JFL NorthWest comedy profiles – Chris D’Elia
Television viewers will recognize Chris D’Elia from the NBC comedy series, Undateable, as well as starring opposite Whitney Cummings on NBC’sWhitney. Stand-up comedy fans will know him from his myriad club, theatre, and late-night talk show appearances.
His most recent standup special, Incorrigible, hit on Netflix in 2015, and followed-up his first one-hour Comedy Central special, White Male Black Comic. His numerous other TV credits include Comedy Central’s 2015 roast of Justin Bieber, Comedy Central’s Workaholics, and Comedy Central Presents, as well as TBS’s Glory Daze and Showtime’s Live Nude Comedy.
We talked to the Los Angeles-based comic about his upcoming appearance at the JFL NorthWest comedy festival, where he’ll perform two shows Feb 24 at the Vogue Theatre (918 Granville St.).
Q: We’re doing this interview on Inauguration Day 2017. What’s the mood like in Los Angeles?
A: It’s just been bewilderment, it’s just wild. There’s a lot of mixed emotions. I don’t know what to expect.
Q: You don’t really do political comedy, do you?
A: No, I don’t really like to do political comedy. It has a shelf-life. It’s not my thing.
Q: What have your past Vancouver experiences been like?
A: I’ve played at the Comedy Mix. I love Vancouver. I love all kinds of Canadian audiences. I think Vancouver’s awesome, though. It’s such a great city. It’s a place I could imagine, if it wasn’t for what I do, I could love living there. It’s a great place. The people are so nice. It rains a lot. But besides that, I love it.
Q: Have you filmed anything up here?
A: I have. I shot a movie there when I was 19 called Bad Girls from Valley High. It was the only time I worked in Vancouver, filming. It’s a silly little movie. But Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) was in it. That’s how we met.
Q: There’s a funny line from your Wiki bio: “He then got in a movie that went straight to DVD.” Is that the one?
A: Uh… I don’t know. Maybe.
Q: Tell us a little about Undateable? It was live, wasn’ it?
A: Yeah. It was live to shoot. We had millions of people watching whenever we did it. It was insane. It was a rush.
Q: You’ve got tour dates coming up. What else is going on?
A: I’ve got a movie coming out. I don’t know when, but it’s on Netflix, it’s called Little Evil. I’m doing another special soon. That’s about it. Just touring a lot. Some other things that are brewing. We’ll see.
Q: How long does it take you to get a full hour’s worth of new material together?
A: Different amounts. Depends on what I’m talking about. But I’d say a year, a little bit more, probably.
Q: Does it get easier or harder?
A: I don’t know. I think it gets harder to figure out what you want to talk about next. But the process becomes easier because you know how to do it.
Q: Are you going to be doing new stuff when you come to Vancouver, or stuff from the last special?
A: No, I’m going to do all new stuff. I talk about me a lot more than I have in the past two specials. It’s a little bit more personal. I talk about my life and what happened in my twenties, and used it to be who I am now in my thirties – growing up, becoming an adult.
For tickets to Chris D’Elia at the Vogue and a full JFL NorthWest schedule, visit jflnorthwest.com.