Still standing up

Downtown’s The Last Stand comedy venue was open a mere five months in 2012, but the community of comedians it helped bring together is still standing stronger than ever.

“I would say John Ross is the father, or at least the stepfather, of the current comedy scene in Chico,” said local comedian Kyle Bowen of the Sacramento comic behind the short-lived venue. And a chorus of affirmations rose from the other stand-ups gathered one recent weekday afternoon at Duffy’s Tavern for a makeshift summit on the state of local stand up.

The four comedians comprise a veritable rogue’s gallery of comedic styles and off-kilter personalities. Bowen, a licensed embalmer with a flair for storytelling and dramatic delivery, is the most seasoned, having performed in locales as far-flung as London and Tokyo. Steve Swim is a local stand-up veteran and theater fixture who cuts through bullshit with his raspy voice; his straight-shooting and prickly demeanor an extension of his truth-through-comedy philosophy. Mark Joseph Leathers is a scruffy-looking fellow whose quiet, shy-seeming demeanor at the meeting sharply contrasted the brutally self-effacing stage persona he’s developed in six years of doing stand-up. Finally there was Phillip Corbin (Phil From Chico), a brash young comic with a knack for social media and self-promotion determined to prove he’s as fearless as his idols Richard Pryor and Louis C.K. (“I really don’t care; I’ll say anything,” he repeated several times).

The elder comics agreed the vitality of local comedy has ebbed and flowed for years, but mark the ill-fated Last Stand as the catalyst for a renaissance, anchored these days around alternating Monday night comedy open mics at the Maltese Bar & Tap Room and the DownLo. Though some of the older comics’ stand-up experience predates the Last Stand, they credit the venue with initially bringing them all together and galvanizing the local scene, as well as giving younger comics a semi-professional place to cut their teeth. The result, they said, is continuing quality comedy.

“One thing that impresses me rather a lot is that the talent pool is incredibly impressive, especially for a city of its size,” Bowen said. “I’ve been in Santa Cruz on nights where you couldn’t find four funny comedians, but I know I could call seven guys who could get onstage right now and do 20 good minutes.”

Doing stand-up in Chico is not without its challenges, claimed the comics. With the city apparently unable to support a full-time venue, comedy shows are commonly limited to bars, which are not always the most cordial environment. And, Swim added, Chico audiences are sometimes fickle and sensitive.

“I think Chico is a great training ground, because you have to deal with all the liberal pains in the asses, all the conservative redneck crazy fuckers, the racist fucks, too,” Swim said. “Then these bar environments, they’re tough but it sharpens your tools. You know if you can get a chuckle in a bar, the same joke is gonna kill in a quiet intimate comedy show environment.”

Other topics of conversation included the importance of learning to host a comedy show as opposed to just performing and whether alcohol and weed enhance or inhibit performance (all agreed alcohol is a boon if not overdone and three out of four said marijuana made performing harder, with Leathers alone offering the dissenting vote).

The comics all said there’s still room for some growth in the scene, and another local comedian, Jerm Leather, is already hosting intermittent comedy open mics at Mondos café with the hope of making them more regular.

“I like that idea because it’s not a bar and minors can get in, so we can try to get younger people to go,” Leathers offered earnestly.

“Yeah, I want younger people to go there, too!” Corbin interjected with exaggerated lechery.

“That’s because he’s a pervert,” Leathers responded, “but I just wanna hook ’em on stand-up while they’re young …”

“Yeah, hook ’em while they’re young, that’s what I want, too!” Corbin interrupted again.

Swim said he sees good things in the longer term: “In the next decade, you’re gonna see Chico people out there [on the national scene] doing it.

“[Someone’s] gonna click with somebody because there’s always roomfuls of greedy fuckers looking to make a buck off of somebody. Which is kind of what we want, because they’re a catalyst to make that buck.”