This week BWCS talks with local comedy club owner Jared Thompson. One of the biggest supporters of local up and coming comedians, Thompson, along with his wife Dayna, own and operate the Funny Bone Bloomington. The club brings in some of the biggest names in the business and gives local comics a place to grow and explore their craft in a professional atmosphere. In the fourth installment of this interview series, BWCS asks the club owner, and avid Cubby fan, to discuss his comedic life.

BWCS: Along with your wife, you own and run the Funny Bone Bloomington. What has been your experience so far in trying to start and establish a comedy club here in Bloomington? What are some of the struggles of trying to establish/run the club here in Bloomington? What have you particularly enjoyed about the experience?

JT: First of all, thanks for having me on the blog. So yeah, The Funny Bone. The first year has been great overall. For every disappointment, there’s been many, many more triumphs. The struggles have mainly been with students. Nothing major. We’ve tried to pander to them maybe more than we should. I understand that you can get a beer for a nickel down the street, but c’mon guys, Maria Bamford is in town! The enjoyable highlights include the local comics’ improvements over the 14 months. Also, Pardo, Bamford, the comedy festival and Max Oliver Thompson.

BWCS: What made you want to start a comedy club in the first place? Were you a big fan of stand-up comedy before the opening of the club? If so, what kind of comedy did you like and who were your favorite comedians? Have you ever tried your hand at stand-up?

JT: We decided to open the club after my corporate job was moved to Indy. Dayna and I were above-average fans of comedy, but probably not the likeliest candidates to own and operate a comedy club.

The first and best comedy album I ever owned is Woody Allen’s CD “StandUp Comic.” We both love Brian Regan, and the best COMEDY show we’ve ever seen was Regan live in Ft. Wayne. Of course we love Chappelle, Hedberg, Cosby, among others. Ironically, we’ve listened to Satellite radio a long time and James P. Connolly, two time veteran of The Funny Bone, was a favorite of Dayna’s before the club opened, and so we booked him solely based on that. JPC is great!

I hosted one show, and that’s it forever.

BWCS: Is there anything you wish you would have done differently in the past concerning the club? Are there changes to the club you plan on making in the future? So far the club has been used specifically for presenting stand-up comedy, do you have any plans for showcasing other forms of comedy at the club?

JT: We’ve made mistakes of course. We tried things early on- Jimmie Walker, a hypnotist, Dustin Diamond- that were swings and misses. That was bound to happen. We are booked out until May, so I suppose we are focusing on continuing on what we’ve been doing. Understanding what weekends to do what based on what’s going on in town is something we’re learning to account for.

We are planning on working with both sketch and improv more than we have so far. We’re planning a night with local comedy troupe “All Sorts of Trouble for the Boy in the Bubble” soon.

BWCS: The Funny Bone has consistently brought in top tier comedians since its opening in September of 2008. So far, who have been some of your favorite comedians that you’ve brought in? Is there anyone coming to the club sometime in the near future that you’re particularly excited about? The club brings in big nationally recognized names on a consistent basis, but it also brings in lesser known comedians that are just as funny, just perhaps not as well known. Has there been a comedian in specific that perhaps isn’t very well known yet, but has particularly surprised/impressed you?

JT: I stated earlier that Brian Regan was the best COMEDY show I’ve ever seen, but Maria Bamford was the greatest performance I’ve ever seen in any art form. Rounding out the top three are Jimmy Pardo and Michael Winslow. As far as surprises or not as well known- Mike MacRae and Jasper Redd are grossly under-recognized. Greg Warren, Nikki Glaser, Amy Schumer and Josh Arnold are all terrific and have become very close friends of the club.

Looking forward very much to Robert Hawkins’ debut here this week and Todd Glass in December. New Year’s Eve with Greg Warren will be amazing.

BWCS: The Funny Bone has been a big supporter of local comedians. Do you rely much on local talent? What do you enjoy about working with young/novice comedians? And since you yourself are a club owner and a person who has watched a lot of comedy, what advice would you give to young comedians who are trying to make it in this business?

JT: It has been nothing short of a joy to watch our local scene blossom in the past year. Brian M. Frange and Ben Moore have been indispensable parts of our early development. The crop of local comics we have is as good as any city in the midwest. Josh Cocks, Dwight Simmons, Jamison Raymond, Ashley Bullington, Tom Brady, Jack Skolnick, and Joshua Murphy, among others, have all become excellent comedians in their short careers.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most is that there’s a competitive nature with the local scene but most everybody gets along and supports each other.

The only advice I have for the young comics is pretty simple- keep trying. If you know you’re funny, keep going. I know Tom Brady considered quitting stand-up at one time, and he ended up winning the First Annual Bloomington Comedy Festival.

BWCS: All the local stand-ups vie for time at your club and many are trying to make it into the club as hosts. What advice would you give to comics who want to host at the club? What are you looking for in a host?

JT: The things I look for are poise and energy, in that order. You’re obviously already funny or you wouldn’t be hosting in the first place. You have to be able to be the glue to hold the show together. You have to keep time, get the audience warm, and keep everything at the right pace. I’m okay with differing styles, i.e. crowd work, no crowd work, as long as you remain poised, energetic and funny. Hosting is the hardest job in the business.

BWCS: The Funny Bone hosted the 1st Annual Bloomington Comedy Festival this past summer. What was your experience with the festival? Will the festival be back in the summer 2010 and will there be any changes to the format?

JT: We had a great time. Upsets, great crowds, and comedians unexpectedly rising to the occasion- all those things were awesome. We certainly plan on The Second Annual Bloomington Comedy Festival in summer 2010. I’m sure there will be changes but nothing planned as of yet.

BWCS: You are expecting your first child in the next few months, do you plan on raising him in and around the club? How do you think this will affect the child?

JT: Max will grow up in the club for sure. He will be a better person for it.

BWCS: Though running a comedy club is a full time job that takes a lot of time and dedication, what are some other passions you indulge in that are outside of the comedy world?

JT: My biggest passions are movies and the Chicago Cubs. I’d rather be in Wrigley Field with a Chicago dog in my hand, or at a matinee showing of a Coen Brothers movie than anything. I know way more about movies, sports and music than comedy. I’ve been lucky to be able to continue going to the movies and following the Cubs since the club opened. When Max gets here in February some of that will change of course.

BWCS: I understand that you were once in a band that made it pretty close to getting signed by a label…care to share?

JT: That sounds more important than it was. I was in a band in the mid-90’s called The Witchcraft Season when I lived in North Carolina. We toured around, recorded a terrible demo, and were approached while in Canada to record for a great indie label owned by famed photographer Shawn Scallen. Our drummer moved to Texas and we never recorded an album.

BWCS: What does Jared Thompson want for Christmas?

JT: North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock’s finest film, on Blu-Ray. I’m tough to shop for.

BWCS: Favorite Mitch Hedberg joke?

JT: I love the Dr. Acula joke, but Comedy’s John Hardwick beat me to it. So there’s this: I write jokes for a living, and late at night I sit in my hotel at night and I think of something funny, then I go get a pen and write it down. Or, if the pen’s too far away, I convince myself it wasn’t that funny.

BWCS: Anything you want to say in parting?
I have no feeling left in my fingers.

Thanks to Jared Thompson for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer these questions in such a thorough manner. Be sure to visit his comedy club, The Funny Bone Bloomington, which is located at the corner of 4th & Walnut, to see some of the best comedians around. For more information on shows or the club itself, visit our  helpful links page.

To view other entries in the “This Comedic Life” interview series click here.

Interview conducted by Joshua Murphy