Cats and Kaszas at Shank Hall

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Photo: Zoltan Kaszas - zoltancomedy.com

Zoltan Kaszas

Zoltan Kaszas

As a comedian who made his first major online splash with bits about cats, Zoltan Kaszas isn’t quite sure why cracking wise about felines raised his public profile. 

“I don’t know,” Kaszas grasps for an explanation before surmising, “My guess is cats and the Internet go together like peanut butter and jelly. And my joke being positive of cats just fit right in there and moved that video up the algorithm.” Kaszas will play for a live audience, probably without regard to impersonal metrics, when he visits Shank Hall (1434 N. Farwell Ave.) for an 8 p.m. show on Thursday Aug. 25. 

The comic, who as a child emigrated with his mother from Hungary ("I do hope to go back; Budapest looks amazing, according to the late great Anthony Bourdain”), has an eye on how comedy lovers’ time on the internet plays a role in his fortune. He cites “my boss, the algorithm” when speaking of the millions of YouTube plays for his one-camera “Modern Male” set. But the first signs of Kaszas’ sense of humor came not from impersonal data analysis, but the rhythm of family life. 

“At home, my mom and I always had laughs recapping our days, just like a comedian would rant on stage with exaggerated truth and animated facials,” Kaszas recalls. The gift he used in that setting translated well to his academic environment. “It was also the only way to bring my grade up,” he recollects of how giving speeches and other oral presentations made up for aspects of schooling where he may have lacked. 

Comedy in a Sling

Having abandoned formal book leaning after high school, it was an impediment during his young working years that allowed Kaszas his entry into comedy. “I went to my first open mic because I was about to have shoulder surgery, and I needed something to do while my arm was in a sling for a few months,” he says, though he had comedic ambitions before being disabled. “I’ve always loved stand up,” Kaszas admits. 

The low-key friendliness that keeps an even keel on an underlying manic energy heard in Kaszas’ act well mirrors his personality elsewhere in his life. “I battle with that off stage,” he confesses. “I really try to see everyone’s point until my own boils over and goes, 'The hell with that!’”  

Striving for equanimity, however, makes Kaszas someone people of differing opinions can find amusing. “I think the thing that helps me the most,” he explains, “is I try to understand both sides of an issue to poke fun at all of it. That’s important and tricky, especially now that seemingly everyone has chosen a team, when I make fun of something political, I try to do it in a way that someone who disagrees with me can still laugh. The best comments I’ve gotten in person or online are some versions of ‘I don’t agree with you but that was funny.’” And Kaszas gets his laughs from both sides of any given aisle without profanity nowadays. Not that he necessarily planned that ...

Before the making his 2017 Uncle McFatfat album, it dawned on Kaszas that “I can do all this without cussing, Let’s record it that way. A month after that, I recorded my first Dry Bar Comedy special, “Cat Jokes,” where I had to be extra clean, the joke about cats went viral, and I guess I became a ‘clean’ comedian. I’m good with that," Kaszas admits although not without reservation. “I like talking about dark subjects along with the lighthearted ones; and even though my darker jokes don’t have four-letter words, it feels like it doesn’t meet my audience’s expectations. That part I’m not a huge fan of.”

He is enough of a fan of his fiancée, Emma, that he makes sure she approves of whatever he spills publicly about their relationship. “I run things by her and make sure she’s cool with things before I air our dirty laundry,” husband-to-be Kaszas shares. And, considering the expense of cleaning actual laundry and the other costs of living, he urges anyone wanting to watch his videos online before catching him at Shank Hall, “Don’t skip the ads.”