5 Minutes with Tom Simmons
STAGE TIME chats with comedian Tom Simmons, a 15-year veteran who has appeared on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, Showtime’s White Boyz in the Hood and The Bob and Tom Show.
When did you fall in love with stand up?
I constantly fall in and out of love with it. We have grown a lot in our time together. We started off just partying together and hanging out – stand up got me free drinks – then a friendship and passion developed. For me, falling in love with getting laughs and falling in love with stand up were not the same thing. The first time I got laughs off material I wrote, I was hooked. Falling in love with comedy is the easy part. Staying in love with it takes lots of work. Through good times and bad, sickness and health, for richer and lots of poorer.
It is like Tim Wilson once told me when I was starting, “If you are going to be a comedian you gotta love the seven-hour drive to the gig.”
Name something or someone that made you laugh recently.
I worked Vegas at the LA Comedy Club. The middle was Micheal Gelbart. He made me laugh out loud a number of times, especially just hanging out offstage. Also, I went to Vegas comedian Vinnie Favarito’s radio show and laughed hard a bunch listening to him interview and interact with some semi-famous ultimate fighting champion. My buddy Costaki Economopoulos and I write each week for some radio call in he does for Bob and Tom, so we laugh a lot in the writing of those segments. My son Owen and wife both made me laugh. I get to laugh a lot in my little life, then I grab a pen and write that shit down and try it on stage.
What stand-up comedy special, recording or live performance affected you the most?
I grew up loving Pryor and Cosby. Mudbone and Chicken Heart really stuck with me. Then Eddie Murphy came along with Delirious which was the first special my sister and I watched over and over together. Richard Pryor’s movie Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling made me want to be a comedian.
Once I started comedy I would say that a few guys had an impact on me with their show. [Brian] Regan, Jake Johannsen, and the one who really blew me away was Dave Attell. Later some club manager gave me all of Bill Hicks tapes and some bootlegs, those played on my drives hour after hour and I heard how good stand up comedy could really be.
Who are some of the comedians (local and national) that you enjoy?
I like so many. I think this is a good time for stand up even if it isn’t reflected on television. There are tons of funny comedians who are also really good. Here is a list off the top of my head – Robert Hawkins (not the Omaha mall shooter), Jimmy Dore, Jimmy Pardo, Brian Regan, Jamie Lissow, Darryl Lenox, Costaki Economopoulos, Bret Erickson, Pat Dixon, Earthquake, Bill Burr, Ted Alexandro, Todd Barry, Greg Giraldo, Chris Rock, Chappelle, [Christopher] Titus, Ian Bagg, Nick Griffin, [Doug] Stanhope, Greg Hahn, Patrice O’Neal, the late Mitch Hedburg. A bunch of young talent too, seems like every few weeks I work with someone new that makes me laugh and want to work harder: Matt Bergman, Ryan Singer, Tony Deyo, Falisha Gilespe.
I am literally not listing like 25-50 other people. It is nice to make a list of comedians I like. Normally comedians spend a lot of time talking about people they think are overrated or downright not funny. I appreciate the chance to reflect on how many great acts there are.
If you could change something about the comedy business, what would it be?
I would like for there to be a middle class. In this business there are two pay scales: big star and struggling comedian. I would also make sure there are more clubs like Acme in Minneapolis, the Improv in DC, and Go Bananas in Cincy and less Jacksonville Comedy Zones and Ft. Wayne Snickers type rooms.
What piece of wisdom would you pass on to new comics?
There are no short cuts to greatness. Write relentlessly, tape yourself, watch or listen to the tape, read Steve Martin’s new book, write some more, get onstage. When watching other comedians, pay attention to the fact that the ones who are always killing are not necessarily the best comedians.
Just work every aspect of your game and have fun.
WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT TOM:
Tom worked the road living and touring in a motor home with his wife for three years during his transition from a feature to headliner.
