Comic Zane Lamprey talks ahead of his show at Idiom

In this episode of the UnCapped podcast, host Chris Sands talks with comedian Zane Lamprey ahead of his shows at Full Tilt Brewing in Baltimore (Feb. 22) and Idiom Brewing Co. in Frederick (Feb. 23). They talk about his previous TV shows, his Amazon Prime specials and the tour he will be kicking off soon. Here is an excerpt of their talk.

UnCapped: Zane is a comedian, a very funny comedian. Before that first time I saw you, there was not even a speck of your standup online. I wasn’t sure what to expect. You were funny in “Three Sheets” and “Drinking Made Easy,” but standup is very different.

Zane Lamprey: [TV shows] do not necessarily translate to standup.

To go back, I did four seasons of “Three Sheets,” traveling around the world, drinking, and then the network it was on went off the air. I did a Save Three Sheets rally in L.A. — about 500, 600 people showed up. And then I went to New York City to do a rally, and that was just fans of the show marching through New York City, past all the TV networks, so they’d be like, “What is this? What is this show? We need to know what this is.”

We get to the very last bar, this four-story Irish pub, and I’m on the fourth floor, and the whole place is just full of fans.

Steve McKenna runs up to me and says, “Mark Cuban’s downstairs — he wants to buy the show.” I’m like, “No, Mark Cuban is not on our pub crawl, dummy.” I was willing to go all the way down there just to prove him wrong, and walk up to this guy who turns around, and it’s Mark Cuban.

So when my contract expired, I called up Mark Cuban and said let’s make a domestic version of “Three Sheets” and call it “Drinking Made Easy.” And so, we did it.

We filled up two tour buses, went on the road. What I already had planned was a standup comedy tour of the U.S. I thought, while we’re in these places, we might as well do the show. We headed out for the summer for 87 days and shot 24 episodes and then I did a one-hour standup show. Before that, I hadn’t done much standup.

I’ve been working on my standup [ever since], but I’m not always the best at putting my clips online.

UnCapped: Before I went to that first [show], I could not find a single clip of your standup. I even said to Dan [Baumiller, cofounder of Full Tilt Brewing], “Is he funny?” None of us were sure. You were very funny.

Lamprey: I appreciate that. Whatever I do, I put 100% into it.

UnCapped: What do you think is more important with standup comedy: a sense of humor in general or the

ability to tell stories?

Lamprey: Well, not every [comic] is a storyteller. … I was talking to Christopher Titus, who said when he was doing standup, he was having a hard time breaking out. Some guy told him, “You don’t put any of your self into it. Like, put your soul out there. Tell people.” And he did that, and that was it. Ever since that moment, he just exploded.

I was talking to a buddy once and told him a very embarrassing story in confidence — I don’t tell that story, but I think I just told him because I was drunk. Then I get onstage and thought, I’m gonna tell this story. Like, I’m not gonna tell it to a group of friends, but I’ll tell it to 300 strangers. People want to hear about you doing dumb stuff or embarrassing stuff, because then it humanizes you. Comedy is just showing your vulnerability, I think, and being brutally honest sometimes. I don’t like to make fun of other people, but I liked to show my vulnerabilities. I think that’s what it’s about.

ZANE LAMPREY

Learn more and buy tickets at zanelamprey.com.

And it’s being able to see yourself and understand how others see you. That’s a pretty important skill.

UnCapped: Yeah, no one’s gonna get mad at you for making fun of yourself.

Lamprey: Correct.

UnCapped: It’s a safe arena to play in.

Lamprey: Yeah, and a lot of people, when they start out, think [comedy] is making fun of people and bathroom humor, just because when you’re with your friends, it seems like it works. But you have to dig into it.

For me, I’m definitely a storyteller. This is my process: I write it out, let’s say it’s a five-minute story, and then I try to see how concise I can get and still get the point across and still have the twists and turns and the surprises.

UnCapped: If I remember correctly, you even go the slightly more complicated route, where you’ll have a story that weaves through all the other ones, too.

Lamprey: Right.

UnCapped: Which I enjoy. It makes you pay attention.

Lamprey: Yeah, when I’m up there, doing my standup, it’s supposed to feel like I’m just [telling you a story]. If I take a pause, some audience members, usually drunk people, will sort of help me out or start guessing the punchline. And I’m like, no, just sit back. I’m not saying I’m Shakespeare, but this is all premeditated. Every night, I’m getting better. At least, I’m trying to. I’m taking certain risks.

This excerpt has been edited for space and clarity. Listen to the full podcast at fnppodcasts.com/uncapped. Got UnCapped news? Email csands @newspost.com.