When Steven Kirby tries to impress the ladies, he opens with the following: “I’m the third funniest guy in the state of Oregon.” The response he typically gets? “Are the first two single?”
But don’t feel bad for the political science and planning, public policy and management major. The 20-year-old took third place at Oregon’s Last Comedian Standing competition last month, winning $500 and $1,500 in prizes. He was one of three students that made it into the competition’s semifinals in its first year in Eugene.
Kirby, who likens his style to that of comedian and comedy writer John Mulaney, got his first taste for stand-up comedy last summer in a Washington, D.C., bar.
“It’s always something I’ve been fascinated by and something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Kirby said. “Whenever I was home sick in elementary and middle school, I’d always watch the daytime Comedy Central Presents. I’ve always loved public speaking and making people laugh.”
Kirby’s comedic style is observational. He finds himself typing half-formed ideas into his phone throughout the day, heading home later to write it out into a coherent bit he can use onstage.
“Once I get up there, it’s game time,” Kirby said. “If you’re not nervous before every set, you’re doing it wrong. Once I get up on stage, I’m really calm.”
Despite his talent, Kirby isn’t looking to make comedy his primary career. That’s not the same for all of University of Oregon’s student comedians.
Sophomore Joe Glasgow, one of the semifinalists at Last Comic Standing, is seeking a profession in comedy. Glasgow won second place at this year’s 18th Annual Eugene Laff Off competition and has been doing stand-up for a year and a half. His first stage performance came after taking a stand-up comedy class at Lane Community College with UO professor Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant when he told jokes to the winter term graduating class. Since then, Glasgow estimates he’s been on stage about 30 times.
“I prioritize comedy over schoolwork,” Glasgow admitted. “It’s what I love to do.”
Last year, Glasgow and fellow funny-guys Brandt Hamilton and Ben Schorr started The Stand-Up Society, a group of aspiring student comedians who meet weekly at Glasgow’s house to throw out jokes and critique each other’s form.
“It forces me to write,” said Glasgow. “We try to do a certain amount of minutes of material every week. It’s hard for a lot of people, with school, to do that, but I like having the pressure of always having to have jokes ready.”
Many Stand-Up Society members perform weekly at The Green Room’s open mic, one of the few options in Eugene available to aspiring comedians under 21 years of age.
“I get so nervous up until I get on stage,” Glasgow said. “Then there’s this sudden stop of the butterflies. It feels great. Once you get the first laugh, you’re in the clear, as far as I’m concerned.”
In addition, Glasgow, who started writing comedy movie scripts in high school, recently started a YouTube channel for original comedy sketches called “Giggle-Spot Productions.”
He will be postponing his work toward an advertising and cinema studies major by taking the upcoming fall term off to move to the California Bay Area and try to make it big, honing his talent at open-mic events and in comedy clubs.
“If I’m completely away from school and fully immerse myself in stand-up, I can do however much (comedy work) I do in a week in a day,” Glasgow said. “Doing one open mic a week is not a good way to practice. Doing a couple every night is ideal.”
Glasgow doesn’t expect to make any money while he’s there (he’ll be staying with friends), but building his comedy skill-set and reputation is more important at this point for him. Glasgow says his family fully supports his goals.
“If it goes well enough, I might not come back for a whole year,” he said. As it stands now, Glasgow spends about two hours a week writing comedy, not including the work he puts into his YouTube channel. His jokes reside in texts he sends to himself, unorganized scraps of paper and bullet points on a Word document.
“I like to keep it upbeat,” Glasgow said of his material. He likens his style to that of comedian and actor Nick Swardson. “It seems like all stand-up comedians, especially amateur ones, are always mad about something,” Glasgow said. “It’s funny, but that’s not always what people want to hear about.”
Unlike Glasgow, fellow Stand-Up Society member Halden Hoodenpyl has a more frustrated style of comedy.
“I’ve always been an attention-grabber,” Hoodenpyl said. “I remember in high school, during lunch, I’d always be on top of the bleachers, ranting about my day to my friends.”
The Stand-Up Society, along with Hoodenpyl’s natural inclination to amuse a crowd, finally got the senior cinema studies major up on stage for the first time three months ago. While working on a short documentary about Glasgow, Hoodenpyl went with him to The Green Room one Thursday and decided at the last minute to sign up for an open-mic spot.
“I didn’t have anything prepared,” Hoodenpyl said. “While I was sitting there waiting, I tried to write a couple of jokes really fast.” The several minutes he spent on stage that night are a vague memory to Hoodenpyl.
“I remember walking away thinking, ‘This is something I can do,’” he recalled. “The couple laughs I got felt so good. It was like, ‘When can I do this again?’” The next week saw Hoodenpyl performing at The Green Room again.
Hoodenpyl draws comedic inspiration from conversations with friends and his personal life struggles. He shares a similar style to that of comedian Louis C.K., telling true stories with exaggerated features.
“When you’re just being yourself up there and people laugh, that feels so good,” Hoodenpyl said. “People are laughing at something that’s genuinely you. You can arrange words in a way that is funny, but if it’s more you, that’s going to be more satisfying. It’s a bigger risk, and it’s more of a reward.”
And at times, Hoodenpyl takes an even bigger risk — he’ll sometimes go up on stage with no material written at all beforehand.
While this method works for Hoodenpyl, many aspiring comedians will find that writing is most of the battle.
Jasheway-Bryant, a 20-year veteran of professional stand-up comedy, encourages comedians just starting out to garner at least 30 minutes of solid material. But simply having a half hour of jokes isn’t enough to succeed on the cut-throat comedy circuit.
“You have to think of something that allows you to be unique,” she said. “The most important thing is to be yourself, but be an exaggeration of yourself. That’s what makes people remember you.”
Student comedians are in the process of forming their unique styles, and their performances are still rough around the edges, but that doesn’t have to be a negative. Jasheway-Bryant encourages young comedians to “play to your quirks. Don’t ignore them.”
These three student comedians, along with many others in The Stand-Up Society, will be performing with all their quirks on Tuesday, May 21 at 8 p.m. in the EMU’s Ben Linder Room for fellow UO students.
“It’s going to be really fun,” said Glasgow. Though he warns, “If you’re easily offended, you should rethink going.”
