Joe List Talks About His First Comedy Special Premiering This Week
A comedian’s first special is a big deal and this week, two of our favorite people are debuting their first ones.
Saturday Night, Comedy Central will air first time half hour comedy specials from Joe List and Sam Morril. Plan to get home early this Saturday so you can watch them back to back. live. You won’t see two more different half hour specials. Sam’s half hour is dark and wickedly funny, and Joe’s thirty takes you through his own personal hell full of anxiety and hilariously funny uncomfortabilty in bizarre situations and sometimes even in ordinary situations. You’ve seen him on Letterman, and he was our pick for funniest sets on 2015’s edition of Last Comic Standing– all three performances were flawless.
We talked with Sam and Joe about their new specials. Check back tomorrow to read our interview with Sam.
The Interrobang: What’s it like getting your first special, and how did you find out you had it?
Joe List: It was exciting. I had hoped to get the special but with everything in this business you kind of just go, I hope to get that but if not I have to be ready for whatever else and then move on to the next goal. So I’m always ready to not get things cause I didn’t for a long time.
I was at the movies when I got the call from my manager and she had said we would hear that week so I had a feeling it was that. So I had to leave the movie and then go listen to the voice mail, and she was like I have exciting news so I kind of just assumed that’s what it was, and then watched the rest of the movie. And it was Ex Machina, which is a great movie, so it was a really great day. A great movie, and then afterwards I talked to my manager and she had told me I had gotten it.
The Interrobang: Boston is home for you right? Was that helpful having your first special be a ‘home game’?
Joe List: I had like 25 people there, my whole family was there, and then there were a lot of local comics there that I started with, and grew up with, and some high school friends, so yeah that part was cool. That was the most nerve wracking thing about it was looking out and seeing oh there’s Matt Libby who I sent to high school with and I could kind of see my parents as well. They were in the back but with tv the audience is lit so you could see the audience. So I’m aware of where they were at, so I didn’t really make eye contact. But I don’t even make eye contact when I’m talking with them.
The Interrobang: Was there anything about the special that didn’t happen the way you expected it?
Joe List: Afterwards my family’s reaction, they were kind of– in my mind I thought they were going to be lifting me up and be like, ‘Joe’s the hero!’ But we were just kind of still outside, and we’re like, ‘so what you guys want to do? You want to go to the bar?’ And they’re kind of like, ‘well we gotta go, it’s a work night, so…’ That part wasn’t quite what I expected. Everyone was like, alright lets get out of here. See ya. Kind of a weird anticlimactic part. It’s weird, with comedy because it’s not like you win an oscar and now you can take any role you want. You kind of just do a thing and then you’re like ‘alright, well I have no income next week so I have to keep moving.’
The Interrobang: So what’s next. Is there a next milestone to shoot for?
Joe List: I don’t know it’s weird. I did Letterman; the Half Hour I really wanted to do. Last Comic Standing was never a dream of mine but I did it. So I’d like to do Conan and then eventually I’d like to do an hour special. Basically just keep moving forward and doing good work that I like and my peers respect– at least they tell me they do– thy might be lying. So yeah, I just want to keep living a life and making more money and enjoying comedy I should probably come up with some more definitive goals.
Watch Joe List and Sam Morril premiere their Comedy Half Hours this Saturday at 12:00am and 12:30am on Comedy Central and set your DVRS so you can watch it again on Sunday morning before football. Follow Joe on twitter @JoeListComedy.
SPOILER ALERT BONUS QUESTION:
We couldn’t resist asking Joe about the origin of one of our favorite bits from the special. We tried not to give too much away, but if you don’t want any spoilers, wait till Sunday to read our last question.
During the special Joe tells a brutally funny story about an uncle of his that babysat for him when he was a little kid. Without giving too much away, the story involves watching horror movies, playing pranks and even a little flame throwing. We couldn’t resist asking about the origin of the story and how true it was. Joe said that the story was absolutely true, with a little artistic license to make it simpler to tell. He also said he’s still close with the uncle in the story, and in fact, that uncle introduced him to comedy.
Joe List: It’s a true story. What actually happened in the real story, my uncle did that to my cousin. My cousin was in the bathroom with the lights off, and he came out and my uncle came out and shot the fire at my cousin, and then my cousin just like “yes, and-ed” him. And my cousin was like 11 years old and he just went with it and pretended his face was burnt off, he was screaming and holding his face. And then my uncle was like, ‘I’ll get him! I’ll shoot fire at him!’ And then my cousin was like ‘I’ll get him! I’ll make him think he burned my face.’ And I was 8 and I was like, this is insane. I almost started crying! It was like this is the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen. I watched the whole thing and thought they were both psycopaths. I tried telling the story like that for a while but then it was like too much to explain so I took some artistic liberty. But I was there and felt the heat of the fire.
He actually introduced me to comedy. He showed me a George Carlin special and then he was there for my first set that I ever did and we’re still very close. Ironically he is a fireman now. He graduated the academy the same week I started doing stand up.
