The Apiary

Nate Craig is a Chicago actor and stand-up comedian who has performed with the European Rep, the Bailiwick Rep , and the Steppenwolf Garage Theater , and once sidled up to an unsupervised Hummer on the streets of Chicago and used it as a prop in a cranky, ranty short comedy film for Blerds. He is a regular on Visitors' Locker Room and this year released the comedy CD "Crap Circus," which may reflect his realization that artists need to look after the business side of things in order to support themselves with their creativity. In this interview, he tells the Bastion what he appreciates about Chicago comedy, and that he's splitting the Windy City for LA in early February.

So, let's start with the basics: Age, shoe size, measurements, how long have you been doing stand-up, from where do you hail and what brought you to Chicago?

I'm 29. I wear a size 12 shoe. Actually that's a lie. A couple times I've had to buy twelves. I don't actually wear either pair currently. But I like saying I wear a size 12. For whatever reason. I prefer it.

I started stand-up in 1998 in Madison WI, where I'm from. I came to Chicago because it was beautiful and majestic and close.

Are there any other comedic endeavors in your repertoire?

I am also an actor. I've done plays since I was in college. In town I've performed with the European Rep, The Bailiwick Rep, and in the Steppenwolf Garage Theater. I improvise as often as I can, most recently doing sets weekly at The Annoyance Theater . I also audition for commercials, and I must say, some of my most brilliant work happens in those readings. As a performer, you sometimes don't realize where you can take yourself until you're pretending to let the world know about Bob Evans' new 'stacked and stuffed pancake breakfasts'. It's the reward.

You "work the road", as they say. Can you impart some wisdom about this line of work for fellow city comics and the general public? You mentioned recently that you haven't had a "day job" in seven years. Care to explain how? Any hilarious stories from the road you can share? What's your usual circuit?

I do that from time to time. Just to clarify, I have never had a day job. Not a 9-5 at least. I've done every shitty job you can imagine to supplement my income. If you want to work the road, you have to be available for Thursday or Wednesday or Tuesday through Sunday. A day job makes that difficult. I've been fired from 3 jobs waiting tables because I asked for too many days off.

Working the road is easy. Booking road work is the hard part. Before you get a chance to prove yourself in a club, you have to convince a booker or club owner or manager that they should give you a chance to prove yourself. There are three ways you can do that: tape -- they rarely watch them; recommendation -- best way, just make sure the person recommending you isn't really just a fill in with no pull; or guest set/working as an emcee so they can see you live -- expensive but necessary. Point being, you can't just be a comedian. Somewhere along the line you have to become a businessman. And what you have to sell is you. It doesn't feel so goofy anymore because I'm familiar with how much money is involved, and if it means me supporting myself by doing what I love, I have no hesitation. But for the first couple years, it felt awkward.

The city is where I learned what I wanted to say, the road is where I learned how to say it. There is just so much more stage time on the road. As a feature act ("middle") you wind up doing three hours a week at least. And featuring is the easiest slot. The positives outweigh the negatives right now. I wont be saying that if five years from now I'm not getting bookings as a headliner ("closer"). But for now I will.

The road is lonely and there's all the free booze you can handle (unless it's a bullshit club), which is a bad thing. The trick is being productive in the down time. That's why working A-rooms in cities is such a huge step, you can learn and explore and see things. You work in Springfield, MO and the only thing to do is get shithoused and close the blinds. Maybe see Pirates of the Caribbean .

You're also involved in a few collaborative projects, namely Blerds.com, a Bastion favorite, and Visitors' Locker Room, a program we listen to every day. What's it like working in a group dynamic on projects such as these, especially when stand-up is such a "lone wolf" art?

I write for Blerds and I produce the Visitor's Locker Room. Both projects are great to be a part of. To me, the "lone wolf" thing is one of the worst parts about doing stand-up, so it's great to get a chance to collaborate, especially with such talented funny people. I do find myself having a hard time not always being in control. But it's nice getting to take credit for other people's hard work.

About that "lone wolf" thing though, I think a lot of stand-ups never get bored with meeting people and charming them. That's why they stay out on the road, or have no friends. They need to keep meeting people. Because friends aren't going to be that into feeding your ego. I really like collaborating… I don't know where that came from but when you mentioned the "lone wolf" thing it made me think -- I've met some lone wolves in this business. Lonely, drunk, depressed dudes, and when I met them I thought to myself, 'this guy is exactly why there isn't a union for stand-up comics. He doesn't want to deal with anyone'. Anyway, being in the city you don't run into that so much. Everybody wants to be here because of the people here. It's great being a part of stuff.

You've released a couple CDs, right? Isn't there a third one in the works? How about a synopsis of Crap Circus, for instance. It's not exactly a typical stand-up CD.

I do have two CDs. Crap Circus (2006) is the latest. It was recorded at Go Bananas Comedy Club in Cincinnati, OH. Most of it is live comedy but it does have some studio tracks. Poetry, rants, political discussions with my mother. I like variety. I like to experiment. Stand-up can be confining sometimes, so I feel like on my CDs I can say things I don't get to say on stage. At least not for money (LOL).

I have almost enough material recorded for a new CD right now. I've got about 30 new minutes. But I'd like more, and its going to take time to develop the sound of the album. I'm not always sure what I'm doing, but I feel like each CD has got to have a style. I like albums that are distinct. Hopefully I can create something different each time. Me on stage sounds pretty similar to me on stage, so I try to create sketches and poems and other extras to set each CD apart. If I can.

On Crap Circus for example, I wanted to do a studio comedy track. My intention was to make a beat or music or put together some ambient sounds that would support the idea of the material, then write and improvise the bit over the top of it. The result is "Robot World" (track 14). It's basically a rant about automated teller services. We (myself and producer Steve McCarty) took voices and music and conversations with tellers from these automatic services and put them together around segments of material. We also found a woman who is the voice for the automatic phone systems for a large portion of the hospitality industry, and had her record some non-traditional options. We had fun with it, and i want to do stuff like that on every album I make.

What are your thoughts on the current state of Chicago comedy and "making it"? Do you have any exciting future plans you'd like to share?

Chicago comedy is pretty good right now. I can't speak entirely to the improv scene, but I see good stuff going up everywhere. Stand-up wise, it's great. Somebody should be taping here regularly. But they won't. Sometimes it's hard to tell though. Crowds can be too nurturing here. Often times crowds in Chicago are made up of performers or friends of performers or even just fans of live performance, who've seen a lot of stuff. I mean they want to see
exploration and fresh reactions and energy, and as long as all that's there, and the performer is in the moment, the crowd is supportive. But it won't always be like that and sometimes, i think, that encourages less writing, which is hard to notice when the crowds are letting it slide because the performer is really good at pretending not to give a shit.

News? I'm moving to LA. Right after The Visitor's Locker Room SUPERBOWL EXTRAVAGANZA @ The Lincoln Lodge February 1 and 2.

HBO was recently in town for the Chicago Aspen showcases. Do you have any thoughts about this festival, its relevance for the comedians of this generation, and its philosophy on comedy as a business?

Aspen? They've made great things happen for some great comics. It seems like they found some people they like in Chicago this year. Hopefully they pick them. I don't know what their philosophy on comedy is other than bringing
people to their festival that they think the industry will be able to sell.

I don't know if the festivals are as big as they used to be though. I mean it used to be that 10-15 development deals (money given to a comedian under contract with someone exclusively while projects could be developed by and for them) would come out of the big ones (Aspen, Montreal) every year. I don't know if anyone gets development deals anymore. The business has changed. But it would still be sweet to get one. A festival. Definitely a deal.

- Kristy Mangel