The cliché goes something like this: the aspiring comedian
hits the road, crisscrossing the country, playing to tough crowds in dingy
clubs for very little money. Then, after a particularly hot set in New York or
Los Angeles, a network executive wants to discuss a sitcom.
Greece-born
comedian Jamie Lissow certainly lived the first part
of that scenario. But ironically his big break happened on a stage in
Rochester, a few miles from his home.
Lissow, who will be playing his fourth Rochester Fringe
Festival, had crisscrossed the country and been a hit at festivals. He’d even
done the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” But it wasn’t until he was back in his
hometown as the sidekick to Brother Wease that he was
tapped for bigger things.
Saturday
Night Live alum Rob Schneider had called Wease to
promote a local appearance. Lissow opened for
Schneider who liked what he saw. The two comedians started a collaboration that
resulted in “Real Rob,” a Netflix sitcom starring Schneider and Lissow.
Of course,
success does not mean freedom from the road. City caught up with Lissow by phone while he was wandering around the vast Mall
of America where he was playing at a comedy club. The following is an edited transcript
of the conversation.
City:
When did you first realize, “hey, I’m funny”?
Jamie
Lissow: I think I wanted to be a
comedian literally when I was 8 years old and I saw comedy on TV. Other kids
wanted to be ninjas and princesses, and I wanted to be a comedian. As I got
older, I realized that mine was the only one that was a real job.
Who
did you grow up admiring?
I was listening to a lot of Bill Cosby cassette tapes, and
sometimes staying up very late and watching David Letterman with my dad. “The
Young Comedians Specials” that Rodney Dangerfield used to do — they were life-changing.
When I was in middle school, that was the only thing
anyone was talking about.
Early
in your career, in the late-1990’s and early-2000’s, I’ve heard you were pretty
much living out of your car.
I didn’t have a home, so I basically would travel from town
to town and I would only accept gigs in comedy clubs where they were open every
night. I didn’t need to have a mailbox or anywhere to store my things because I
just had everything with me. If I had a week off it was because something got
cancelled.
I had a
mini-refrigerator and mini-microwave I could bring into the hotel and pretty
much all my necessities. That was kind of the only way to do it at the time. I
was making about $250 a week.
Looking back
on it, I think it’s crazy not to have had a home. But back then, it was the
best life, living from club to club, getting better and better, meeting new
people, and trying out jokes all around the country.
So
how did you break out of that?
I ended up doing a really pivotal festival in 2001, the Montreal
Comedy Festival. It’s still a big deal but it was an even bigger deal back then
because there wasn’t as much comedy on television. I did one set and it was a
complete game-changer. I did “The Tonight Show” two weeks after that.
How
did it feel to be up on that “Tonight Show” stage?
You hear stories about guys getting bumped [postponed]. You
have a date on the books, you’re all excited, you tell your family, and then
you get bumped. I got bumped twice. I got nervous and excited twice, and then I
found out three hours prior that I was not doing the show. So by the time I did
it, I was so ready, I was done being nervous.
After
your monologue Jay Leno asked you to sit down. Was that a big deal?
I think so. They told me ahead of time to be ready with something
else to talk about. Leno was such a nice guy. When Leno came into the green
room, I was with my manager and agent and the place was packed. Leno kicked
everybody out and said, “I want to be in here with just Jamie.” So everybody
left.
He said, “Hey
man, there is nothing to be nervous about. There are a couple of actors and you
on the show. No one else is even going to try to be funny. This is like an open
mic where you’re the only comic who’s professional. This is going to be fun.
You’re going to kill it.” I think Leno did everything in his power to make it a
successful night for me.
Rochesterians might know you from
your time with Brother Wease. What did that
experience mean to you?
I grew up listening to this guy. I was a fan, and then I was
offered a job to be on his show. I have my current TV show 100 percent because
of Brother Wease. Rob Schneider called the Brother Wease show to promote a show he was doing; the radio
station asked me to open for him. I met him and started writing for him.
How
do you like working with Schneider on the television series “Real Rob”?
It’s great. And we got picked up for season two. Before, it
was a Netflix exclusive, which means Rob financed it and we made it before
Netflix bought it. This year, it’s a Netflix original series, financed by
Netflix. It’s such validation.
In
1972, George Carlin was arrested in Milwaukee after performing his “Seven Word
You Can Never Say On Television.” Here we are 44 years
later and after watching you on YouTube I’m wondering if they would arrest you
if you didn’t say at least five four-letter words per minute.
You’re probably referring to that Gotham Live show that’s
online. Because that show is the only show on television where you are not
totally censored, you kind of go overboard because it’s like, “Oh, my god, I
can say whatever I want.” So you tend to say too many F-words and be a little
too loose because you finally can.
I do
corporate shows and I do festivals and you have to be really clean, you can’t
do any of that material. So when you do a Gotham Live or a comedy club, the
first couple of nights you swear a little extra because you can.
This article appears in Sep 21-27, 2016.
