A Discussion With Alan Ponce
ABOUT ORAL ENTERTAINMENT written down by Christopher Dombrosky
HST: Who are your favorite comedians? PONCE: Doug Stanhope. Marc Maron. Tig Notaro. Maria Bamford. The dead ones did important stuff, but I like the stuff we have now. HST: When did you get into stand-up? PONCE: In high school I was a comedy nerd but I had no real desire to actually do it. But it’s like anything you obsess over. If you listen to enough rock and roll you’re going to want to pick up a guitar. I listened to a lot of comedy while I was a medic in the army. I came back around 2011 and there was an open mic already going at Jerusalem Hookah Café. HST: How often does Jerusalem do comedy these days? PONCE: There’s an open mic twice a month, every other Thursday. We’re toying with the idea of moving it around, but there’s nothing for sure yet. HST: How has Jerusalem been as a venue? PONCE: It’s great. They’re very supportive. Anyone who’s willing to let us do it is amazing because there’s always the risk of running your customers off. That happened at the Logon. Some people didn’t like the bad words and that’s alright. It’s not my place. But we don’t have that issue at Jerusalem. I think the rules that apply to guitar open mic, to poetry open mic or any other open mic, should apply to comedy open mic. You show up because you love comedy and you want to see somebody grow. The comedy scene in Beaumont is like a less angry version of “What do you want from me?” What do you want to get out of this? Do you want to be involved? Do you want rougher stuff? Softer stuff? Comedy in Southeast Texas has an interesting past because we’ve tried so many things. Laugh Out Loud was in The Gig, then it moved to the Zumba building. Nothing survives there. There’s another comedy club downtown right now called Jazz & Jokes, but I haven’t had a lot of contact with them. Comedy, Texas [the former Beaumont comedy club on Interstate 10] is where I did my first set. It was awful. I was 18 and wasn’t even supposed to be there. HST: On open mic nights do you guys get hecklers? PONCE: Not as often as I’d hoped. We have a really good audience in Beaumont, but I think a lot of the local comics are really missing out on some drunk person interrupting the set that you’ve worked on for three months. I do standup in Houston whenever I get the chance and Houston is a meat grinder for comedians. They will tell you exactly what they think and tell you to go fuck yourself. And then when your three minutes are up you get to walk off to no applause, pay your tab and leave to go do it again. Hecklers teach you what you’re willing to fight for. HST: The next question is pretty standard... PONCE: Seven inches flaccid. HST: …what’s your biggest tip for aspiring comics? PONCE: Do it. There’s no point waiting. Go up there. Start writing whatever stupid idea you have, and I say that lovingly because they’re all terrible. Whatever makes you giggle. The sooner you get it out of the way the sooner you can start writing some more meaningful things. HST: What’s your dream? PONCE: I don’t want to stay local, but I don’t call comedy a career. I want to keep writing and see where it goes. Right now I’m just good with growing.