LOL WITH IT: Interview with Philly comedian Alex Pearlman

Longtime local comedian Alex Pearlman has always been significantly more marginal than a lot of popular Philly-based comedy acts.

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LOL WITH IT: Interview with Philly comedian Alex Pearlman

POSTED: Friday, January 20, 2012, 12:00 PM

Filed Under: Comedy LOL With It

Every Friday, Ryan Carey covers the people and events that are giving Philly the giggles.

Longtime local comedian Alex Pearlman has always been significantly more marginal than a lot of popular Philly-based comedy acts. This is perhaps due to his stream-of-consciousness, catharsis-oriented comedy that’s reminiscent of a young Marc Maron. When he came out publicly on stage in 2004, Philadelphia's comedy scene was much less LGBTQ-friendly than it is now. He's done a lot of stuff over the years that he’d mention with a self-deprecating eye-roll, but comedy is important to him. His love of the craft is infectious, and his use of the stage for a sort of two-way therapy session makes you realize that there's more to comedy than impersonal one-liners. On Wed., Jan. 25, you can see him at his free monthly showcase, Head First at The Dive (947 E. Passyunk Ave.) In the meantime, enjoy this chat I had with him as well as his YouTube video on Tycho Brahe.

City Paper: How would you say you've grown as a comedian over the years?

Alex Pearlman: Nobody wants to hear from you till your 30. I go back and look at my joke book from when I was 20, and it's all these hacky jokes about Bush and Michael J. Fox ... Wait till you have a friend that dies the same day another friend has a baby. Wait till you've been so broke that you can only afford one pack of Ramen a day. You need heartbreak, or to settle something in life. It was easy not to burn out early, because there weren't all that many mics. I didn't push for weekend work. I didn't do too many shows. I just wanted to do my five during the week and come back and work on my personality. It wasn't a strategy; I just sorta fell into it. I started a podcast with a rapper friend of mine [who] helped me refuel my comedy. He accused me [of being] “cocky and offensive." I read him a joke randomly out of my book, and it started: 'I was standing on the Empire State Building looking down at the world.' I realized he might be right.

CP: What are the incentives that keep you staying with comedy every year?

AP: Meeting people I would never meet. There's no way I would ever have met some of my friends if it weren’t for comedy. There are so many comedians I look forward to hanging out with after mics, people who give me different perspectives on everything. Look at the three independent mics right now: Raven Lounge has an amazing mix. You have Rittenhouse on Tuesdays; Paul Goodman [the host] is a dentist. I never thought I would do shots at a bar with a dentist. Then you have Mary and Carolyn over at Laughs [on Fairmount]. I don't honestly think two women like Mary and Carolyn would ever want to talk to me if we weren't comedians. I only had a few friends who live in Philadelphia initially, but that's why I enjoy going out five nights a week. These people are my friends, everyone I've met in comedy has been amazing in different ways and that's it.

CP: What was it like coming out on stage?

AP: The first thing I wanna say is I have slept with more women than men. I do wanna make that clear, because when I say I'm bisexual a lot of people get confused. First thing, years ago when I came out, I legitimately thought I was gay. I thought I was only attracted to men. But I was watching heterosexual pornography as well as gay pornography. It's weird because I'm attracted to both. It's rare that I meet men I'm attracted to in real life. What really was freeing for me in 2004 was getting on stage and telling everyone I was gay. It was a freeing experience for me. I was going to rooms full of people who audibly, openly hate gay people. I got in front of them and told them who I was. There was only one situation where I was threatened for that. And because of that, I feel like I can go on stage and say anything. I'm not afraid. I still get weird looks from people when I tell them I'm bi, because that's accepted from girls but not from guys. Also, I think it gave guys a thing to pigeon hole me with, put me in a box. It's unfortunate, but I think we do this. We look at people and say, ‘OK, this is a female comic, or a black comic or a gay comic.’ It was an easy symbol for me. One of the things about Todd Glass coming out this week on Marc Maron's podcast was that I didn't have to go through as many of the internal struggles as he had to. He's been with his partner for 15 years, and only now does he feel like he can come out. And that's because of the pain being closeted causes other people. Some people think me being gay on stage for two years was an act. It wasn't.

CP: What do you think of our city's comedy scene at the moment?

AP: It reminds me of that NYC punk scene. The reason why it's so good right now is because it's so DIY, we're so willing to put on shows. And people who are willing to put on shows, they're willing to have the belief that audiences WILL show up. Having great clubs like Helium and Laff House bring in headliners, it shows people that you can do this. If this is five years ago, and you asked me if you ever thought I'd make it as a standup comedian, I'd say ‘no’ and go back to my mall security job. Now...? I don't know. Between web-generated content, and controlling your own message on YouTube … I've been trying to put up a video a week. And editing my own videos helps me edit for the stage. I have an hour and a half on YouTube, and I only repeat a couple jokes. When I tell other comics, they're like, ‘I don't wanna put that up for free ... ‘ but I want people to pay for the sophomore album, not the freshman album.

CP: So you're satisfied with the comedy crowds in Philly?

AP: I see a big difference in crowds. I think the big cutoff [age] is 23. Anyone under [that] just watches short YouTube clips with rapid-fire punchlines and they click like or dislike, but they're not used to just sitting and laughing.

CP: How can Philly comedians foster an appetite for local comedy?

AP:: The simplest way is through new media. I'm completely honest about this. And I don't mean Facebook invites. Facebook invites don't work because of the "maybe" button. Anybody who lists "maybe" is an asshole and should defriend me. If you flyer properly, if get good comics for your showcases ... I think the biggest part of promoting is believing that your product is worth it. Right now I can tell you that nobody is doing my act, I think Philly has so many different types of comics. I don't think there's a "Philly style." Other than — maybe — being more open about race. But if you book a show that you’d pay money [to see], then you should be able to get an audience. If you put on a show with talent like Daryl Charles and Brendan Kennedy — people that are worth the money — and you start believing that your standup is a worthwhile art … that's when you and your shows become worth something.

(ryan.carey@citypaper.net) (@slackerDIYtoday)

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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