Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Comics strippedDave Pokorny remembers the exact moment he knew he wanted to be a comedian. He was 17 years old and had just begun writing down odd observations and half-formed jokes — puzzlers like “Why do hot dogs come in packages of 10 and hot dog buns in packages of eight?” “I had no idea what I was going to do with that,” recalled the Petaluma resident and father of two, “but I kept it, and a couple weeks later I was watching ‘The Tonight Show’ — the good one, with Johnny Carson — and David Brenner came out.” The comedian opened with the same hot dog line — “and I went, ‘My God, this guy’s stealing my material,’” Pokorny said. “I didn’t even know I had material, but at that point I knew that’s what I wanted to do.” Eventually he got the chance, working for nearly 10 years as a stand-up comic and getting paid to do it for seven of those years — until family and fatherhood took priority in 1995. Now, what Pokorny enjoys doing best on stage is telling stories from his time on the comedy-club circuit, in venues much closer to his westside Petaluma home. That’s why he’s so eager to launch a new Cinnabar Theater series of “intimate evenings” next week with two longtime comedian pals, sharing the good, the bad and the ugly of what it takes to make a roomful of people laugh. On May 1, Pokorny will be joined by Bay Area comedians Johnny Steele and Dan St. Paul for “Comics Stripped: The Other Side of Humor,” a one-night fund-raiser for the nonprofit theater. Petaluma musician Bruce Kurnow will open the show and play interludes between the comedians, who will cap off the night with a Q&A session with the audience. And don’t expect a traditional comedy act, Pokorny said. “It’s kind of a stripped-down version of what it’s like to be out there,” he said. “As opposed to just standing up and doing your act, I’ve asked these guys to tell some more stories. We want to get to know the performers a little more than just somebody coming up there and making half an hour’s worth of smart-aleck remarks.” It’s the type of atmosphere Pokorny now prefers to the comedy clubs of his younger days. “The reason we really want to do this in a theater is, there are very few hecklers in a theater audience, and they’ll listen to a story,” he said. “A lot of times when you’re doing a joke and the punchline, there’s a reason you put a pause in, and it’s not for Johnny Drunk over here to yell out — it’s because it emphasizes the punchline. A theater audience actually knows that — they come to listen to the performer,”he said. Pokorny is looking forward to sharing stories about how he got into comedy as well as reflecting on some of the “hellish gigs” he’s played. Steele and St. Paul will offer their own takes on such topics as well. “We’ll probably talk about some of the worst gigs we’ve played,” Pokorny said. “A lot of times I’ll tell stories about horrible gigs and people will think I’ve only played horrible gigs. I’ve played some great gigs, too — but the best stories are from horrible gigs.” After working for three years as an unpaid comic at Bay Area venues, Pokorny worked his way up to the “house emcee” role at Cobb’s Comedy Club in San Francisco, where he opened for performers like Jim Carrey and Ellen DeGeneres. He had a recurring gig in Las Vegas and performed several times at “Comedy Day” in Golden Gate Park, an outdoor festival in front of thousands. But when his first child was born, Pokorny said he realized it was time to stop working on the road. “At first I thought, ‘You know, I can do this. My wife is pregnant, but I’m on the verge of really getting the right break and boom — everything will explode for me,’” he recalled. “All of a sudden my daughter, Alexis, was born, and a month after she was born I went to Caesar’s in Lake Tahoe for a week, and the first night I was gone, I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t want to be away from her. And so it wasn’t a hard decision at all to say, ‘I can’t travel.’ “I was on the road for 30 weeks the year before she was born, and then I started taking gigs closer and closer to home until pretty much I was only playing the living room.” Now, he makes his living as a supervisor at Whole Foods in Petaluma, but still gets a chance to perform on stage. Earlier this year, he performed a one-man show at The Marsh in San Francisco. His wife, who is a Cinnabar Theater board member, and some of her colleagues from the theater were in the audience. “They approached me afterward and said, ‘Why is there no comedy in Petaluma?’” Pokorny said. “I said, ‘I’d much rather do it up here — I live here.’” The idea for “Comics Stripped” grew from that, and Pokorny says the theater is already planning a second event — so he’s lining up fellow comics in hopes of putting something together later this year. In the meantime, he’s readying himself to take the stage in Petaluma for the first time. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. May 1 at the theater, 3333 Petaluma Blvd. North. Tickets are $35, including a glass of wine, and additional food and wine will be available for sale. Call 763-8920 for information. (Contact Corey Young at corey.young@arguscourier.com) |
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