Stand-up comedy may seem to be a lost art form in Madison, but with the help of Madison native and UW alumnus Nathan Craig, fresh, quality comedy will be in full force at the Barrymore Theater, 2090 Atwood Ave., on Saturday night. Craig, who is producing the show, hopes to bring back some of the stand-up tradition he feels has been lost on campus since his graduation in 1999 with a show he describes as \laugh-out-loud, real-deal, Holyfield comedy.""
The Daily Cardinal recently sat down with Nathan Craig to talk about growing up in Madison, the reputation of ""alternative"" comedy and writing for Garrison Keilor.
Tell me about growing up in Madison and going to school here.
Oh I loved it. Growing up in Madison-it's a special place. Reality has a hard time creeping in here. I wound up being an art major and a comm arts major and along the way I picked up some really good friends who made me laugh, and we all liked to laugh together.
I eventually moved to Chicago to pursue stand-up. That's really helped me learn both sides of the business. You know, aside from learning how to perform, also to put together a show.
How did the idea for ""New Style"" develop?
This is my fourth show at the Barrymore, and each show takes on kind of its own character. For this show, it's actually probably the most versatile show that I've done... There's two of us that still live in Chicago, and the rest of the show has all moved out to Los Angeles. They're booking themselves as a group called the Chicago Zephyr Group, and they've actually been able to turn that into something out West.
Front to back, it's one of the best shows I could imagine putting together... I'm just excited to be working with these clowns, they're awesome.
Does the show have mass appeal?
It's new, it's definitely something that you haven't seen before, which sometimes can be a dangerous claim because the connotations attached to alternative comedy are sometimes ""not funny"" but when it's done well, it's the best shit around. It's innovative; it's exactly what you are looking for. The best part about performing with these guys is that I get to watch them.
Mike [O'Connell] is crazy, he's a genius. Kumail [Nanjiani], this kid from Pakistan, he's only been doing standup for like a year-and-a-half and he's probably the best writer I know in Chicago right now. Mick [Betancourt] just signed a contract with the WB, he's on the new Jerry Bruckheimer show ""Fearless.""
Tell me about working for ""Prairie Home Companion.""
Well I grew up on Garrison Keilor, you know, I grew up listening to him. Creating characters for the radio just seemed very interesting to me and I came up with a couple ideas so I wrote a couple scripts and I sent them off. The producer comes out and says, ""We're going to use one of your scripts,"" and I was like, ""What?""
Just listening to him my whole life and then having him, I mean, he used my sketch in a show that he did in Chicago with Studs Turkel. I mean, that's ridiculous. It's something to be proud of, I suppose.
My first instinct is to call the show what it is, I guess, underground. Underground usually means, you know, not famous. But there is also, and I believe a very legitimate, attachment to the art form and an honesty with which we treat it. You know, if you want to cater to the common denominator fine. I mean, comedy has got to be accessible, no doubt, I'm not trying to bullshit, to play some sort of get-out-of-being-funny-free card. I mean, first and foremost, making people laugh is the job. But at the same time, there is something to be said for trying to be innovative, trying to be original and staying true to that and working hard at that every day.
