San Francisco Comedy Blog

by DNA

Will Durst is, to me, one of a withering gang of great comedians who are also social commentators. People like Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Mark Twain, Dick Gregory, Will Rogers and, the king of the class clowns, George Carlin. Durst can spin grand tales of the behind-the-scenes-double-dealings that go on in the two-party state like a card shark on a riverboat.

I had the great fortune to catch up with Durst and spend some time talking about the past and future of comedy.

Has political comedy always been a part of your routine?

Will Durst: It was an incidental part of my act but there were always jokes. What was going on when I started comedy in 1974, things like Watergate, Nixon, and the [Vietnam] war had just ended. Everything was anti-authoritarian; there was almost a comedy police if you weren’t topical.

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by DNA

I don’t see as many comics a month as most comedians, but more than some, and a lot more than the average Joe or Jane. And, from my perspective, comedy doesn’t seem to be making any strides, getting the human race beyond the same negative stereotypes that have been bantered about on stage since the 1950s.

I can go down the line and talk about how Mexicans, blacks, gays, Christians, and Muslims are routinely brought out as topics and then made fun of by today’s comedians. More often than not, a recent trend is for Mexicans to make fun of Mexicans, African-Americans to prey on their own stereotypes, and Muslims (or Muslim looking comics) to talk about being seen as terrorists. Gays still seem to be open targets for everyone with a microphone. This is my observation.

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by DNA

Planet Gemini spent the better part of two decades nestled on luxurious Cannery Row in Monterey. After the landlord realized that they could open their own club, Gemini had to find new digs away from downtown. Now located next to an adult bookstore, I was surprised when management asked me to come down and do a “clean set.” I was surprised, because, there was nothing about the two night stint that was remotely clean. My job was to open for James Stephens the Third.

“Who?” you might say.

James Stephens the Third, fool!

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by DNA

My name is DNA, but that’s not important right now. This is about comedy, comedy taken on the road and distributed throughout Northern California. Specifically, the Pawns of Comedy tour that just wrapped up a mini-trip from South Bay to Chico, CA. Chico is like Disneyland for alcoholics and the Pawns of Comedy were ready to ride Space Mountain (with a vomit bag).

Let’s start from the beginning.

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by DNA

You know, I can’t help feel blessed and cursed by the whole process.

Blessed that I got to see people going through the same things I was going through. People I admire in the SF Comedy Scene: Mary Van Note, Aundre the Wonderwoman, Joe Klocek, Sal Calanni, Uncle Howard, Candy Churilla… the list is long. As much as I feel like an outsider, as I am relatively new to the scene, I felt a sense of community. A sense of REALITY, as opposed to Reality TV. Real people, with real talent, extremely creative souls, who sweat it out at big and small shows, trying to make people laugh, waiting, waiting, waiting for their shot at the stage, for a chance to be on TV. Why not. What do you have to lose? You don’t play, you can’t win. At least that was my rationale.

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