Writing Jokes with Travis Harrington
This series is designed to peek inside the lives of comedians & writers. Below is a conversation with a very funny person.
What’s your name and where did you grow up?
I’m Travis Harrington. I grew up all over the place but mostly in Dennis, MA a small shitty tourist trap of a town on Cape Cod.
What’s interesting or uninteresting about the place you grew up?
Not too much interesting its a very white very New England place. the sort of town where everything built has to be passed by a historical committee so it looks like some sort of cookie cutter Disneyland colonial williamsburg type place . The most memorable parts of growing up there were the things a bunch of bored teenagers get into with no outlets. All stupid kids stuff, driving around aimlessly in cars for hours, skateboarding, setting fires, taking mushrooms etc. Memorable but not really all that great
What did your parents do for a living?
My parents both work in the film industry doing location management so I ended up moving all over the place as a kid
Where did you first perform stand-up comedy?
M Bar in Mariachi Plaza. I didn’t start doing stand up till I moved from Boston to LA early this year. Back in Boston I wrote and co-hosted a late night / variety show thing and played guitar in an electropunk band called LRAD. We were constantly plagued with technical problems so I’d often have to fill the dead space with crowd work and banter which I guess is kind of where I started doing stand up unofficially.
Why did you first perform stand-up comedy? (to get laid?)
Who would wanna fuck a comedian? Ew. I just got the HaHa’s in my heart dude. I’ve always been a performer and a writer and nothings makes my day more than people having fun. If i can make people forget how shitty everything is and realize how shitty everything is just for a second I feel liek im accomplishing something
What was the first bit you performed that made you want to do this?
I came up with this stupid bit about how google street view functions like tripping on cough syrup but it was one of the first things that I felt was actually my voice. not trying to sound like anything or a joke for another person or character. I was like “hey this is me”
What are you working on now? And what’s on the horizon?
Lately I’ve been doing lots of improv and work on an upcoming youtube project thats super secret
Do you prefer writing jokes or improvising onstage?
I really like going in there with something to say if its just me and then maybe going away from it after a bit if things feel right. Improvising with others is wayyy better than reading dialogue though you find so much great shit you’d never hear otherwise.
What’s the dumbest superhero name you can think of?
The Human Porch
What do you like or dislike about the LA comedy scene?
Don’t dislike too much of it so far I guess the best and worst part of it is that its a lot smaller than you think. You see the same people everywhere you go and hear their jokes over and over to most of the time rooms of people who are in the same boat so laughs are harder. The good part of that is though when your trying to tune a bit that works already those little changes you make are usually where youll get the responses you’re looking for
How do you know when you’re going to have a good set?
If Ican make just one person in the room piss their pants laughing and everybody else is silent. Oh also and if I don’t throw up.
Is there anything you shy away from Tweeting or talking about on stage?
Not really. If anything its just stuff I don’t feel equipped to deal with or something nobody wants to hear white bearded guys talk about. Sexism, Racism, etc because most of that stuff is our fault
What’s the difference between writing jokes for the Internet and writing jokes for a live performance?
I wish i could just read twitter posts on stage sometimes. I have more fun on stage than I do on Twitter but Twitter is more constant. It’s like cocaine vs cigarettes you cant compare them but they go hand in hand very well and often one leads to the other
Talk about Twitter and why some jokes work and others don’t.
I get most of my jokes from interacting with people. Joking with my friends and ocming up with things or just being forced to interact with strangers. I try for hours and hours to write stuff at home and i come up with nothing. I end up going for a beer with friends and spend the whole conversation writing down eveything we say.I still cant for the life of me figure out why people like what they like on twitter. Ill sometimes post things that i think are amaaaaazing and Iget like three likes on it. and other times ill post something i think is totally dumb and ends up being riddled with spelling errors and it get a hundred favorites and is now there forever
What are your three favorite TV shows currently on the air?
I like the new Wet Hot Show that’s pretty good, i haven’t seen too many gems lately. I love Ancient Aliens and MonsterQuest they’re fucking amazing. Not just only the absolute mind blowing craziness of the topics but all the people that waste their lives on that stuff are fascinating.
For more, visit @jokewriting on Twitter
Interview by Zuri Irvin (@withzuri)
