Stand-up comic Mark Hughes has been gaining momentum over the last year on the heels of his popular Tragedy + Time Served = Comedy Fringe show, as well as with the 13 installments of his offside recurring standup comedy showcase, The Comedy Shocker (co-produced by Sam Tonning).
After spending , Hughes has found new life in sobriety and performing on stage. Logging just under five years as a professional humorist, Hughes has a of the offensively hilarious Comedy Shocker on the horizon. One a recent stroll with the Westender through Stanley Park, Hughes waxed on 麻豆传媒映画stand-up, social justice warriors, and trying to get in with the "cool kids."听
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I鈥檝e witness you go from 鈥渦p-and-coming鈥� to having a camera crew on your arse 24/7 for a documentary. Your one-man production at the Fringe Festival, , focused on your life story. Are you 鈥渒ind of a big deal,鈥� now?
I have had tons of attention on me coming up on a year now. The Comedy Shocker, however, has received very little attention. I am amazed at how little press the Shocker gets because a) we are no longer welcome at the Fox Cabaret, they gave us the boot for being too offensive. And b) The Shocker is the type of the show that people will be quite interested in, if even for the negative take. I don't much care what "take" [positive or negative] people have on the show. I know that part of the lag in the success thus far is that I do not have a tap into the "cool kids" network. I know a lot of the players, but I am not past the front door with them.
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Is that because of how offensive your material can be?
听Yeah, I think so. ... Also because of my inability to schmooze.
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Your personal history is compelling. People like a second- and third-, fourth- and fifth-chance success story.
Regular people do, but because I don't know the local celebrities well enough or hang out on weekends [there is little regard]. Perhaps it is because some people are afraid of associating with me because I get in trouble with my act.
I am not a social justice warrior; I don't identify as a victim. If I was up there with purple hair and used "zir" instead of my name, I am sure I would be doing better than I am now, but I am not doing that. There is an audience for the way we are building The Comedy Shocker; it is just not mainstream.
... But the neat thing about comedy is that you don't need the acceptance of those mainstream-[focused] types of people. If I can say in my more objective moments that I am getting a lot of individuals out with very little money for marketing, I am succeeding. People are laughing, and The Comedy Shocker is growing organically, what the fuck am I complaining about here?
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麻豆传媒映画is still building its reputation as a standup city. How much does a perceived lack of comedy scene affect the attendance of the niche market you are targeting?
The scene's current status is part of the baby steps style progression that we are encountering. We have a thriving comedy scene that nobody knows about in Vancouver. This area has a growing number of shows popping up monthly, and there are plenty of good comics in Vancouver. Give this city five more years and the standup community will be a little better.
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Years ago, I would often hear local bands say things to the effect of, "Who are we playing against today?" There needs to be a united front in a city to create a scene.
I used to help Mayo with concert promotions at , so I have ties to the metal community. ... For market research purposes I asked a local musician, "What do you think the difference is between the local metal show attendance and local comedy crowd numbers?" She responded with, "It is more difficult to psyche me up for a comedy show than it would be for a metal show." You have to be quiet during a standup routine 鈥� it's not a pre-drinking, during-drinking, or after-boozing type event, like a concert can be for some.
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What do you think of the "household name" issue, where if audiences don鈥檛 know your name, you aren鈥檛 seen as funny?
That [household name thing] is an aspect of standup that almost every Canadian comic has had to contend with at some point. Unfortunately, audiences in Canada only seem to want to see known American comics. If Canadians don't know your name, you are fucked.
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There are plenty of funny comics in Vancouver. We just have to stop them from moving to L.A.
That is the curse of standup in Canada; you have to get out of here for lack of an industry. 麻豆传媒映画has a good comedy community, a growing scene and good quality shows almost every day of the week. Many local bars are now showcasing standup in the city. Some of the funniest shows I have ever seen beat anything on Netflix and had a $5 cover charge.
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How much of a challenge has it been running a politically incorrect show in Lotus Land?
When I first brought the notion of The Comedy Shocker up to other experienced comics several of them told me that it would never work in Vancouver. "People in 麻豆传媒映画don't like that kind of comedy; you just won't be able to pull it off." I refuse to believe that there is no market for our kind of brash comedy. People think of 麻豆传媒映画as Main Street and Commercial Drive with their social justice mentality, many of whom will not appreciate our politically incorrect humour. [But] we consistently draw 120 or more people to each show.
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It could be the social justice warrior is often missing a little something that Chris Rock touched on during his 1999 HBO special, Bigger and Blacker: "context." You can't outlaw a word, the word itself is just a tool, a device to get you somewhere. What we need to be cognizant of is the intent of our language, but it does feel like the pendulum is swinging back the other way.
I think so, too. I get in trouble for using the term "social justice warrior" because they say it dismisses anyone that is trying to make changes for the better in this world, but I disagree. We have to have a term for the shitty people, right? If the neckbeards are the worst type of conservative people, we have to have an opposite or the mirrore image of the social justice types. A lot of individuals are starting to get irritated by the social justice-type people, the identity political assassins.
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What would you say your largest off-stage challenge has been so far in your career?
My biggest problem with comedy is my material, yes. But not so much the material as the fact that I am clean and sober and I am a bit older.
Because I am a bit of weirdo in the "wrong way", I cannot do the schmoozing or relationship building part of the career [demands]. I try to build relationships offstage, but probably not in the most streamlined way. Most of my relationships are with people who are not necessarily comics. I am not at the parties after the shows talking with the people; I am a loner. Sometimes the sober guy at the party is not always the most welcome; he can creep people out.
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Legends such as George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Lenny came from an 鈥� at the time 鈥� misunderstood or abrasive place, but could make the audience think differently about daily life. Do you find it odd that your brash style continues to be "taboo?鈥�
Yes. Name the biggest acts in comedy, and they are usually the ones that got in the most trouble at some point. Dave Chappelle had not released anything for years, and within minutes of his last special coming out he was already in trouble, and he is the fourth highest paid comic in the world right now [after Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Louis C.K.].
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鈥� The Comedy Shocker XIV happens at The Rickshaw Theatre on Saturday, October 14. Click it 听for tickets and event information.
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