A Muslim, a Jew, a rodeo clown’s son and a writer walk into a bar. Is it the setup for a lame punch line? Nope, it’s a smattering of the stand-up comedians at Arizona State University – and they wouldn’t dream of telling a joke like that.
ASU has a rich history in sketch and improvisational comedy. Farce Side Comedy Hour, ASU’s premier comedy show, has been cracking co-eds up since 1985, albeit not always under that name. Barren Mind Improv, an improvisational comedy troupe that spun off in 1994, gave student comedians and audiences another way to laugh at the absurdity of life.
Now a third group has solidified an ASU comedy trifecta: Stand Up vs. The World. The group began as The Comedians’ Club in the spring of 2010. In January, it was renamed and revamped, with new director Jake Davis at the helm and a laser-sharp focus: making a mark on the comedy scene at college and beyond.
“I’ll say something inappropriate and then look over and say, ‘Hey Mom.’”
Noah Findling, a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism and a member of Stand Up vs. The World, began his comedy journey on an unlikely date: the night of his high school junior prom.
“We went to a comedy club after prom,” Findling says. “The comedian who was performing was really funny and he mentioned he was Jewish, and I’m Jewish, so I really connected with him.”
Findling talked to the comedian after the show and, in the grand tradition of comedians past, asked him for advice.
“He said to open up a document and just start writing,” he says.
Findling has been writing ever since, with more than 130 pages of ideas, observations and jokes to show for it. He carries his laptop with him nearly everywhere in case inspiration strikes.
“I’m inspired by everything around me, everything that I encounter in my day-to-day life,” Findling says. “I have so much (material) about sorority girls or girls who I meet on weekends, ASU kids in general. I have a whole bit about the homeless people in downtown Phoenix and the crazy people I see on the light rail.”
Findling, a New Jersey native, grew up idolizing Adam Sandler.
“I feel like we have very similar backgrounds, similar style,” Findling says. He also cites Jerry Seinfeld, Greg Giraldo and Louis C.K. as influences, but is reluctant to describe his own style in a definitive way.
“I don’t think I’ve found myself yet, my real voice yet,” he says. He does acknowledge that his approach is “more observational, finding the ridiculous in every situation.”
He believes comedians should be out in the world experiencing things to get their material.
“I like seeing someone do something and it’s like, ‘Why would you do it that way?’” Findling says. “You don’t get that from staying home all the time. You have to go out and experience things and meet all kinds of people so you’re surrounded by all kinds of ideas.”
Findling’s comedy commitments keep him busy. In addition to shows with Stand Up vs. The World, he co-hosts Devil’s Chowda – an online show for the State Press that’s a hybrid of “The Soup” and “The Daily Show,” from a student perspective – and produces Lonely Island-style short films with his friend Eric Weil under the moniker BIG eFIN DEAL. In one short, “Jewcy,” Findling and Weil, decked out in yarmulkes and Jewish prayer shawls, rap about doing “body shots of Manischewitz” and having “pastrami on rye with a pickle on the side.”
Findling calls himself a “student of comedy” and would love to make a career out of it, although he doesn’t know which path he’ll take. He’d love to write for a sitcom or a comedy show or be a performer and showcase his favorite comedy formats.
“I’d say sketch and stand-up comedy are my two favorite forms,” Findling says. “I like sketch because it involves creating an environment and working with others to portray that involved. Stand up is great because it’s so pure. Especially nowadays, there are so many frauds. In stand up …it’s only you up there. You’re either funny, or you get off the stage.”
“I’m not sure if it works for you or against you, being a woman.”
Alice Stanley is a first-year graduate student pursuing a Master’s degree in fine arts and dramatic writing. She writes for a journal, maintains her own blog, participates in Barren Mind and Farce Side shows, works on campus and has even had her work published in a communications textbook. She’s also one of the only females in Stand Up vs. The World.
Although comedy has made great strides toward gender equality over the years, there is still a dearth of successful female comedians for girls to look up to, Stanley says, especially in stand up.
“I definitely disagree with the idea that guys are funnier than girls,” Stanley says. “I hate it when people say that, it makes me so mad. Boys just have more practice at being funny because at a young age they’re encouraged to cultivate that trait. It’s an unfortunate side effect of having genders that fewer girls cultivate that humor. There aren’t as many role models for girls and guys have tons.”
Stanley’s influences range from Steve Martin and Hank Azaria to Kristen Wiig, whom she credits, along with Tina Fey, as being a vocal representative for women in comedy.
“Hopefully as more females enter comedy, it’ll become more open,” Stanley says. “It’s definitely just going to keep getting more even and diverse.”
In person, Stanley evokes another of her influences.
“When I first started and was like, ‘I want to pursue comedy,’ I really liked Diane Keaton,” Stanley says. “She’s really funny and she always has that one awkward, sincere character. That’s kind of how I am. I’m not zany or bonkers … I’m more quiet, I listen to things, so I have a lot of observations.”
Stanley’s first comedy love is improv. She only recently decided to branch into stand up, but says the transition felt natural.
“I felt like, ‘Why haven’t I thought of this before?’” Stanley says. “Being comedic and being in front of people with a microphone and having them be forced to listen to me? Sign me up.”
Stanley, an Illinois native, made her stand up debut in September at one of Stand Up vs. The World’s bimonthly comedy shows in the Memorial Union, “under the Taco Bell. It sounds so sketchy.” Her set went well, Stanley says, and she looks forward to doing more comedy at ASU.
“I’m super lucky that I just fell into it,” Stanley says. “Stand up is a totally individual, personal thing but there’s this big group of people out supporting each other. In situations like that I think there’s a temptation to get competitive, but that’s not the feeling here. This is the place for comedy and I feel so lucky to be here.”
“If you’re doing it right you’re putting your entire soul into five minutes and letting people judge it.”
Jake Davis is the beating heart and hyper-performing mind of Stand Up vs. The World. In title, he is the director, but in action he far eclipses that role. Davis, a communications senior, has taken a fledgling comedy club and turned it into a dynamic, focused and supportive community for young comedians to foster their talent. He is a talent scout, recruiter, booking agent, publicist and mentor all rolled into one.
“There’s so much young talent here,” Davis says. “Very rarely do you see a group of people that you might work with for the rest of what could be a very long and successful career. These are guys and girls who will excel at anything they want to do. I want this to be the start that they talk about with us.”
Davis grew up in California in a Southern Baptist/Irish Catholic household – “two groups of people who have no qualms about smacking you over the back of the head.” He fell in love with comedy while listening to tapes of Jeff Foxworthy, Rodney Dangerfield and Ron White during long road trips with his dad, whom Davis describes as a “rodeo clown, cowboy, blacksmith, stuntman and film and television actor.”
Davis, who has been pursuing comedy since he was 13, has comedy acumen and experience that comics twice his age would kill for. In addition to his stand-up performances (he sometimes does as many as six a week), he participates in Barren Mind and Farce Side and stars in a weekly podcast called The Internet Champs with friend Jerry Friestad and a rotation of local comedians and guests. He’s opened for Steve-O and Daniel Tosh. Still, he’s not content.
“You have to keep working and never be satisfied,” Davis says. “You should always strive to be more honest and more true in what you’re doing.
Davis cites Tosh, Patton Oswalt, Ron White, Brian Regan and Louis C.K. as his influences.
“Definitely right now, it’s Louis C.K.,” Davis says. “I think he’s the best in the industry. He picked up the flag for comedians who are trying to say something with their comedy.”
“Saying something” is clearly important for Davis, although he shies away from the social commentary label. He does speak with a certain gravitas and purpose that is occasionally surprising coming from a person whose life is centered on finding the funny.
“A lot of people can be funny, but you have to be brave,” Davis says. “You need to have a mission and a goal if you want to make a mark and be remembered in this society. That’s what I’m trying to do at this point. I think one of the things that separates Stand Up vs. The World is that you have a group of young comedians who are all intelligent and funny and genuinely have something to say.”
Davis speaks just as warmly about the audience the comedians draw in the MU on those Friday-night shows.
“We have the best crowd in Phoenix, week after week,” Davis says. “Two hundred people can go from a quiet, soft-spoken, intellectual comic to a loud, outrageous party comic and they’re in-step with both of them. They’re sharp and know what to look for in comedy. We’re so blessed to have this crowd and I encourage everyone to go out and support the local comedy scene.”
Davis wants to leave a legacy of excellent comedy at ASU and go on to pursue his passion as a career.
“There’s an old saying among rodeo clowns,” Davis says. “‘There are better ways to make a living but no better way to live.’ There’s a lot more safe, stable, sane ways to make a living, but this is what I want to do.”
Stand Up vs. The World puts on a free comedy show every other Friday at 9 p.m. in the MU in Tempe.
Contact the reporter at llemoine@asu.edu
