Veterans of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Cory Holcomb and former competitor John Heffron performed in the HUB Courtroom Saturday evening of homecoming weekend. Cory, whose relationship-based act is widely received as some of the funniest material on the standup circuit, began the evening with a conversational bit, focusing on the miscommunications between men and women. A Chicago native, Cory now lives in Los Angeles, where he polishes his standup routine when not touring. He looks for hilarity in his own life, confessing that his act is somewhat autobiographical. We spoke with Cory after the show in room 109, the HUB’s very own green room.
The Clock: How’d you feel about this show? Was it a good audience?Cory Holcomb: The audience was great. They came to the show ready to laugh. Sometimes when you work comedy shows, especially clubs, people come in with an attitude like ‘make me laugh!’ This crowd had the attitude ‘hey, we’re here to laugh!’ I do a lot of clubs, so this was a nice change.
TC: Did you catch the presidential debate the other day?CH: I don’t watch that stuff. I really believe it’s the same guy no matter who you pick.
TC: So will you be voting?CH: Yeah, I’m going to vote. The only reason I vote is so people can’t say that I didn’t vote. “Well you didn’t vote so now you can’t have an opinion.” I vote so that I can talk smack.
TC: You mention a variety of substances in your act. What’s your drug of choice?CH: I don’t do any drugs. I have a drink every once in a while but I stay away from drugs.
TC: Do you know of any international conspiracies that our readers should be aware of?CH: I’ll say this about conspiracies: there’re two sides to every story. When I watch the news, and I hear all this stuff about who Osama Bin Laden is and all those people over there, I wonder what they have to say about us.
TC: What’s your favorite season?CH: I’d have to say that it’s the fall. The way it is now, the way it smells outside. In LA where I live, we really don’t get this weather. The temperature changes but it isn’t like this where you have an actual season. I’m from Chicago originally, and I never thought I’d miss the winter like I did, but now I cheat because I visit.
TC: What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you?CH: A lot of strange things have happened to me, it’s hard to just pick one. I had this encounter at a comedy show where there was this girl, and you know, she was fine. She looked so good I thought she was up to something. It was just strange how everything worked out perfectly. I remember that, it stands out as a strange memory. I lost her number.
TC: How much of your act is improv as opposed to routine?CH: Ever since Last Comic Standing, where we burned most of our material, a lot of my act is improv. When I was out there tonight, I was really just running my mouth for at least half of it. I’m at this stage now where I’m rewriting my act because I’ve done a lot of TV shows. I’ve had the Comedy Central special and it all came at one time. It came fast; fame just fell on me. I could hire a writer, but I think I’ll be fine in about three to four months. It takes awhile to come up with a quality show. A quality show is a solid thirty minutes of good material.
TC: Do you predict any changes coming in the comic industry in the wake of Last Comic Standing?CH: I can’t really say. I know there are funny comedians in the underworld, and it’s a shame that the world has never got a chance to see them. It’s like that in music, it’s like that in a lot of things; there are people that are hungry who are out there doing their best and they need that break. The process of how they pick comics in Last Comic Standing, I’d say maybe one of the comedians in that line gets noticed. Everybody else knows somebody in the business or has some connection. I can’t say you’re going to have a new way that famous comedians are noticed; it’s still the people with connections that you’ll see.
TC: Are you looking to do anything new in your own career?CH: I’m hoping that Last Comic Standing is the thing that breaks me into actually having my TV show make it to the air. Bernie Mac was in the position that I’m in for about eight or nine years – where Hollywood knew about him, and they liked him. They would give him TV deals, but that isn’t what got his show to the air. When he did the Kings of Comedy tour, and everybody got to know him across the country, he had a show on the air. So I’m hoping this can be what gets my show to the air, because I have a real funny show idea, and they buy it in Hollywood, they like it, it’s just never made it to the air because I’m small-time to them.
TC: Is your show autobiographical like Bernie Mac’s?CH: It’s based on my own experience. It’s funny and original and I know people will watch it just from the commercials, they’ll say: Oh yeah, that’s a good idea! I was ready for Hollywood when I got there about four years ago. Recently though I’ve been slacking off a bit because of the attention I’m getting. I’ve really got to get back on it because this is a time that’s very important to my career. When they knock on the door I’ve got to be ready. I don’t care how funny you are, that doesn’t mean you can make it big. It always comes back to chance.
* * * * *
By the age of 25, John Heffron was a successful, headlining comedian. He got his start as a student at Eastern Michigan University, skipping night classes to perform at comedy clubs and local bars. Post graduation, John was giving over eighty shows a year on the college campus circuit. His latest milestone was winning Last Comic Standing and of course, giving a show at PSU. As with Cory, we caught up with John after the show.
TC: Did you have a good show tonight? John Heffron: Oh yeah, it was a good, attentive crowd. They really followed me.
TC: What did you think of the presidential debate?JH: I heard parts of it when I was driving, I heard about fifteen minutes. I was really impressed with Kerry and his demeanor, and, you know, I’m not a huge Bush fan at all. But I’m still thinking that just because I don’t like Bush doesn’t mean that I should automatically vote for the other guy.
TC: So does Kerry have your vote?JH: Well my jury’s still out, but I think he has a better chance at this point, because Bush to me, I dunno, with all that went on I can’t really get behind him.
TC: What do you think about nuclear weaponry?JH: Well, like I was saying, I think Bush dropped the ball. There are a lot of other countries that maybe we should have gone after before Iraq.
TC: Do you have any hobbies?JH: I’m really into martial arts. I practice Krabi Krabong a real lot. I do that whenever I’m home, but I’m on the road so much that I usually just get a video game and play that until I have to move again.
TC: What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you?JH: Nothing’s really strange to me. I had a woman recognize me at an airport once and she was just yelling my name as I was walking, and everyone was staring at me. That was pretty embarrassing. Since I was on the show, a lot of people will come up to me and say Hey John, what’s up? Like I’m supposed to know them and I always think about it, like where did I meet this person?
TC: Have you ever won any trophies?JH: I won the third grade Olympic shoe kick by kicking my shoe the farthest.
TC: It’s raining out right now. Does the rain ever make you sad?JH: No I love the rain. I love the rain and I love 3 a.m. in the morning. Especially together.
TC: Do you see any changes for the future of the comic industry?JH: Well with Last Comic Standing, I think we’ll see an increase in the interest regular people pay to comedy clubs. There might be people that weren’t ever interested in comedy going to the club just to see how it works and that it’s really a cool place to go.
TC: Do you and Corey work together often?JH: Not super often since the show ended, but we see each other more now.
TC: What’s on the horizon of your own career?JH: Well I’m going to start to do a lot more television, and hopefully I’ll get my own show. That’s kind of a lengthy process though.
Both comedians left the stage to approving roars from students and alumni. Cory unpinned a brochure on Sexual Violence from a corkboard, saying it would make good reading material on the drive. A female student sidetracked John with a textbook comparing and contrasting the level of inebriation and length of intoxication attained by various methods of ingesting cocaine. They laughed over the word suppository for a few minutes before John left for his van. They cleaned out the green room and continued to Boston before calling it a night.