Writing Jokes with Stephen Spinola (Comedy Central)

Comedy is an unfortunate situation, in general. I also don’t think every comedian needs to have a plight.

NY Comedy Legend. HIGHly Respected Physicist @ McGill University.

How does performing for theatre compare with performing on camera?

Performing in a theatre is way more difficult I find. There are no do-overs or takes. You feel like you have to get it right the first time. Not that you don’t feel that way with film — you don’t want to waste the time of the crew. Bigger physical movements on a stage are more beneficial than on camera. It’s tough to compare the results though. They are very different situations. Come see me perform live and compare that to one of my youtube videos, it’s just not the same.

What’s your name and where did you grow up?

My name is Stephen Spinola. I grew up in the state of NY. I was born in Long Island but spent most of my childhood in Westchester.

What’s interesting or uninteresting about Long Island & Westchester?

Long Island is a very interesting place. People of Long Island have passion (they say lots of curse words) and some of them are orange which is undeniably interesting. Westchester is generally less interesting but a lot of famous sports players and movie/tv stars live there.

What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid?

My dad was a lawyer and ended up becoming a Supreme Court Judge and the #1 Mediator in NY State. My step-dad traded stocks for a few different firms in NYC and Connecticut.

What was the first bit or joke you performed on stage?

The first bit that I performed on stage was about how my peepee is different from other people’s peepees. The joke eventually evolved to become “I have a tattoo on my penis that says No Homo — that way when I have sex with guys it’s not gay or anything.”

How does the reception and/or practice of stand-up differ among cities around the U.S.? Which places do you enjoy playing the most?

I think some cities have a more relaxed way of life and doing comedy, like Montreal, and some cities are more about the hustle and bustle and frustration, like NYC. I feel that I am generally well received in most cities, by audiences — not necessarily the comedians. I can think of some cities that just sucked and I didn’t enjoy being in, but I can’t think of any that had a truly poor reception to comedy. Off nights and off crowds can happen in any city.

I love performing in both Montreal and NYC but some other cities that I loved performing in were Eugene, OR — Seattle, WA — Vancouver, BC — Toronto, ON — Atlanta, GA — I also had the pleasure of performing in London, England a few times which was amazing.

You’ve appeared in Law & Order: SVU, Elementary & Slime Time Live. How do you prepare for a big audition?

Haha. There were no auditions for any of those roles. They were all extra roles that I put in my resumé as a joke. I think I had to go into an office to take ‘headshots’ for the first two, then somebody from that office called me a few days before the shoots and was like, “Hey can you sit around for like 8 hours while we film stuff and then walk around in the background for 20 minutes?” And I was like, “Yeah.” And the Slime Time Live experience was at Universal Studios in Orlando when I was really young. We signed up to be in the Live audience while walking around the theme park. My brother actually got pied in the face by Wee Man from Jackass during that show.

But to answer your question, the way I prepare for a big audition is I read the script and try to memorize some lines and then I smoke a whole bunch of weed about it. I spend more time preparing for the rejection after the audition.

Cannaboiz Comedy / @Cannaboiz420

Do you consider yourself a stoner comedian? If so, explain the plight of the stoner comedian. If not, my bad.

I don’t really know. I am a stoner comedian because I am definitely a stoner and I definitely do a lot of stoner friendly material. I also do a lot of other material. I am also a white male comedian but I hope people don’t think of it like that. I know they do, but I wish they didn’t. I don’t really consider myself anything but a comedian and an entertainer. Evan Jones and I do a weed themed show called the Cannaboiz so that doesn’t help my position.

As for the plight question — I think most people don’t think white male stoners have any plight lol. Most comedians have their own individual plight regardless of their gender or skin color whether it be family issues or childhood experiences. There is no plight of a stoner comedian other than the plight of a comedian. Comedy is an unfortunate situation, in general. I also don’t think every comedian needs to have a plight. If you are a good writer and you make people laugh, you are doing your job as a comedian as far as I’m concerned. If you only want to be entertained by people with a plight, watch the Special Olympics — much greater chances you find what you are looking for.

Personally, my plight is having divorced parents, a crooked hand, and unrelenting anxiety. I am stoner because that is how I deal with my plight.

Do you prefer forming jokes on paper or on stage?

I usually don’t form jokes on paper anymore. I used to write jokes with a setup and a punch but now I come up with a funny idea or a funny story and I just work it out on stage at open mics and come up with tags with my comedian friends. It’s more organic and passionate. It’s more “me”.

“My girlfriend took this photo of me and my lighthouse size cock”

How did the Hand Drawn Dick Pics series come about?

I was traveling the country in an RV when I came up with the idea. Dick pics were becoming very popular and I didn’t really get the craze. I thought it would be funny if someone was sending out hand drawn sketches of their dick with beautiful scenery in the background. So I drew one for the scenery we’d seen that day. Then the next day I did another one. Then I got a shipment of 100 plastic cups in the mail that I didn’t order. I ordered hair conditioner. But Amazon let me keep the cups. So I made an online sweepstakes where if you sent me your name and address I would send you a hand-written letter with one of my newest jokes on it as well as a hand-drawn dick pic all inside of a plastic cup. So then people started sending me their addresses and I had to draw more dick pics to fulfill my promises. Some of them went to England and Canada. It cost about $140 to send them all out but I made a lot of people laugh and a lot of art in the process.

What’s the dumbest superhero name you can think of?

The Fat Jewish

Who is the funniest person you know?

There’s this comedian named Justin Flanagan that I don’t know very well but nobody makes me laugh the way he does.

Why are jokes funny?

Depends. Words can have so many different meanings, it depends on how you interpret them. One joke can be funny to one person, and not funny to a whole different group of people. I think what makes a joke funny is that an idea diverges from your conventional way of thinking just enough that it doesn’t make you upset.