When you have a job like mine, you have to talk to a lot of people who are pretty boring, and most of the time, the interviewee thinks you're pretty lame, too.
Every now and then though, a story comes along and the interview ends up going better than you could ever imagine; for me, this was that time. Bob Marley is a funny, funny man. No, not "We be Jammin'," Bob, the legend, the other Bob Marley. And if you don't know who he is, this weekend is your chance to find out.
Marley, a comedian hailing from the East Coast, shed the dream of becoming a doctor during his senior year at the University of Maine to heal with another medicine: laughter.
"Everything I talk about on stage has really happened," Marley explains. "Then when you tell the story, you can be passionate about it, you don't have to make it up."
Not everyone is happy about Marley's antics, however. The unhappy campers are generally the butt of Marley's jokes.
Bob Marley at the Improv. 930 E. University Drive, Tempe. Thursday & Sunday 8 p.m., $12. Friday & Saturday 8 and 10 p.m., $15. Shows 18 and over. 480-921-9877.
"My mother doesn't like it at all. Sometimes I talk about her. One time she wanted to get muffins at Dunkin Donuts. I got her three blueberry muffins and then she ate two bowls of clam chowder. Later, we were on a ferry going to a show and I could hear her going, 'Ohhhh, ohhhh noooo. I think some of those muffins are starting to peek outta my ass a little bit'. I told her we'd go to the hotel so she could do her thing but she started grabbing the railing going, 'Oh my god, I can't move or they'll be a big surprise,' and she totally shit her pants. You just can't make things like that up."
Later that night Marley told the story to an audience of hundreds.
"Things just pop into my head and I say them. Half the time I wish I didn't. Half the time it's in the air and I'm like, 'Noooooooo!' But then people will laugh and everything's alright. Part of the job is being able to say things no one else can say and have people laugh instead of punch your lights out.
"A little bit ago I went to the White House and there were all these Japanese tourists. They were all like, 'Oh, take picture of me'(insert very fake Japanese accent for comical effect). I ended up taking like 20 pictures but I'd turn the camera crooked so the White House wouldn't be in it. That's for Pearl Harbor," Marley exclaims. "They'll get their film back with a picture of a tree. 'Where my White House?'
"If I said it mean it'd be one thing, but it's funny. Like the Japs bomb Pearl Harbor and that's my rebuttal, a crooked picture. That's how I got them back."
With a name like Bob Marley, it's hard to escape the fact that you carry the name of a legend. Sure, Marley got made fun of in junior high, (along with fellow classmate James Hendrix, no joke), but in some way, having the name has paid off...literally.
"I get his [Bob Marley's] checks," Marley says. "One was for $6,000 for The History of Rock: Part One. I mailed it back though, I knew it wasn't for me. But a while later on the Craig Kilborn show, I was introduced to Ziggy [Marley] and I told him about the situation. I said, 'I figured one of you would need pot money so I mailed it back.'"
Since his collegiate debut at clubs in Boston and Maine, Marley has come a long way. From performances on several late night shows, opening up for Dana Carvey, appearing in the film Boondock Saints, to one of his favorite performances at Caesar's Palace in Vegas.
"That's a huge show room, I mean it's Caesar's Palace! They had my name on the strip! You come around the corner and you see your name and all you can think is, 'Holy shit! That's me.'"
But with a wife and 3-year-old daughter, Marley tries to stay off the road. "She gets so sad," says Marley of his little girl. "I get my suitcase and she's like, 'Please don't go daddy. Are you going to tell jokes?' She's a cutie though, she's awesome."
Later this year though, Marley is going to break his daughter's heart once again. Marley is flying to Iraq with "Last Comic Standing's" Ralphie Mae to perform in the desert for 5,000 marines.
"Ever since I started doing stand up, I loved it," Marley explains. "I still love it; every time I go on stage I get to give people pleasure for a whole hour. I like to see people laugh cause it makes me laugh. I just go nuts. Last week I had my pants pulled half way up my stomach and started singing 'Pump Up The Jam.'"
How's that for random? I have no complaints though; I got a personal half hour show straight from Marley in L.A. to me in my bedroom. Now that's what a good interview is about.
Reach the reporter at erika.wurst@asu.edu.
