Greg Bach and J. Tyler Menz
Krusty the Klown once made a wisespeech on historical perspective, which we’ll repurpose for this article:“1969: Man walks on the moon. 1971: Man walks on the moon…uh, again. Then for along time, nothing happened.” Until December 17th, 1989, when thefirst full episode of The Simpsons aired.Television, culture, and the world underwent a profound change. And the samechange was felt by millions of budding comedic minds, including that ofMilwaukee standup J. Tyler Menz, who introducedhis friend and fellow funnyman Greg Bach to theshow. On their iTunes podcast AVisitor’s Guide to Springfield, the fanatical Menz brings his newbiepal Bach along on a tour of America’s favorite animated city, one episode at atime.
Simpsons love is omnipresent in theMilwaukee comedy scene, where Menz and Bach have each staked their claims. Likethe Brew City, The Simpsons has itsmoments of decadence, conflict, and the kind of Midwestern crankiness thatstems from subzero winters--but in the end, both can be counted on forredemption. The comedians shared their insights into the city’s comediclandscape as well as their upcoming ACLU benefit “What a Joke”, whichwill take place in the wake of Trump’s inauguration. Plus! Menz and Bach evenlet some local hack jabber about the “Marge Be Not Proud,” aka “Bonestorm” episodefor a recording of A Visitor’s Guide toSpringfield.
Whendid your passion for comedy begin and when did you first start performingstandup?
Menz: I got into comedy as a kid. I think everyone does. Iremember my dad bringing home a VHS of Abbotand Costello Meet the Mummy. And I also remember my aunt gave me a couplestandup albums: A Place to Put My Stuffby George Carlin, an Adam Sandler album, and Ray Romano Live at Carnegie Hall. I’ve been performing now for about four orfive years, about as long as Greg.
Bach: Since I was a kid, yeah, watching Monty Python. After about six years of sketch and improv. I startedstandup late, but I feel like I made up for it because I just had to hustle.
Whatare the thrills and challenges of doing standup in and around Milwaukee?
Menz: A bunch of big thrills for me have been getting thechance to perform at some of the bigger venues that Wisconsin and Milwaukeehave to offer. Turner Hall, the Meyer Theater in Green Bay, the Barrymore inMadison. Challenges? It’s a smaller scene here, as opposed to New York or Chicagoor L.A., where people go to consume and pursue comedy. We don’t have that asmuch.
Bach: As far as thrills, I’ve also had the chance to open forbigger names, which is great, and I’ve performed in places I never thought Iwas going to. I agree that we’re a smaller market. It can be hard to get peoplefired up for a comedy show. The biggest pitfall is generating the interest.It’s there, but it’s also good to get out of the city and do other work.
Withexperience, do the lows of bombing and the highs of killing start to level out?
Menz: Definitely. There are stories of Chris Rock going intothe Comedy Cellar and just eating it. And then walking out, saying, “Whatever,just another day at work.” But I would say that the highs of doing a great show...There’s nothing that feels better than that. It’s fantastic.
Bach: I think your definitions of “bombing” and “killing”change as you go on. When you first start out and you eat it, it’s life-ending.It feels terrible. And then as you start to get into it, when you bomb, it canbe funny. “Killing” also changes, because you can do a great show, but still feellike you could’ve done better—especially if the audience is good.
Tellme about A Visitor’s Guide to Springfield.
Bach: It’s a podcast we started in November of 2015 because Ihad never watched The Simpsons andTyler is a huge fan, and someone I wanted to talk to about the show. Talking toa lot of fans, they can come across as jaded because it isn’t what they want itto be anymore. But Tyler’s always been someone who just loves The Simpsons. There’s a real positiveenergy there. When I asked him if he wanted to do the show, he said,“Absolutely!” And within a week, the show had started, and we started gettingfans. I find it interesting to have these discussions because it helps expandmy brain, and who I am as a comedian.
Menz: I just like TheSimpsons, and Greg’s a buddy. It’s cool to expose a friend of mine tosomething they haven’t seen before that I love. That’s my favorite part.
Greg,as the visitor getting a belated introduction to Simpsons fanaticism,do you feel the all-encompassing magic, or is it still pretty casual for you?
Still pretty casual, much to Tyler’s dismay. I wouldn’tconsider myself a super-fan. For me, it’s more about discussing the show as acultural phenomenon. And using that to analyze who we are as a society, andwhere we are now as people. It’s an interesting way to startconversations.
Tyler,have you ever referenced the show so much that it has annoyed others who don’tget the references?
I try not do that. (Laughs.) That is a filter I’ve had to puton. Especially hanging out with Greg, I can’t reference it. They’ll go over hishead. What’s funny, though, is that Greg makes references to The Simpsons that he doesn’t know are references—that are just in thecultural ethos. Like saying, “Sax-a-ma-phone.”
Tellme about “What a Joke” on Saturday, Jan. 21.
Greg: Tyler and I, along with local comedian Patrick Tomlinson, wereapproached to produce the Milwaukee satellite performance of this comedyfestival called “What a Joke,” which is put on by Emily Winter. We are going to be doinga show at Puddler’s Hall in BayView. All the money goes to ACLU. It’s ten dollars a ticket. It’s basically aresponse to the new administration, with shows all over the country. We’ll be raisingsome money, giving it to an organization that’s interested in defendingfreedom, and laughing in the process—because we need to do all those things inorder to fight.
You can find more information about "What a Joke" here.
