COMEDY NOTES
Navigating the winding road toward local headlining status
By Nick A. Zaino III, Globe Correspondent, 12/19/2003
Becoming a headlining comedian in Boston can be a grueling process. Take the case of 30-year-old Ira Proctor, who headlines Nick's Comedy Stop tomorrow in Brockton. Proctor worked his way through the open mikes, through the MC spots introducing other acts, and to spots "middling" for national acts Robert Schimmel and Jim Norton at the Comedy Connection. With a glut of headliners such as Steve Sweeney, Don Gavin, and Kevin Knox as permanent fixtures in most Boston clubs, a lot of local comics might assume that the middle is the highest they can go. They either hover there or move on to another city. Proctor says that's flawed logic.
"I don't want to get all caught up in worrying I can't ever do it," he says, just "because somebody else is already there doing it. Somebody gave those guys a chance, and I think if you work hard enough, people will give you a chance."
After working at it for six years, developing his manic Everyman persona, Proctor says he's getting his chances. His days in the trenches, taking every gig within a 10-hour drive, are starting to pay off. He's headlining smaller rooms such as Kelly's Row in Dover, N.H., and the Acton Jazz Cafe, and he's making inroads at Dick Doherty's China Blossom club in North Andover and other suburban rooms.
To Proctor, it's just a matter of doing the work and having the guts to ask for a spot. "Your act needs to be really tight, and you have to do really well constantly in front of the people who are booking the shows, you know?" he says. "And then you have to push."
It will be a while before Proctor works his way through to headlining the bigger rooms. In the meantime, he's playing the college circuit, writing as much as he can, and keeping his profile as high as possible. After most shows, Proctor can be found talking to the crowd, doing his own PR work.
"I'm out there shaking hands like I'm running for office after the show, trying to get everybody to remember my name," he says.
The bottom line is that even hard work can't make you funny. Sharpening your skills helps, but you have to get the laughs. So what makes Proctor deserving of headliner status?
"That's a tricky thing, because I think everybody thinks that they could do it," he says. "I know in my head, 100 percent, that I'm good enough to headline, and I'm good enough to make it, and I can be a good comic.
"But I know there are [other] people who believe that."
Far from a silent night Every year, Tony V swears he will never host another Christmas show again. And every year, he finds at least one thing that inspires him to keep going. "Chris Tabb and Corey Manning have a sketch that made me howl when I saw it for the first time," he says. "And I go, `OK, there's the reason to do the show.' "
The cast for Sunday's show at the Comedy Studio includes Tabb, Manning, DJ Hazard, Steve Calechman, Sam Walters, Tissa Hami, Kelly MacFarland, Myq Kaplan, and the sketch group the Circus Pigs, covering themes including sexual harassment, comparative religion, and a murder mystery. There's even a puppet show, though the Christmas event is never a family affair.
Call it Santa's Workshop for the Rude and Cynical, but it amuses Tony V -- who acknowledges he may be a little jaded after 18 years of doing Christmas shows.
"Last night at rehearsal, I was laughing out loud, and that doesn't come easy anymore," he says.
Around town Chris and Dave Walsh, Larry Murphy, Joe Wong, Erin Judge, and Baratunde play the Comedy Studio tonight. . . . The Broad Street Grill in Merrimac features the New Comics Showcase, which is hosted by Tony Moschetto tonight and Lauren Verge tomorrow. . . . Kevin Knox and Paul Nardizzi will headline the Comedy Connection tonight and tomorrow.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
