Graham Kay: NYC Comic

Graham began his comedic odyssey back when he was growing up in Ottawa Canada at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Cabaret and Absolute Comedy Club. Since then he has appeared in many venues in Europe and New York, including, Times Square Arts Centre (former Laugh Factory), and the Comedy Village NYC. Graham has also appeared in various small films as well as television appearances for VBS.TV. and the CBC. And when he is not busy proving his elementary teachers wrong, that you can in fact work as a class clown, you can find him at the local bar practicing how to drink a beer.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=34317028



What/who inspired you to do what you do? Um...I don't know...I guess when I was a kid, I'd watch comedy on TV with my dad. We didn't have cable at the cottage so we'd rent a lot of Bill Cosby VHS tapes.

How long has your career lasted?
Right now, two years. In college, I majored in history with a minor in film. I did history because it was the only thing I was interested in. In class, it was like a soap opera of things that really happened.

Where have you traveled with your talents, what's your next destination? If you could choose your next destination?
I have performed in um Ottawa, Capital of Canada (where I'm from) and Vancouver, Canada and Budapest, Hungry...and obviously New York,,,and New Jersey! Isn't that exciting? New Jersey? One time I even got to perform in Connecticut!

Where is your favorite spot to perform and why?
My favorite spot to perform is at Yuk Yuc's actually no, Absolute Comedy Club in Ottawa because it's where I started and it's just very nostalgic. Every time I go back there I get to see how far I've come. I never know week to week how far I progress but where you go back home you really get to see the difference. It's like if you were a kid and you get sent to boarding school and then you come home for the holidays and your parents notice how tall you've grown. You get to see how small you once were and now you are bigger.

Who is your favorite obscure artist/comic/performer to work with? Famous?
Obscure would be um...well, my favorite famous is Dave Chappel but there's lots in NY, it's hard to choose...I like working with Matty Goldberg, I like working with Danny Lobell and I really like working with Halie Boyle, she's going to be famous,,,she's different than anyone else.

Wow, Dave Chappel?
About a year ago, I was working at a comedy club and that's the same comedy club Dave worked at before he moved to New York. He found out that club was closing and came back to visit his old stomping ground and he walked in with a back pack and headphones, no one was with him, he was very humble...he laughed at my jokes and called one of my jokes an instant classic and he said he hadn't laughed that hard since he hung out with Chris Rock in Eddie Murphy's house. Then he talked to me for like ten minutes after and said I was talented.

Ever see him after that?
Yeah, one more time and he remembered my name...it was really weird.

Tell me some perks of being a comic. What are some peeves?
I like the hours. I like staying up late. I like hanging out with friends. It's like being in seventh grade again. I get to BS with my friends,,,it's not about the drinking. I mean there is some drinking but not really and I really like sleeping in..I really like sleeping in. Overall, the biggest perk is performing, your job is to have fun...you're only really ever funny when you're having fun, you have to have fun. Peeves would be it's hard to keep a girlfriend because you have opposite hours of a normal person...I hear gun shots outside my door, the gun shots peeve me off. And...I don't know the money can be bad sometimes...

What's it like being 'on the road'?
Being on the road is fun because you're with friends, it reminds me of going to away games like when I played hockey in high school, farting on friends the whole way and then when you get there you try to sleep with someone but when I was a kid I didn't try to do that.

Does being a comic heighten or hinder your chances of having a meaningful relationship?
Hinder! Hinder!

Ever had a heckler? If so, how did you handle it?
Everyone has had a heckler...I just watched Richard Pryer, "Here and Now" and he was being heckled the entire time and he handled it the way I wish I could handle it, they just laugh it off and continue on, they don't get into a fight, they know they're funny and they just continue to be funny. A heckler is just somebody who's sad that the spot light is not on them.

Ever been on TV? Radio? Describe one or both.
Both. I have my own radio show at the university and I was on Comical Radio which is a radio show here in New York. I was on Danny Lobell's Radio show and then I've been on Canadian television..I commented on the world hockey championships.

Are you consistent with your material or do you like to change it constantly, what are the ingredients?
Most comics stick with the main ingredients and stick with it for a long time,,,cuz it takes a long time to come up with a joke. I'm always writing but I'm always using old stuff..I never throw old stuff out.

Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
Five years? Writing this blog.

What do you mean?
I'm gonna take over. I'd like to be on TV regularly. I think I will be.


This guy is REALLY funny. See him live at the following NYC venues: NYC Comedy Club, The Comedy Village, Comedy Corner, Joe Franklin's.