Brian Regan’s Comedic Evolution

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Photo Credit Friedman Bergman

Brian Regan is one of comedy’s most celebrated insiders. While he may not carry the same superstar status as some of his peers, he is a favorite among other comics and has built a sizable fan base over the 35-plus years he’s been on the circuit.

We caught up with Regan in the lead up to his April 15 show at the Riverside Theater to talk about his road schedule, how his comedy has changed over the years and why network television has lost its creativity.

How many times have you performed at the Riverside Theater?

I’ve been there in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

So you’re well-versed with Milwaukee crowds.

Yeah, I’ve been there a number of times over the years. Usually the rotation when you do theaters is a year and a half. I’m not sure why. It’s not the same way in comedy clubs. With a comedy club you usually go twice a year. I’m not sure what it is about a theater that makes you not want to come back for a year and a half, but that’s the formula. 

Is there a method behind that or did some guy just make that up and it became the rule?

[Laughs] That’s a good question. Well I have smart people that book my tour that know more about this stuff than I do, so I don’t quarrel with them. Plus what’s interesting is that when I started doing theaters I found that there are so many smaller towns out there that I never got to play, since they may not have had a comedy club. Also a year and a half gives me the opportunity to come back with some fresh, new material. So it works out well. 

I was just going to ask about that. As far as material what should we expect from the show?

Zany. Madcap. No, I’m just being goofy. That’s always been a challenging question for me to answer because the jokes are just the jokes. I don’t really know how to describe them. It’s like painting in a way. Someone might ask you to explain it and you just say that you have to look at it. I try to keep my eyes and ears open and be a citizen of the earth. There are imperfections on this planet and I tend to notice them and highlight them through my humor.

I’ve noticed that. You have an ability to make very mundane things incredibly funny. Why do you think that is?

I think that there can be comedy in anything and everything. Jerry Seinfeld had a routine about a bag of cotton balls. That’s beautiful to me. Ninety-nine out of 100 people look at a bag of cotton balls and lay it back down. Jerry Seinfeld looks at a bag of cotton balls and says that there’s five minutes of comedy here. There’s comedy all over the place, but you have to look at things differently than others to see it.

While I do find comedy in mundane things, I also try not to paint myself into a corner. I like to keep my options open. Lately I’ve been gravitating towards things that are a bit of a departure for me. I’m interested in subjects that some people might scratch their heads and say, “Wow, isn’t this the guy that talks about donut sprinkles, and now he’s talking about gun control?” I like to keep moving along.

Has the election cycle gotten you interested in subjects like gun control?

No, I think it just peaks my interest. There’s the old expression “write what you know”, and I guess that’s a little different for comedy because you make jokes about things you don’t know or don’t understand. The things that I don’t know or understand are what I’m interested in. When you’re a human being you grow, and if you’re a performer I think that your performances should change a little bit as you get older.

As a comedian, everything I’ve talked about in my past was truthful and organic to me at that time, but you move away from certain subjects. You start to want to talk about other things. I think that it’s just fun for me to always keep my options open.

So it’s a maturing process in a way.

That’s a much better title than I would have put on it. So you’re like a smart guy with smart words and stuff? It took me 700 words to say what you said in one sentence.

I’m not sure about that. You’re the one who can make comedy out of cotton balls.

I guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses.

You always come up as a favorite of other comedians. Why do you think that is?

Gosh, I don’t know. I guard against giving a self-serving answer. It’s incredibly flattering to have anyone like what you do, and when people that do what you do like what you do it makes you feel pretty strong. I care a lot about comedy. I love it as an art form. I know that sounds like I’m patting myself on the back by calling it an art, but I think it can be. I like when people put effort into it. For other people to look at me and say, “This guy put a lot of work into this” is nice to be noticed in that way.

Years ago in baseball, and I know that this is a bizarre analogy, the players would decide who the all-stars were. When that was the case it seemed that the people who were chosen to be all-stars truly were the best players in the game. Now that they’ve turned it over to the fans, which I understand, I don’t think that they necessarily choose the best players. They choose the most popular players. It’s that way with comedy. Comedians know who the best comedians are, and they’re not always necessarily the most popular. But to get back to your question, having comedians like what I do means the world to me.

On the other side of that, who are some of your favorite comics?

This might sound bad, but I think everyone else is horrible [laughs]. No, there are so many great comedians out there. The more unique someone is the more I can get into them. Seinfeld is definitely one of the best stand-ups around. There are so many people doing interesting things. Bill Burr is wonderfully funny. He does a different kind of comedy than me, but I appreciate him for what he does. Maria Bamford is incredibly talented. She does these characters that seem like she is sharing parts of her soul. That’s not really a kind of comedy that I do, but I love watching someone else do it, and do it well. Chris Rock is another. It’s so cool for me to see how huge he has become because I remember when we were both late night crawlers at the comedy clubs in New York. We had trouble getting on before midnight.

Now Chris Rock just hosted the Oscars. 

Yes! Exactly! I don’t think there’s a bigger gig out there. To think years ago somebody wrote down 1:10 a.m. as his timeslot at a comedy club. It just goes to show that you have to pay your dues, and he did that. I think that it’s wonderful to watch someone go from one level of their career to becoming top dog.

What misconceptions do people have about you?  

I think a lot of people read into a style of comedy and assume a certain offstage persona that isn’t necessarily in-sync with who I am. I like to do the kind of comedy that I do because I like it. It’s interesting to me. When I get off stage some people might think that I’m more wholesome than I really am. It’s not that I live in dark alleys, but I’m capable cursing and having a shot of liquor now and then. I think that some people might put me on a pedestal that I don’t belong on. I just want you to like the comedy. I want to be a good citizen and be kind-hearted, but I’m not what some people might think that I am.

I came to realize that after listening to you on Marc Maron and Bill Burr’s podcasts. I was wondering if you ever think of really dirty jokes that you think are funny, but could never use in one of your sets.

I do. That’s one of the challenges of the kind of comedy that I do. I used to play in comedy clubs, and to go to comedy clubs you had to be 18 or 21 years old depending on the state. Now I play in theaters where people bring kids. I didn’t even realize that there were kids who were fans of mine until I started playing theaters. I wasn’t catering my comedy towards kids. I don’t want to be offensive. If you have a 14 or 15 year old there you don’t have to cover his or her ears, but at the same time it’s not a kiddie show. I’m not on stage twisting balloon animals. I want to talk about whatever I want to talk about. Because of that sometimes I’ll think of something that’s a little on the dark side. I have to be careful because I don’t want to ruin a family’s night out. There are certain things that I think of and then just let go. It’s always weird for me because I don’t like to censor myself, but I have to walk this line of being considerate of the people who are coming to see the show.

So there’s no secret Brian Regan set that only gets performed in front of close friends?

Believe me, I do have these fantasies about throwing in the towel on the type of comedy I do, and doing something drastically different. Who knows, maybe sometime in the future I’ll do a show at a comedy club somewhere under the cloak of darkness and do the dark version of my show. But right now I still think of plenty of stuff that works within the type of comedy that I do. 

I’ll save the dark stuff for when I’m out with my friends on the golf course. I have some friends that tell me, “Man, if your fans only knew how twisted you could be.”

What are the next steps in your career?

I’m going to keep plugging away at the standup. I would love for some TV people out there to become aware of me. Which is the first thing you have to do. They have to become aware of the fact that I exist. Which I guess isn’t the case. Then I want to have one meeting with them, and one meeting only, where we go in a room and they say, “Do whatever you want, and you’ll never hear from us, and we promise that we’ll put it on the air.” I haven’t had that meeting yet. 

Do you think that will happen?  

I don’t know. The bigger the network the less likely it is, but because there are so many different ways of packaging entertainment these days it’s possible that I could get the opportunity to do that somewhere. I don’t think it’ll be at a major network. They’re interesting in their formulas, and I’m not interested in that kind of television. But there are some people who have been able to get those situations, like Louis C.K., who was powerful enough to go to FX and say, “Hey, I’d like to do a show for you; leave me alone.” I don’t mean that he was jerky with them, but he’s a creative guy, and they were smart enough to let him do what he wanted to do. Most networks aren’t like that. They figure out what works for them. I always thought that was the kiss of death. As soon as a network finds out what works for them they are no longer creative. 

Would you ever consider using a web series as a springboard into a TV deal as some people have done?

Yea, I’m keeping all of my options open. It’s also not a burning desire to do a TV show because I do like standup, but if I had the opportunity to do something where I could call the shots creatively then I would love to do it. If that were online instead of on TV then that would be ok. Look at what Seinfeld’s doing with “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” It’s a very simple idea, and that’s not taking anything away from it. That’s why it works so well. It is what it is. The title is the entire premise. I could see going into a major network and having them go “Eh, I’m not sure that that would work.” Seinfeld is powerful enough that he can just do it and put it on the Internet. Who knows? Maybe I’ll do something that way. I’m thinking maybe “Comedians in Alleys Mainlining Heroin.” [Laughs] Maybe that’s not such a good idea.