Zane Golia did not do stand-up in Rochester as long as some of his peers, but the impact he made on the scene in the short time he was doing weekly shows prior to moving to LA can’t be understated. Zane is the type of stand-up comic that can reach into the darkness of a situation and pull out the funny of it in such a way that you never feel yourself cringing or worrying that you’re going to go home and cry yourself to sleep. His material is maniacally cheerful and fun and so cleverly well written that even when Zane is toeing the line, he never loses the audiences. Zane really elevated the level of the Rochester, NY comedy scene in the little bit of time he was plying his craft here, and After Bedtime couldn’t be happier that he’s going to grace our stage to close out our final episode of the year.
Come check him out at The Space, in Rochester, NY on December 20th at 8PM, but first, check out the pre-show interview below to get all kind of pumped up.
Zane Golia: Decoratively Lit
Q: How long have you been doing comedy for, and what go you interested?
A:My first open mic was in August of 2010. However, there was a period of time back in 9th grade when I would do a short routine in my friends living room for him and his dad. It just took me a short 7 years to be able to do it for real.
The final catalyst was a tough breakup in college. I was really sad and it became easy to come up with a bunch of jokes about that. So now you know who to blame for all this.
Q: Who are your biggest inspirations for comedy?
A:Early on it was guys like Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Adam Carolla, Conan O’Brien, and most of The Simpsons writers.
Although, after discovering comedy podcasts, I’ve come across countless other people I could name. Tom Scharpling is probably my favorite person to listen to at the moment.
Q: What was your first joke? And how is it different from the jokes you do now?
A: It was something like, “I’ve been really depressed lately, so my therapist has been encouraging me to find hobbies and activities to take my mind off things and stay positive….so I’ve been doing this thing called drinking alone.” The rest of the set was pretty much the same tone.
A lot of the early bits really weren’t that much different in style than what I do now. I still do a good amount of self-depreciating jokes, but they tend to be sillier. I try to find more interesting angles than just “I’m sad and do this” or “I drink a lot and this is how bad it is”
Q: What are three words you’d use to describe the type of comedy you do?
A; Odd, Unorganized, Charming.
Q: What are three words your parents would use to describe your type of comedy?
A: It’s ok, right?
Q: When you first heard about this show, what got you interested?
A: Since living in Los Angeles, it’s become a regular occurrence that I would see something about a fun show that Rochester comedians we’re putting on. Naturally, I would get super jealous in my dimly lit room and hope you guys would still like me by my next trip home. I’m really excited to be a part of this specifically though. It seems like a refreshing change from doing just regular all-stand-up shows.
Q: What’s your favorite part about doing comedy in LA as opposed to Western NY?
A; It’s great that there’s a seemingly endless amount of open mic options every night. Most are run different from each other and attract different types of comics, so it’s always fun to try a new spot. It’s also interesting that every time I go out, there’s at least 10 people that I’ve never seen do comedy before.
Q: What’s the most challenging part about doing comedy in LA versus WNY?
A; Pretty much the same thing. There’s so many comedians and open mics that it’s not only more competitive than I’m used to, but its harder to find that sense of “community”. However, I’m realizing that a lot of that is on me and could definitely be improved.
Q: What should people know, if they’ve never gone to a comedy show and are thinking of coming to this show?
A: C’mon, It’s got to be a least a little better than your other plans.
As usual be sure to keep up with all the After Bedtime fun by liking our Facebook Page and following us on Twitter! We hope to see you all at The Space at 7:30 on 12/20/12 our last show of the year!
