Courtesy of Brennan's Work & Leisure
Comedian Yale Hollander
When comedian Yale Hollander was in high school, right before senior year, he performed stand-up at a talent show. “That was probably the most disastrous two minutes of my life. I was supposed to have six minutes of stage time. But after two minutes, it's like, I don't have anything to say and these guys are howling at how bad I am.” It took him 31 years to get back onstage, and when he returned, well, he was much more prepared.
Hollander, a licensed attorney, had worked for a firm in the area of debt collection, which sent him all over the state. I learned to talk to people under pressure, engage with different, if not hostile, audiences,” he says. But he’d always been a fan of stand-up, remembering playing a Steve Martin album his dad bought him, his first. So in 2016, when Helium Comedy Club opened, he set a goal. While his kids were at summer camp, he’d give open mic a try. He sat down and wrote 30 pages to get four minutes of material.
“I told my wife before I left, ‘This is something I want to try. Nothing's going to come of it. But I just want to be able to say that I did it.’ I came home later that night, and I said, ‘Yeah, I just signed up for next week, too.’”
Now Hollander hosts, among other gigs, Coffee Break at The Monocle in the Grove and Jokes and Spokes at the Bike Stop Cafe in Chesterfield, and works with comedian Chris Cyr on Impolite Company, producing podcasts. Starting Friday, he’s introducing a new monthly Clayton Comedy Series at Kingside After Dark. The idea is to inject comedy to neighborhoods that don’t have a club, or a bar or other venue that regularly hosts local shows.
The professional comedy clubs, Hollander explains, which he considers Helium, The Funny Bone, and The Laugh Lounge, are all in the county. “And that's great. If you're going to see a national headliner, that's where the big names are going. But for people who don't necessarily want to plunk down $25 plus a two-drink minimum for a show, there are a lot of very experienced local comics, and then some up-and-coming comics, but most of the shows are at clubs and bars that are in the city.” A problem, he says, for people in the county who’d like to take in a local show but want it closer to home. That’s what inspired Jokes & Spokes and the new Clayton series.
It’s not only a boon for the people who don’t have close-to-home local acts but also a service to the comedians. There are only so many shows, and national headliners usually bring in their own opening acts. “If I can have a Friday-night show or Saturday-night show, and get anywhere from four to eight comics a little more work, a little more money in their pockets, then I feel like I'm doing a service to our local community,” Hollander says.
Coming up in the Friday show: Hollander is hosting; Micaela Mohr (one-half of the comedy show Mystic Schitt's Creek) will open in the 10-minute slot; Rich Braun will perform in the middle (Hollander describes his material as interesting perspectives on a lot of things, including being a newly single dad); and Cyr will headline (“My nickname for him is the maestro. He kind of looks like an opera singer. He’s a big dude. But he’s also what I would consider one of the godfathers of local comedy scene”).
The fun starts at 9 p.m. at Kingside After Dark.
