Marlborough comedian helps others tickle funny bones
Chris Lippy stands in the space at Fairweathers where he will hold a free workshop on 19 July. Photo: Evan Tuchinsky
A moth goes to a podiatrist’s office. “Why are you here?” the doctor asks. The moth says, “Because the light was on.”
That chestnut of a joke may draw a chuckle – more likely, a groan – at a family dinner or a party. At a comedy club or on a chat show, though, when retold by a master of the craft, it can become the stuff of legends.
Chris Lippy has experienced this as an audience member and a stand-up comedian. He admires the late Norm MacDonald, who turned the so-called “moth joke” into a seven-minute tour de force of improvisation. Chris also performs and hosts open-mic nights across Top of the South.
On Saturday evening, the Marlburian will help aspiring stand-ups hone their humour. The free workshop he is holding at Fairweathers is open to anyone, whether an absolute beginner or a veteran of stage sets.
“We will break down comedy into its most boring facets,” Chris explained, his grin conveying the irony. “When you figure out how it all is built, you can build your own comedy.”
His stand-up debut came eight years ago in Marlborough. Chris recalled how he bluffed his way onto the lineup of a fundraiser show and got a 10-minute spot. Ten minutes may not seem long, but for a novice with untested material …
“I died on stage,” Chris said. (In comedian-speak, to “die” is bad but to “kill” is good.) Rather than get dissuaded, he pushed ahead, buoyed by stand-ups who took him under their wing.
The workshop is an opportunity to pay that mentorship forward.
Locally, the stand-up community is small, Chris noted, and also transitory. Comedians arrive and leave the region. A comedy career is illusory.
Chris rounds out his stage work with day jobs. He has been a cook, a mental health worker with youth and, currently, a military tent wrangler at Woodbourne.
Funny stories from there? None that he could share. But he also is an actor and filmmaker, so he has rich veins to mine.
Perhaps none richer than stand-up, though. Chris shared that a comedian once told him that he wasn’t funny. “Seven-and-a-half years later, he hires me to open for him!”
Stand-up Comedy Workshop
Where: Fairweathers
When: 19 July, 6pm
RSVP: [email protected]