By Tom Rohrer
Having the ability to make others laugh is a skill desired by many but obtained by few. Having the ability to make an entire audience chuckle? Even rarer.
During a performance, a stand-up comedian has only two resources to fulfill their goal of providing laughter to the crowd in front of them: their sense of humor and a microphone.
Already accustomed to performing in front of a live audience through his participation in school theatrical productions, Timberline High School junior Jacob Johnson decided to perform a stand-up comedy routine during the last student talent show.
Standing in front of his peers, Johnson saw his objective come to fruition.
“I had never performed my own routine or tried to make people laugh in that setting,” said Johnson, the only student to perform a stand-up comedy routine at the talent show. “Everyone started laughing after I delivered the jokes, and it was such a cool, gratifying moment. Having that moment to stand back and just to let everyone laugh, it was something I’ve never experienced before.”
Johnson’s infatuation with standup comedy and knack for live performance led to the creation of “Story Time Comedy,” a stand-up comedy show featuring young and undiscovered comedians from the area.
The show will be held on Friday, Dec. 20 at the backstage Capitol Theatre in downtown Olympia. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at a link provided at the bottom of this article.
Johnson will be performing along with Bobby Villa, Calvin Greer, Jake McNabb, Nick Hollander, Jalen Slater and Gabe Judd. All performers are local and between the ages of 16-19 years old.
Johnson, who is coordinating the event, came up with the idea to put on a stand-up comedy show while attending an “MC Rap Battle” on the backstage at Capitol Theatre.
“I was set on putting on a show before I graduated, and when I was at the show, I thought about how [the Backstage] would be the perfect venue,” said Johnson. “At first, the coordinators there said that an event was already planned for December 20. Eventually, it got cancelled and I needed to start creating a lineup.”
Already set on having Hollander and Slater for the event, Johnson sent a tweet asking if local performers were interested in committing to the show. Immediately, Johnson informed the acts that he intended to put on a professional level show.
“Everyone else came to me and I told them that they couldn’t just go up on stage and improv. I needed to know what they would be doing and we would have to have production and content meetings,” said Johnson. “I wanted to keep it as professional as possible.”
Like professional stand-up comedy shows, the content to be performed is suitable for an adult audience.
“It’s uncensored,” said Johnson of the jokes and content of the comedy acts. “I let my mom know about the jokes and she isn’t thrilled about (the content) but to my family’s credit, they’ve been very supportive and I know that once she and the family are in the audience, they will enjoy what we’re saying.”
“That’s a big part of the reason we’re having the show at the Backstage,” added Johnson. “I talked to the planning director at Timberline about performing at the school. The [content] just isn’t suitable.”
To generate material for his act, Johnson uses experiences and observations from his daily life.
“I actually only talk about stuff that has happened to me, like about how my mom was worried about my comedy being vulgar, my experiences being lactose intolerant, about my first day of high school,” said Johnson. “It’s content that gives people a view into the lives of people my age in present day society.”
Planning such an event requires extensive organizational skills and a knack for putting on a show.
The founder and President of Rhema’s Reality for Childhood Cancer Research, Johnson was the first student in school history to be on the THS Leadership and Associated Student Body boards. His drive for success has been a major factor in the foundation he’s set for both the future and the present.
“We live in a society that has gotten lazy and had everything handed to them,” said Johnson, who turned 17 earlier this month. “If you want to do a comedy show and aren’t willing to drive back and forth and face some adversity in the process, it won’t happen. Without risk there is no reward.”
Growing up, Johnson noted that he had a reputation for talking too much and telling stories whenever the moment presented itself.
“I was always that kid talking, but I knew I could make others laugh by just reciting a story or an experience,” said Johnson.
As a sophomore at Timberline, Johnson decided to try out for a school play titled “Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet,” a performance geared to promote anti-bullying at the school. To his surprise, Johnson landed the lead role in the show. The next play he tried out for, Johnson again scored the leading male role in “Leading Ladies” where he was joined by Slater, the show’s female lead.
A career as an actor and performer is the goal for Johnson, who cited comedians Gary Owen, Kevin Hart and Aziz Ansari as his stand-up influences.
“I want to move to Los Angeles eventually and jump into acting immediately after I graduate,” said Johnson. “Stand-up comedy is something that I would do, but not forever. I do have a goal of traveling and performing in every city.”
Johnson hopes to organize a similar comedy show in 2014, giving the Olympia community another sect of entertainment that he believes is missing in the area.
“We’ve really wanted to emphasize that this is definitely something new that people don’t want to miss out on,” said Johnson, who noted his grandma would be in attendance at the show. “This isn’t a local band having a show. It’s a new group of local young talent.”
The Olympia area has always been supportive of the performing arts, and Johnson expects a positive reaction from those in attendance.
“People always take great enjoyment in laughing and it’s surprising there hasn’t been more [events] like this around here,” said Johnson. “It’s a talented line-up and I think the performances will resonate with everyone.”
“Who doesn’t like to laugh?”
Tickets can be purchased at www.olympiafilmsociety.org/story.time.comedy/.
