Sun 9/28 @ 9PM
In the Northeast Ohio comedy scene, funnyman Bill Squire has been sizzling for years.
The Cleveland-area comic, who can be heard afternoons on WMMS-FM’s The Alan Cox Show, started out just over a decade ago playing to empty open mic nights. Now Squire is a man about town and more. When he’s not appearing at Barrio in Lakewood or Market Garden Brewery, he’s pushing his career into new directions. For instance, in 2014 he created Bill Squire’s (Perfect) Ten, a web series that required the comic to write, perform and film 10 new minutes of stand-up every month for an entire year.
Next, Squire is on the verge of filming a comedy special with national aspirations for the project. Currently the comic is honing his material with an upcoming slot at “Sizzling Comedy at Beachland,” which takes place 6/28 at the Waterloo Road venue.
CoolCleveland talked to the self-deprecating comedian about the state of comedy in Northeast Ohio, his disdain for Kickstarter campaigns and the one funny joke that continues to elude his audience.
Considering you’ve been a working comedian since 2004, can you provide some perspective regarding the Cleveland comedy scene?
The fact that it exists is crazy because when I started there was one room every week that wasn’t an open mic, and maybe a few show-up-and-go-up open mic nights where you’re performing for other comedians. That one room was Bottoms Up in Lakewood. There were actual audience members there, and it was an honor to be on that show. Now there are shows like that every week all around town with probably five or six times as many comedians. It’s pretty cool to see. Also, doing it at a legendary venue like the Beachland Ballroom only helps raise the profile of comedy in Cleveland. It’s pretty awesome to work there.
What does it mean for local comedians to have so many outlets?
It provides an opportunity to be a comedian within a region, which it wasn’t that way for a long time in Cleveland. Like if you wanted to be a Cleveland comedian, you had to work on the road a lot. But now I can work here, have a day job but still get up on not just open mics but some meaningful shows several times each month. You can practice your act in front of different kinds of audiences, get better working in the clubs and keep pounding away at just getting better. And that’s huge for comics. Face time is pretty much the biggest factor for any comedian to get better and to get good.
As far as your current set, what kind of topics are you covering?
Right now I’m kind of refining some of the stuff that is from the “(Perfect) 10” that I worked on all last year and just random, weird thoughts. I have a whole big chunk about kids’ cereal slogans that’s ridiculous and fun to do because it gets everybody involved and is a little bit nostalgic but also just silly and kind of goofy. And then there’s more crap from my life. I live a pretty not exciting but relatable life. I have kids, and I’m going through a divorce and things like that. All of that experience from my life makes its way into my act eventually.
What’s one joke that’s currently in the set that the audience may not laugh at but it still makes you giggle?
I have one I really like where I say the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was telling your girlfriend that no, she really doesn’t care where you guys eat dinner. Kind of long and labored and you have to understand that reference. Usually I end up explaining to people why that’s funny, which means it’s not funny.
A rule of thumb in comedy seems to be if you have to explain a joke to an audience that means that it’s not funny, right?
Yeah, but then that becomes funny as I explain it to people. I don’t worry about it. I just have fun up there, and when I’m having fun, usually people start laughing. But I like that one. Have you ever been out with a girl who really knows exactly where she wants to eat all of the time? Of course not.
Ah, so you’re basically doing the Johnny Carson tongue-in-cheek reaction to a joke that bombed? Exactly. You have to have those skills to pull out of the nosedive when your material isn’t hitting.
The “Sizzling Comedy at Beachland” bill includes Bill Squire, Mike Polk Jr., Sticky T and Chad Weaver. Hosting will be Tim Cornett and Michael Ivy. Cover is $5 (18 and over).