Nate Roberts

Today I am interviewing Nate Roberts, a comedian born in Ilion, NY who has been doing comedy for one year. To find out more about Nate, please visit his website.

Why did you start doing stand-up comedy?

I was always I writer, and while I was engaged to my ex-fiance, who didn't support me in anything, I tried my hand at stand up comedy. Well after a few "that isn't really funnies" I gave it up, until we broke up. It was then I that I took a comedy writing class, and moved to NYC to start living the dream. I don't really know why I started I was always obsessed with it, as a kid. My dad used to let me stay up late and watch an Evening at the Impov, and when I was 12 I got my hands on Denis Leary's - No Cure For Cancer, which I memorized. That and Bill Cosby's - Himself were probably the 2 most influential comedy albums for me growing up.

Do you have any tips or tricks for writing or performing that you could share?

For performance anxiety, at least at the beginning, I would flip a quarter around between my fingers before being called up and put it in my pocket as I walked to the stage. A little distraction can help ease you mind. While performing, the greatest thing I've learned so far is slow down. There's no rush. The slowing you go I feel the more engaged the audience is on every word the more invested they are in what you're saying, and it just makes the funny jokes funnier.

What does stand-up comedy mean to you?

What does stand-up comedy mean to me? Shit, Slava, that's deep. I was always the class clown growing up, and I guess humor is how I dealt with the crap going on in my life I didn't want to deal with... And I guess that really hasn't changed.