Everyone’s comedic tastes are different, and that’s one of the beauties of stand-up. You can find edgy boundary pushers, musical jokesters, family-friendly funny folks, niche skewer-ers of your favorite subculture or even silly ventriloquists to suit your moods. It’s hard to please everyone, so stand-ups don’t often strive for universality.
But if you don’t think Brian Regan is funny? Bad news: You probably have a terrible sense of humor.
In the comedy world, Regan seems to be one performer pretty much every other comedian can agree is great. While comedians can be catty, you’re not gonna find Katt Williams or anyone else going off on soliloquies about how Regan is actually a hack. While he works clean, it never feels like he’s holding back. His everyday observational storytelling has hit the comedic sweet spot with a stunning consistency over his 30-plus-year career, making him one of the best headliners on the planet.
Before he swings by the Fox for a show on Feb. 7, we caught up with the elite funnyman to pick his comedic brain.
INLANDER: Do you feel like your approach to comedy has changed or evolved over the decades?
REGAN: I think human beings are always going to grow, and so an art form can also grow. I’d like to think that I’ve learned from doing comedy over the years certain things, but at the same time, I do think there’s just like an instinct.
I had a friend give me a tape a few years back that we had made in our college dorm — this was before I even wanted to be a stand-up comedian — where we did this fake interview thing. And as I listened to it, it intrigued me that I felt that my comedy instincts — even back then — were similar to my comedy instincts now. Like I remember he kept trying to go really dirty with it, and I kept trying to get it back on a different path. [laughs] I’m like, I don’t want to be filthy with this even though we were just having fun with it. I just wanted to do a different kind of comedy.
Have you ever thought about pushing back against your clean comic reputation, or is that just the humor that feels comfortable and comes naturally to you?
Well, when I first started doing stand-up, I had some dirty jokes. But it was always a small part of my act. So I had, I had not yet made the decision that I was going to work clean, if you will. But I was always like, 90-95% clean anyway. The kind of stuff I think about doesn’t go in that direction. So after a couple of years, I was like, “Well why have this weird 5% of my act? Why not just be 100% clean and see what happens with it?” So I did it for the challenge of it, not because I didn’t believe dirty comedy should exist in the world. There are plenty of filthy comedians who I think are great, but I just wanted to do comedy from my perspective.
Off-stage with friends, I can be filthy. [laughs]
What do you feel like is the bedrock of your comedic instincts?
I try to keep my mind open. I don’t want to be a one-trick pony. I don’t want to be a person that just tells family stories. I don’t want to be a person that just does jokes about feeling stupid. Everytime I feel like I’m going too far in one direction, I go the opposite direction.
I like to always make sure that there are curveballs in there too. I like to do like three, four, five bits that are about real things, and then I like to throw a curveball in there that starts like it’s going to be about a real thing and then it’s just like some absurd premise to keep the audience on their toes. I guess it’s like a pitcher: fastball, fastball, fastball, and then wow here comes a slider. You’re kind of pitching up there, and you want your audience as the batter to go, “I don’t know what’s coming next.” Unless they hear somebody banging a trash can off in the distance — then they know.
What are the thematic areas that you’re enjoying exploring currently?
Yeah, I’m putting topics into my act that I think would surprise people. I talk about guns. I talk about crime. I talk about politics. But in a way that I want both sides to laugh at, you know what I mean? I don’t want to divide my audience. I know other comedians are fine with that, and that’s cool too. Some people just want to zone in on a point of view, and that’s great. But I want my comedy to kind of be broader than that. I want everybody in the audience to feel like, “OK, I’m glad I’m here.” But I do like to hit on some topics that people might go, “Whoa, I wasn’t expecting this from the guy.” I’ve got a thing about negotiating with terrorists. It’s not your normal, go-to comedy premise, but I like exploring it.
Yeah, if an audience initially recoils or clenches up at a premise and you can get them laughing by the end, that probably feels like more of an accomplishment.
I think if you include yourself in the crosshairs, the audience is much more willing to go on your ride. If you’re only pointing your comedy outward — like how dumb everybody else is except you — then it’s like you’re on a pedestal. But I think if you poke fun at yourself, then it feels smoother to go after outside things.
I’ve always loved your sort of “idiot” voice that you slip into often to express your own clueless perspective. I’ve always thought of it as kind of a dim Jimmy Stewart. Is there an origin to that voice or is that just how you feel like you speak to yourself internally?
I want there to be two levels to it. I want there to be the “how I feel” level, but I also want the level that I’m aware of that. I always felt that about Steve Martin. I really enjoyed Steve Martin’s comedy because it was double-barreled: There’s the dumb character that he’s playing, but you’re also laughing at the smart comedian, who is clearly aware of this.
What do you find funny these days? What gets you laughing the most now in… 2024? Sorry, it’s January — I’ll get that right eventually.
The biggest thing I laugh at is when people don’t know what year it is. I just howl.
[laughs]
No, I like when my kids poke at me. Like, they’ve known me my whole life. My son is 24, and my daughter is 20. But when they zing me a little bit about something about me, or how I think, or what I do — it means a lot to me. It’s fun to be observed by someone else in a humorous way.
It’s got to feel a little bit good to be like, “Oh, great. My kids are funny too. I haven’t screwed this up and ruined comedy for them by being a comedian.”
Yeah, and they’re doing it in a playful way. I’ve never been a fan of mean comedy. Like even the person you’re talking about should be able to laugh at it. If they’re hurt by it, I never like that kind of comedy. So I like that my kids do the kind of stuff that is light-hearted. I can laugh at it, and I don’t have to go in my room and lick my wounds afterwards. [Laughs]
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Just make sure the headline isn’t “Brian Regan to tour in Spokane in ’23!”
Brian Regan • Wed, Feb. 7 at 7:30 pm • $40-$150 • The Fox Theater • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • foxtheaterspokane.com • 509-624-1200
