down 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:30.299 on South Selena Street. And it was just bustrating. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.200 And then I would go to open mics here in Ithaca, 00:01:34.420 --> 00:01:38.079 like the singer songwriter open mics, and there'd 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:41.019 be no opportunity to really perform or have shows. 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:45.540 So I was like, hey, instead of driving to Syracuse 00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:49.480 and looking for other people who were doing comedy 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:52.060 and trying to... get on shows with them. I was 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:55.500 like, hey, you know what? I'm here. I might as 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:57.959 well just start producing shows myself. So in 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:02.280 some way, it started as me looking for a way 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:06.260 to just do comedy. That's awesome, man. Yeah, 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:09.919 that's, from my point of view, that's how it 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:13.620 happened for me. I was... I got back into comedy 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:15.039 and I thought, you know, I got to start hitting 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.360 open mics, book shows. And Mike Peters was, uh, 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:20.080 someone hooked me up with him and he, at the 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.000 time, he was really the only one in the area 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:24.800 doing things close to Ithaca. And then all of 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.340 a sudden, you know, I start hearing about this 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:29.879 comedy on the commons and hearing your name. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:31.599 And then like I said, we did a show together 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:35.360 and I thought, finally, this guy's creating a 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:37.639 scene because Ithaca has always been known for 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:41.000 its culture and its live music scene. But you're 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.860 right, there was never really a true comedy scene, 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:47.699 so it's fantastic what you're doing. Now, Comedy 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:50.780 on the Commons, I mean, that is a festival, but 00:02:50.780 --> 00:02:52.860 that's also your website, right? That's the name 00:02:52.860 --> 00:02:55.879 of your, of the whole deal, right? Yes, that 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:59.360 is. So when I started, we have the Commons on 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.159 Ithaca, and most of the shows that I were doing 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:05.060 were downtown and different venues. We do pop 00:03:05.060 --> 00:03:07.360 -up shows. And so I was like, you know what, 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:09.699 we're gonna bring comedy on the Commons. But 00:03:09.699 --> 00:03:14.479 ironically Mike, we are rebranding that now this 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:19.639 year. Commuacommons has been great. It has grown 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:24.219 comedy in Ithaca in so many ways. I think one 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:26.860 of the challenges with Ithaca in comedy is that 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:30.159 Ithaca is such a transient city and community. 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:35.080 And we have a vibrant, popping comedy scene. 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:39.060 Our comedians from Ithaca. are going to other 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:42.360 places and doing very well, just in upstate New 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:47.680 York, Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse. But we don't 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.080 have many comedians here in Ithaca that have 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:55.620 been doing comedy for longer than four years. 00:03:56.259 --> 00:03:59.719 We have people come in and sometimes they're 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:02.539 affiliated with the college or sometimes they're 00:04:02.539 --> 00:04:04.560 married to somebody who's affiliated with the 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.900 college. And so people come, they do stand up 00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:12.159 comedy here for as long as they're here. They're 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.120 part of the scene, but eventually it moves and 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:19.480 flips. So that's always been, that's always been 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:24.779 a challenge, but like we're, we have a lot of 00:04:24.779 --> 00:04:27.939 momentum. And with that, we decided that we wanted 00:04:27.939 --> 00:04:32.360 to rebrand our comedy scene and what we're doing 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.569 with comedy. So it could be a little broader 00:04:35.569 --> 00:04:39.569 and go and travel a little more. With that, with 00:04:39.569 --> 00:04:43.569 that, what we're doing now is Comedy HOF, Stand 00:04:43.569 --> 00:04:46.029 Up Comedy Hall of Fame, where you can discover 00:04:46.029 --> 00:04:50.069 the new icons of stand -up comedy. I love it. 00:04:50.370 --> 00:04:54.589 Comedy HOF is the new name? Yep. Comedy HOF is 00:04:54.589 --> 00:04:56.370 what we're starting to brand. We're branding 00:04:56.370 --> 00:04:58.949 out. So you can still find things under Comedy 00:04:58.949 --> 00:05:03.069 on the Commons, but Comedy HOF is out there now. 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:06.399 and you're seeing more things with that branding 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:10.300 and we're in a little bit more places doing shows. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.000 That's awesome. Are you still gonna do that festival 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.959 of Comedy on the Commons? Is that still gonna 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:18.740 be a thing? Oh yeah, that's still gonna be a 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:22.879 thing. We've actually been taking registrations 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:26.420 and I think we're almost at our submission limit 00:05:26.420 --> 00:05:32.120 for Ithaca Labs. It happens May 29th to 31st 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:34.939 every year. And now we're calling it the Ithaca 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:39.899 Labs Festival. Yes. Ithaca Labs 2025. Well, that 00:05:39.899 --> 00:05:42.360 is something you and I will have to talk off 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:44.540 the air. Living in Ithaca and being a comedian, 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:47.199 it's absolutely ridiculous that I haven't been, 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:49.560 on my end, it's ridiculous that I haven't been 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:51.759 involved with all the amazing stuff you're doing. 00:05:52.019 --> 00:05:54.779 It's just been a matter of I'm not in Ithaca 00:05:54.779 --> 00:05:58.060 as much as I was. So that's fantastic. May 29th 00:05:58.060 --> 00:06:00.879 through May 31st every year. In downtown Ithaca, 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:05.339 it is Ithaca Laughs Festival. We do the festival 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:08.399 at the same time that they're having the Ithaca 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:10.779 Festival. So it's a great time to be in Ithaca. 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:15.040 It's a lot of things going on. You have the craft, 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:16.839 the art festival and the things that you've been 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:19.139 doing in the daytime. And then hang out with 00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:21.439 us in the evening for some great stand -up comedy. 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:24.319 That's very smart, Kenneth. Kenneth McLaurin, 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:28.339 comedy HOF, comedy on the commons or formerly 00:06:28.339 --> 00:06:30.439 comedy on the commons. That's a brilliant move, 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:32.639 right? Because for those of you that don't know, 00:06:32.740 --> 00:06:34.699 Ithaca Festival every year is a very big deal, 00:06:35.139 --> 00:06:37.959 especially if you own a Volvo. They have a parade 00:06:37.959 --> 00:06:40.519 where they parade Volvos around. But there's 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:43.579 a huge, wild parade that looks like a nightmare, 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:47.100 and I love it. And you've got food, you've got 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:50.279 art, you've got music, and now, obviously, Kenneth 00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:53.439 bringing comedy at night. So smart because you're 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:55.600 talking about a ton of foot traffic throughout 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:57.959 the day and night. So we can look forward to 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:00.279 that now. I do know you also have a bunch of 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:02.779 open mics at college town bagels among other 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:04.699 places. If you want to talk about that a little 00:07:04.699 --> 00:07:08.579 bit. Oh yeah. We've actually, we, we, our comedy 00:07:08.579 --> 00:07:11.860 community has grown so we can sustain multiple 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:15.279 open mics. We have our core open mic that everybody 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.860 loves on the first and third Tuesday at the downstairs. 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:22.160 It's a great place to come out. We like it, man, 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:25.579 because it's a real welcoming open mic. It's 00:07:25.579 --> 00:07:29.790 got a nice crowd. of like post carpet open bikes. 00:07:30.069 --> 00:07:33.810 We've got a nice crowd, a welcoming crowd. And 00:07:33.810 --> 00:07:37.230 then we're doing on the first, I'm sorry, on 00:07:37.230 --> 00:07:40.589 the second and fourth Mondays, we have the open 00:07:40.589 --> 00:07:43.009 mic at College Town Vehicles in College Town. 00:07:43.529 --> 00:07:45.569 We thought it's a great opportunity, especially 00:07:45.569 --> 00:07:49.170 during the school year, for us to get up there, 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:52.509 get a new crowd, and then allow some of the students 00:07:52.509 --> 00:07:54.790 who are interested in comedy, give them a space 00:07:54.790 --> 00:07:57.740 to come down. and try it out or do some work. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:02.019 And then we're at Deep Dive every other Wednesdays 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:05.660 where that is one of the Ithaca's old school 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:09.259 or OG hangouts. And we're, we're excited about 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:11.500 having the opportunity to bring some comedy down 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:14.439 there too. Yeah, man. I worked at, I hung out 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:17.180 when it was Castaways and I worked there when 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:19.379 it was the dock. I was the assistant manager 00:08:19.379 --> 00:08:22.680 and that place is, it's such an amazing spot. 00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:26.379 And it just keeps. turning over and turning over, 00:08:26.660 --> 00:08:29.019 but it is a fantastic location. Deep dive right 00:08:29.019 --> 00:08:31.600 on Tecannic Boulevard in Ithaca. I was telling 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:34.539 a story yesterday on the air. I remember when 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:38.360 I was managing the dock, the owner at the time 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:41.559 wanted to do a comedy show. And I went, okay, 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:43.559 and he said, yeah, I wanna do it during happy 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:45.500 hour. We'll throw a mic up there. And I was like, 00:08:45.620 --> 00:08:48.799 whoa. I was like, kid, that doesn't work, right? 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:53.639 You can't do comedy secondary, right? People 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:55.799 are there to drink. You can't, even if the comedian's 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:57.940 hilarious, you can't get up there and just start 00:08:57.940 --> 00:09:00.480 telling jokes and expect it to land. And people 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:02.539 don't get that. There's a certain mentality, 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:05.279 right? Like when you're going to see a comedian 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:07.320 or going to a comedy show, whether you know it 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.759 or not, you're already setting yourself up to 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:12.919 be more open to laugh because you're going there 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:15.580 to laugh. And people don't realize that time, 00:09:15.700 --> 00:09:18.340 place and setting is such a big part of that, 00:09:18.379 --> 00:09:21.299 which again is why I think it's such a brilliant 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:24.639 move for you to do. Uh, the comedy on the commons 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:27.320 thing, uh, May 29th through the 31st, the Ithaca 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:30.940 Laughs Festival, excuse me. Uh, because it's 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:34.919 right during Ithaca Festival and people are out 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:38.399 to go have fun and go see music and see comedy. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.879 So that's all part of it. Oh, most, most definitely. 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:46.179 No, I, I get it. We used, we, we used, when it 00:09:46.179 --> 00:09:48.620 was the doc, we had an open mic there as well. 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:50.980 Actually, I still have some free drink tickets. 00:09:52.009 --> 00:09:55.250 Go cash them in, see if it works. I'm like, show 00:09:55.250 --> 00:09:56.889 up there and be like, hey, are these still valid? 00:09:56.909 --> 00:10:00.210 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, that's so true about comedy 00:10:00.210 --> 00:10:03.889 being something where when you can create an 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:07.289 environment that makes it much easier for the 00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:09.710 comedians to be successful and for the audience 00:10:09.710 --> 00:10:13.350 to have a really good time. The surprise comedy 00:10:13.350 --> 00:10:16.830 shows are always the toughest ones, like at the 00:10:16.830 --> 00:10:19.730 bars where people are there to drink and do other 00:10:19.730 --> 00:10:22.240 things and talk to their friends. And then all 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.299 of a sudden you're like, hey, listen to me. And 00:10:24.299 --> 00:10:27.159 they're like, what the fuck is going on? Yeah, 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:30.919 dude. It's, you've had, it's a mindset and it's, 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:33.340 if you were to have a dude with an acoustic guitar 00:10:33.340 --> 00:10:36.779 pop up during a happy hour, that might work because 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:38.519 all you got to do is play a song or two that 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:40.299 they like and they're singing along and you're 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:43.059 fine. But when you're telling jokes, what are 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:44.840 you going to do? You can't, there's no hits that 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:48.000 you can pull out and it's tough, but it's something 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.309 you got to learn to navigate. Now you've been 00:10:50.309 --> 00:10:53.090 doing, obviously, the Ithaca Laughs Festival 00:10:53.090 --> 00:10:55.129 we talked about. You have a bunch of open mics. 00:10:55.610 --> 00:10:57.389 Are you doing any shows on your own that you 00:10:57.389 --> 00:11:00.070 want to plug? Anything coming up? Oh man, we 00:11:00.070 --> 00:11:05.730 got, yes. So on the 22nd, March 22nd at NRE Space, 00:11:06.210 --> 00:11:09.549 we have Upstate Stand Up coming to Ithaca. So 00:11:09.549 --> 00:11:12.970 we have some of the best comedy comedians from 00:11:12.970 --> 00:11:14.789 Upstate New York who are going to be here for 00:11:14.789 --> 00:11:16.909 a show. That's one of the things that we've been 00:11:16.909 --> 00:11:19.679 doing now, like once a month. Trying to bring 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:21.740 in some of the best comedians from different 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:25.120 regions in New York. We had some great guys from 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:28.200 New York City come up in February. We got these 00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:32.580 guys coming from Buffalo March 22nd. So it's 00:11:32.580 --> 00:11:35.299 going to be a great show. I'm excited about doing 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:39.399 that. Just trying to showcase the type of great 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:42.740 humor that we had in upstate New York. I do. 00:11:43.179 --> 00:11:45.799 Tell people that. There's a lot to laugh about 00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:48.860 up here. Really funny people. Unfortunately, 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.340 when you talk about local comedy to a lot of 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:54.500 people, the first things folks want to think 00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:58.179 about is their drunk uncle at the picnic. And 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:01.500 we're like, no, this is - That ain't it. Yeah, 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:04.620 this is not it. It's folks who've been doing 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:07.159 comedy for a whole bunch of years, really like 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:10.679 high quality, talented people who, for whatever 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:13.980 reason, have decided that they're good with making 00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:17.179 folks laugh in an upstate New York and different 00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:19.820 areas. And then sometimes we're lucky enough 00:12:19.820 --> 00:12:23.279 to get some really like nationally known comedians 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:26.419 come through and perform here. That's awesome. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:29.940 You said you started in Raleigh. Is it Raleigh 00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:32.419 or Raleigh? I know Raleigh, right? Raleigh, yeah. 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:38.179 Charlie, good nights. What's up? Shout out. So 00:12:38.179 --> 00:12:40.100 you started in Raleigh. I wanted to talk about 00:12:40.100 --> 00:12:42.840 that, how you started out and what was it like 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:46.230 for you from your point of view? Telling jokes 00:12:46.230 --> 00:12:48.850 in Raleigh to telling jokes in Upstate if there 00:12:48.850 --> 00:12:52.570 was a huge difference there. You know, for me, 00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:55.149 I don't think it was a huge difference. It was 00:12:55.149 --> 00:12:57.389 people in Raleigh I could tell jokes to. It was 00:12:57.389 --> 00:12:59.990 people in Ithaca I could tell jokes to. As long 00:12:59.990 --> 00:13:02.769 as it's people there, I feel like I could tell 00:13:02.769 --> 00:13:05.330 some jokes to them. Like the scene in Raleigh 00:13:05.330 --> 00:13:07.750 was way bigger than the scene in Ithaca. Right. 00:13:07.750 --> 00:13:10.970 Not as big as in New York, but still it was opportunities 00:13:10.970 --> 00:13:14.500 for me to go up and perform. and open mics in 00:13:14.500 --> 00:13:17.120 different places every night. Even if they weren't 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:20.840 stand up comedy, open mic, like I was the person 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:23.860 who would show up to a poetry open mic, a singer 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:27.600 or a writer open mic. I'll even show up to a 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:31.759 prayer circle if they have a microphone. And 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:34.019 tell some jokes. And honestly, it was one of, 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:37.559 when I started off, I would only go to a comedy 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:42.059 open mic. There was an older, older comedian 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:43.580 or somebody that would do a comedian a little 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.399 bit more. I like to say a mentor who was like, 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.059 oh no, let me show you what to do. And he took 00:13:49.059 --> 00:13:52.019 me to all these different open mic. And one of 00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:56.059 the cool things about it was that you were performing 00:13:56.059 --> 00:13:58.899 or in front of different crowds, different types 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:01.419 of people, different audience in different situations. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:05.559 So it really helped me be comfortable with people 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:08.539 and really try to connect with people in the 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:12.509 moment. Ithaca, as far as comedy, Ithaca is a 00:14:12.509 --> 00:14:19.549 unique place because it is a small country village. 00:14:19.690 --> 00:14:25.610 It is a small country village in upstate New 00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:30.509 York that has an international college attached 00:14:30.509 --> 00:14:33.070 to it, a huge international college attached 00:14:33.070 --> 00:14:37.080 to it. And another fairly huge. liberal arts 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:42.519 college attached to it as well. So you have that 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:47.460 sort of like upstate New York, rural, village 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:52.259 town feel. And then you also have a large international 00:14:52.259 --> 00:14:55.059 and national type feel where you have people 00:14:55.059 --> 00:14:58.220 coming from all over the world here in Ithaca. 00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:01.720 And that gives it just a really interesting vibe. 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:05.700 I can say at our open mic. We routinely have 00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:09.360 people from different countries. That's awesome. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:13.299 Their performance, because they're here for different 00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:16.659 reasons for universities and whatnot. So it's 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:21.000 really, it's a cool place to do comedy in some 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:24.519 ways, but it's also a cool place to see comedy 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:27.559 because it's such a different, such a diverse 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:32.179 like voices and comedy that you have in this 00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:37.759 little, this little. That's so well said. I always 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:40.039 try to explain Ithaca to people. It's such an 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:42.960 amazing place and I throw things out like it's 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.700 like the Austin, Texas of the Northeast, or I'll 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:50.080 say it's this amazing culturally, cultural and 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.120 artsy city. But if you go five minutes in any 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.299 direction, you're like on a farm somewhere. And 00:15:56.299 --> 00:15:58.340 it's like, you could go out at night and you'll 00:15:58.340 --> 00:16:00.340 meet people you'll never see again, like in a 00:16:00.340 --> 00:16:03.059 big city, but you'll see. all the same people 00:16:03.059 --> 00:16:04.919 that you see all the time. It's just, it's very, 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:08.179 I like the way you put it, that it's, yeah, it's 00:16:08.179 --> 00:16:10.679 a little bit of everything. And it's a really 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:13.399 special place. And I love that you've created 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:16.899 and you're farming this amazing scene there. 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:19.100 And I appreciate that, obviously, as a resident, 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:22.460 but also as a comedian myself. That's fantastic. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.460 And so before we wrap it up, I gotta ask, do 00:16:26.460 --> 00:16:29.929 you have, I love Ask a Comedian. Do you have 00:16:29.929 --> 00:16:33.230 a favorite bombing story where you bomb? Just, 00:16:34.350 --> 00:16:38.450 you'll never forget. Yes, yes, I have one that 00:16:38.450 --> 00:16:42.509 sticks out in my mind more than, more than any. 00:16:43.110 --> 00:16:47.049 And it's, this was a while ago. And it was right 00:16:47.049 --> 00:16:50.750 after the Tiger Woods had his first incident 00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:53.289 where the chick beat him with the golf clubs. 00:16:53.690 --> 00:16:56.690 He was hiding in the closet, like calling for 00:16:56.690 --> 00:16:59.639 help on his phone. Yeah. And it happened, and 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:06.000 I was in Raleigh. And I had a bid, and I worked 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:10.839 the bid out in Raleigh for a week. I was going 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:13.759 to the open mics in the clubs, and it was just 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:17.160 hitting. And then I did it at the big comedy 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:20.980 club there, Charlie Goodnights, and it just was 00:17:20.980 --> 00:17:24.960 hitting. It was hitting. It was killing. Then 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.960 I went to... I went to a club in Durham. I want 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.279 to say, was it Time Out? It might've been, the 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.579 bar might've been Time Out. And it was a black 00:17:34.579 --> 00:17:38.079 club, a black bar that had a comedy night. And 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:41.160 I'd been there a couple of times before and I'd 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:44.059 done really well. And I was like, oh man, I've 00:17:44.059 --> 00:17:48.819 just taken this thing. I'm gonna kill it. I got 00:17:48.819 --> 00:17:52.579 there, I jumped into my jokes, man. I was feeling 00:17:52.579 --> 00:17:55.460 good. Like, I was like, yeah, this is great. 00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:58.740 It's clever. It has alliteration in it. You know 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:00.420 what I'm saying? I'm like, this is just going 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:04.579 to knock them out. Nothing. Just like crickets. 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:07.480 You know what I'm saying? Got crickets. And the 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.319 host was a lady. And after I got off, I remember 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:14.299 she got up and the first thing she did was apologize 00:18:14.299 --> 00:18:18.579 to the crowd. She was like, oh folks, I'm sorry. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:22.710 I ain't know Kitty was going to do that. He was 00:18:22.710 --> 00:18:27.910 up here before and he was, he did good. And then 00:18:27.910 --> 00:18:30.609 she said, kitty, you know what you can do? When 00:18:30.609 --> 00:18:34.829 you get back to Raleigh, I want you to climb 00:18:34.829 --> 00:18:39.789 to the top of the highest building and then jump 00:18:39.789 --> 00:18:44.029 off. Oh my God. And then she said, as you're 00:18:44.029 --> 00:18:47.049 falling down, I want you to pull out your pistol 00:18:47.049 --> 00:18:53.630 and shoot yourself in the head. So nobody else 00:18:53.630 --> 00:18:56.410 has to ever go through that again or so. You'll 00:18:56.410 --> 00:18:59.089 never do that again or whatnot. I remember thinking, 00:18:59.430 --> 00:19:04.690 man, her use of pistol made that just a little 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:12.089 bit more funny. Yeah. Pistol. I was like, man, 00:19:12.109 --> 00:19:15.069 that was a great word choice. It was a perfect 00:19:15.069 --> 00:19:19.170 word choice. It was a perfect word choice as 00:19:19.170 --> 00:19:23.259 she just roasted me. for having a bad set. Oh 00:19:23.259 --> 00:19:27.980 my God, man. Yeah, so that was probably the other 00:19:27.980 --> 00:19:32.079 times that I bombed or you just leave with the 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.960 bombing. I know. You want to quit the whole way 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:39.900 home. Why am I doing this? And what could I have 00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:45.859 done? But no, this time I like just the message 00:19:45.859 --> 00:19:49.150 that she gave me about... See... The reason I 00:19:49.150 --> 00:19:51.869 asked that story for people that don't do stand 00:19:51.869 --> 00:19:53.549 -up they might be like, why the fuck would you 00:19:53.549 --> 00:19:56.849 ask this guy about the time he bombed? I do it 00:19:56.849 --> 00:20:01.029 because It's almost like therapy, right? I we've 00:20:01.029 --> 00:20:04.089 all gone through it at least once if not multiple 00:20:04.089 --> 00:20:07.930 times and there's always Not one bombing story 00:20:07.930 --> 00:20:10.769 is ever the same as the other bombing story. 00:20:10.769 --> 00:20:12.930 That's why I love them because it's not like 00:20:12.930 --> 00:20:15.089 I'm singling you out Oh you bombed because we 00:20:15.089 --> 00:20:18.700 all bomb but There's something unique in every 00:20:18.700 --> 00:20:20.700 bombing story, and in your case, she told you 00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:23.619 to kill yourself with a pistol. Yeah, yeah. Double 00:20:23.619 --> 00:20:27.859 kill. She said commit suicide. Yeah. She wanted 00:20:27.859 --> 00:20:30.200 you to shoot yourself in the middle of killing 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:34.920 yourself. That's wild shit. It is, man. But yeah, 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:37.160 I think bombing is a rite of passage. It's one 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:39.440 of those things where everybody has a bad day 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:43.380 at work. Absolutely. One of the things I realized 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:47.809 is though, ironically, crowds, like people think 00:20:47.809 --> 00:20:51.950 it's funny whenever people are doing their job 00:20:51.950 --> 00:20:55.470 poorly. That's right. So even when you're bombing 00:20:55.470 --> 00:20:58.869 on stage, it's a way that you can lean into it. 00:20:58.930 --> 00:21:01.430 That's a beautiful... The crowd would be like, 00:21:01.509 --> 00:21:04.150 you know what, we all can see and understand 00:21:04.150 --> 00:21:07.509 that this just ain't going as well as both of 00:21:07.509 --> 00:21:11.950 us, as everybody wants it to right now. And work 00:21:11.950 --> 00:21:14.509 through it. That's as a rite of passage, it's 00:21:14.509 --> 00:21:18.329 always something. Sometimes I tell people comedy 00:21:18.329 --> 00:21:21.430 is like the scientific method. We're at home 00:21:21.430 --> 00:21:24.329 and we hypothesize something's going to be funny. 00:21:25.470 --> 00:21:30.329 We get out and test it. Yeah. And then either 00:21:30.329 --> 00:21:33.210 they laugh and prove us right, our hypothesis 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:36.630 right, or they don't and be like, go back and 00:21:36.630 --> 00:21:39.670 work on that. Dude, that's so well said. We talked 00:21:39.670 --> 00:21:42.950 about that yesterday too, where It's unique like 00:21:42.950 --> 00:21:46.750 in music right you got a band You rehearse your 00:21:46.750 --> 00:21:48.990 ass off right and you know before the show you're 00:21:48.990 --> 00:21:50.730 like yo We're gonna kill with this like that. 00:21:50.890 --> 00:21:53.049 We're tight You know the only way people aren't 00:21:53.049 --> 00:21:55.470 gonna is if they're not into this style of music 00:21:55.470 --> 00:21:57.170 But they won't come to the show if that's the 00:21:57.170 --> 00:22:01.190 case the only way to do comedy and to practice 00:22:01.190 --> 00:22:04.170 comedy Is to do it in front of a crowd like you 00:22:04.170 --> 00:22:07.329 don't have the liberty of You know telling your 00:22:07.329 --> 00:22:09.349 stuffed animals the jokes or your family member 00:22:09.349 --> 00:22:13.039 you have to test it out And that's, it just leaves 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:16.200 you so much more vulnerable as a performer, more 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:18.440 than any other performance. It's the only, I 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:21.539 tell people all the time, it's the only art form 00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:24.680 that you have to practice in front of a crowd. 00:22:24.740 --> 00:22:28.240 Exactly. It's the only art, not just performance 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:31.940 art form, because actors and whatnot, they practice 00:22:31.940 --> 00:22:36.119 in private, three or four times in private, then 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:37.619 they're like, all right, this is the one, but 00:22:37.619 --> 00:22:42.670 this is the only art form. that you have to practice 00:22:42.670 --> 00:22:47.269 in public. Absolutely. Absolutely. And let me 00:22:47.269 --> 00:22:49.430 tell you something, man. When people come to 00:22:49.430 --> 00:22:52.289 see Kenneth McLaurin, they are not going to see 00:22:52.289 --> 00:22:55.109 him bomb. I can tell you that. He's hilarious. 00:22:55.170 --> 00:22:57.410 And I love you, man. Thank you, homie. Yeah, 00:22:57.410 --> 00:23:00.029 so let me get some plugs in before we go. I want 00:23:00.029 --> 00:23:02.910 to make sure I hit it. The Ithaca Laughs Festival 00:23:02.910 --> 00:23:06.349 every year in Ithaca, New York, May 29th through 00:23:06.349 --> 00:23:09.410 the 31st during Ithaca Festival. It's that night. 00:23:09.879 --> 00:23:12.180 Ithaca Laughs Festival, it's called, the Ithaca 00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:15.160 Laughs Festival. Every second and fourth, is 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:17.599 it Monday? You have the open mic at College Town 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:19.779 Bagels? That's it, second and fourth Monday. 00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:22.500 And then Deep Dive, another venue in Ithaca. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:25.460 Every other Wednesday, there's an open mic as 00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:28.240 well. And you can catch Kenny on March 22nd. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:29.720 You're doing a show, is that what you said? It 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:32.599 was March 22nd? Yeah, man, like, March 22nd, 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:37.960 I will be hosting a show at NRE for Comedy HOF. 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:40.559 And then actually it's going to be a busy month, 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:44.779 but I think then we also are doing a show March 00:23:44.779 --> 00:23:48.339 29th at Six Mile Creek Winery. Yes. We have some 00:23:48.339 --> 00:23:50.839 hotel comedy shows up here as well. So that's 00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:55.200 going to be a DTC show. Then on March 30th, man, 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:56.980 I'm going to be performing at the Hanger Theater 00:23:56.980 --> 00:23:59.500 with Tom Green. So that should be a good... I'm 00:23:59.500 --> 00:24:02.140 going to that show. You're opening? Yep. I'm 00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:05.400 opening. Oh my God. Tom Green, obviously. Many 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:07.279 of Tom Green from the Tom Green Show on MTV, 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:09.220 and he's a huge celebrity. He's coming to the 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:11.720 Hanger Theater in Ithaca at the end of the month, 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:14.240 and I bought tickets, because I love that man, 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:16.740 and I love you, and I had no idea you were opening. 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:19.119 That's fantastic, dude. Wait, where did you get 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:24.079 your ticket from, Mike? Oh. Was it Eventbrite, 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.000 or was it... You know what? I can look right 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:28.779 now. Hold on, let me look right here. Hold on, 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:31.480 hold on. It's in my Apple wallet, but let me... 00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:36.839 Here we go. Oh, it's Tixar, T -I -X -R. Okay. 00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:40.680 Yep. I'm asking because we were talking about 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:42.900 it and somebody else was like, oh man, I think 00:24:42.900 --> 00:24:45.519 it'll come out. And they were going to buy tickets 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:50.200 and the tickets were like 120, 130, $140. And 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:53.980 I was like, what? No. That's got to be way too 00:24:53.980 --> 00:24:56.240 much. That's got to be way too much. And then, 00:24:56.299 --> 00:24:59.920 so we went to the Hanger website and on the Hanger 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:03.839 website, they were like, $40, $32, $40, something 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:08.579 like that. And I was like, oh snap. That's how 00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:12.940 the hustle really is real. Like they're placed 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:18.039 on some website where they're like $120 for the 00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:19.900 Tom Green show. And I was just like, yo, that 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:23.579 seems a lot. No way. Yeah. No, your instincts 00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:25.680 were correct. That was, I don't remember what 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:30.220 I paid, but it certainly was not. Fuckin' $130, 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:32.740 I wanna see Elton John or some shit if I'm paying 00:25:32.740 --> 00:25:37.420 that. For $130, I wanna see Bob Marley. There 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:40.480 you go, yes! And he can just lay there and I'll 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:44.559 pay that. Yeah, this one, it's not telling me 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:46.619 how much I paid, but I guess it doesn't matter. 00:25:47.099 --> 00:25:50.920 Tickets are not $130, we'll tell you that. Kenny 00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:54.450 Buf - Before I let you go, I forgot, you reminded 00:25:54.450 --> 00:25:56.470 me, I forgot to hit, do you want to talk about 00:25:56.470 --> 00:25:58.250 the secret comedy shows? I think that's really 00:25:58.250 --> 00:26:03.130 cool. One of the things that's cool in some ways 00:26:03.130 --> 00:26:06.170 talks about how the comedy scene, or indicates 00:26:06.170 --> 00:26:08.730 how the comedy scene in Ithaca is growing, is 00:26:08.730 --> 00:26:11.769 that we do some don't tell shows, DTC, don't 00:26:11.769 --> 00:26:15.910 tell comedy, and what they do is secret shows 00:26:15.910 --> 00:26:19.869 at different locations. What it is is you don't 00:26:19.869 --> 00:26:21.650 know the lineup. You don't know who's on the 00:26:21.650 --> 00:26:23.809 show. You don't know where the show is until 00:26:23.809 --> 00:26:27.130 24 hours before the show starts. And I think 00:26:27.130 --> 00:26:30.950 it's great. It's a great way to see some other 00:26:30.950 --> 00:26:33.109 comedians who are coming up from upstate New 00:26:33.109 --> 00:26:36.750 York, around upstate New York. And like I said, 00:26:36.890 --> 00:26:39.069 it's really a fun time. Most of the shows are 00:26:39.069 --> 00:26:45.450 BYOB. Nice. Oh yeah, most of the DTC shows or 00:26:45.450 --> 00:26:48.400 don't tell shows are BYOB. And then with us, 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.319 we're a lot of the Comedy on the Commons, comedy 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:55.359 HOF shows, they're pop -up locations, but they're 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:58.440 also a lot of BYOB shows. So we want to make 00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:01.359 it really an intimate sort of fun thing. Come 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:03.440 out, bring your friends, have a good time. And 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:05.539 that's what I mean when I say you're doing so 00:27:05.539 --> 00:27:07.500 much for the comedy scene there. You've created 00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:09.920 a scene. You're not just doing open mics and 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:12.220 you're not just doing... a show here and there. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.559 You're doing the Comedy HOF Ithaca Laughs Festival. 00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:17.940 You're doing open mics. You're doing these don't 00:27:17.940 --> 00:27:20.960 tell comedy shows. I just, it means so much to 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.119 me as an Ithaca resident and as a comedian and 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:25.400 I look forward to being part of it. Where can 00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:27.839 we go to find out all this stuff? I want to make 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:30.460 sure I hit the right website or social media 00:27:30.460 --> 00:27:33.660 handles. So right now, I tell everybody on social 00:27:33.660 --> 00:27:38.000 media, check us out at Comedy HOF. You can find 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:41.000 all the stuff up there. Even got a link for Comedy 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:44.380 HOF. Subscribe. We like to send out emails and 00:27:44.380 --> 00:27:47.599 whatnot. And then if you're on the website, our 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:50.200 website still, you can still find us at Comedy 00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:52.299 on the comments, at least for the next couple 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:55.180 of months. But we're gonna keep that going because 00:27:55.180 --> 00:27:59.519 it's been so good to us. But Comedy HOF is where 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:01.819 everything's gonna be in the future. Kenny, my 00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:03.980 man, thank you for your time. I know this is 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:06.299 early. Thanks for being a part of Good News York, 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:09.500 and I'll be in touch with you. Kenny McLaurin 00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:13.019 of Ithaca, New York, Comedy HOF, again, Ithaca 00:28:13.019 --> 00:28:16.539 Laughs Festival, May 29th through the 31st. He's 00:28:16.539 --> 00:28:19.079 got some shows coming up in March, including 00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:21.380 opening for Tom Green at the Hangar Theater in 00:28:21.380 --> 00:28:25.079 Ithaca. You can catch his open mics at College 00:28:25.079 --> 00:28:28.140 Town Bagels every second and fourth Monday as 00:28:28.140 --> 00:28:31.369 well. as an open mic at Deep Dive on Tecanic 00:28:31.369 --> 00:28:34.170 Boulevard every other Wednesday. Kenny McLaurin, 00:28:34.210 --> 00:28:36.029 thank you for your time, buddy. We appreciate 00:28:36.029 --> 00:28:39.549 you. All right, man, thank you. I just want to 00:28:39.549 --> 00:28:41.950 let everybody know that remember, life's a joke, 00:28:42.109 --> 00:28:44.890 but I'm just funny. And as we're out here, let's 00:28:44.890 --> 00:28:47.349 not hate people for who they are on the outside, 00:28:47.509 --> 00:28:50.390 race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or 00:28:50.390 --> 00:28:53.089 anything like that. Take the time to get to know 00:28:53.089 --> 00:28:55.230 people for who they are on the inside, and then 00:28:55.230 --> 00:28:59.539 hate them for that. Ah, yes! That is it. There's 00:28:59.539 --> 00:29:01.440 nothing left to say. Thank you, buddy. You have 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:02.740 a great day. We'll see you soon.