I sat down with Zach Zimmerman, who is a part of Stand Up NY's November headliner series. He is known for his stand-up comedy and his debut comedy album "Clean Comedy", which was ranked #1 on the iTunes comedy charts. We talked about "Clean Comedy", his beginnings in stand-up, writing, and about how he went from a "tight five" minute set to a "tight forty-five" minute set. P.S. Zach forgave me for accidentally spelling his name Zack at first, so clearly he's a great guy. And get this: He's coming to Stand Up NY's stage on Wednesday, November 6th!
If someone told you at your first open mic that you were going to release a critically acclaimed comedy album, would you have believed them?
I’d call them a liar and a bully! My first time doing stand-up was in college at a variety show on the day everyone’s final papers were due. We’re all exhausted and I got up there and told some truly, god-awful terrible jokes. I remember asking, “Why do we call them a bartender? Is the bar wounded?” I'm cringing now and should have been shot then. Instead, “is the bar wounded?” became my friends and bullies go-to nickname for me for a very, very long time. I didn't touch stand-up for 7 years after that.
How did you go from a “tight five” to a “tight forty five”?
I just when on Fiverr and asked 8 people to write 5 minutes of stand-up for me. Stand-up can only really be worked out on stage, so I started to fold in new material at every spot I got. If you listen, audiences tell you with their laughs what they want to hear more from you about. I found folks enjoyed me talking about my Southern family and my sex life, so I wrote more and more on that.
Your writing is absolutely phenomenal and clever. How important do you think writing is in stand-up?
Okay, you’re so very sweet. Writing is so, so simple and so, so painful. Comedians will do everything they can to avoid sitting down and writing material: crowd work, dancing, podcasts. Believe me: there's nothing more fun to me than talking to the audience and riffing off of them, BUT to take on some of the bigger topics I’m going after, you gotta get your butt in a chair and write. Writing is thinking, and laughs can hinge on a word. You gotta write.
Besides being a stand-up comic, you’re a comedy writer. Do you prefer writing over performing or do you like both in harmony?
Great question! There’s no greater high than being in a room with people, but some nights I really wish I could stay under the covers and email in my set. I like writing cause it helps reach people who might not be in the same place I'm performing, and you can't hear people not laughing when they're reading something you wrote. Maybe if I wrote "Is the bar wounded?" I'd have been less traumatized.
How does it feel to be performing stand-up in New York after Clean Comedy’s debut?
It was super humbling to get so much love from across the U.S. People still reach out about how much they enjoyed the album, or how they feel seen through it. My favorite thing though is a few friends have said since it's the only thing they've bought on iTunes, it'll often auto-play on their car stereos. So I love the idea that I'm constantly harassing people who don't want to hear me over and over in cars across America. In terms of New York, though, I've worked on this material since the album release and did the show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - adding new material, swapping out old stuff, honing things. So I'm very excited to share it with New York for the first (last?) time.
In love with his comedy already? Follow Zach Zimmerman on: