The first and only time John Mulaney performed at The Chicago Theatre was in 2010.
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He was hired to do a seven-minute set at “Ellen’s Somewhat Special Special” during TBS’ Just for Laughs Chicago. A dream come true, of course, for any young comic. But as hilarious and beloved as the now 32-year-old comedian was at the time, nobody ever wants to follow a celebration for the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the heart of the city.
“The Blackhawks had just won so they brought them out; there were acrobats, Ellen [DeGeneres] was doing magic tricks and then they were basically like, ‘And now here is a young man in a shirt and pants,’ ” Mulaney said.
But this is a guy who, without question, understands the significance of Chicago’s sports loyalties. He is, after all, a Chicagoan.
So many of his fans in Chicago know the version of Mulaney who starred in his own Fox sitcom, “Mulaney.” Or the version who wrote for “Saturday Night Live,” playing a part in creating Bill Hader’s Stefon character. Or the version who created the side-splitting “New In Town” special in 2012 with Comedy Central. Or even the version who regularly appeared on VH1’s “Best Week Ever “from 2005-2009.
But for Mulaney, the version of himself he knows best is the guy who was born and raised in Chicago, which is not only the birthplace of himself as a person but also his material as a comic.
“I had this interesting situation of first doing stand-up in New York City, yet always going back home and performing at Chicago Underground,” Mulaney said. “Chicago has no rival as a comedy city. Ask anyone who tours, they always look forward to that Chicago stop—and me more than anyone, since I’m from there. There is such a built-in comedy community in Chicago. It’s probably the best place to start doing comedy.”
Mulaney headlines two shows on May 30 at The Chicago Theatre. He promises to do well over seven minutes of material this time around.
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John Mulaney
Go: 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. May 30 at The Chicago Theatre (175 N. State)
Tickets: $27.50-$47.50. thechicagotheatre.com
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I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask: When you travel back to Chicago for this show, what are the things you make sure to do when you’re on a time crunch?
I grew up there, so it’s mundane stuff like seeing friends. There are so many great culinary places, but I lived here from 0 to 18. I ate at my house. I wasn’t out at Schwa when I was 10. There was Nookies and The Wieners Circle. I would eat a piece of toast and then go walk around.
Did you see shows here growing up?
I’d go see my little sister do The Holy Fuck Comedy Hour at The Annoyance Theatre.
You got married last summer. Did writing material get easier or more difficult as a married man? So much material for comics comes from being this single guy or girl and kind of experiencing life as someone just trying their best.
The writing continues; the song remains the same. I just have new experiences in my life now, being married. It’s the same with anything that you take on. Like having a kid. At a certain point, the biggest thing to get around is doing too much comedy. You don’t have a life. I think the reason there were so many airport jokes was because comedians were traveling so much and you have your brain on. You’re absorbing it all … like how you’re treated at the United lounge, or something.
[Laughs.] That makes a lot of sense, actually.
It’s autobiographical. You talk about what’s going on. So for me, nothing has changed in the writing of anything. I love traveling, but I do it differently now. After you fall in love, you don’t want to be gone for 30 days. So, I do it at my own pace.
What’s easier for you, life onstage or offstage?
I gave my life to comedy completely. I was on the road or sleeping on the couch at “SNL,” working there 36 hours in a row. It’s an interesting thing. I see the change [in my life] now. Who knows? I still have been incredibly busy since then. But, in a nice way, you go, “OK, if I bomb in Staten Island [New York] tonight, I know I’m at least coming home tonight to my wife.”
Comedians like yourself are so good—or maybe the word is “comfortable”—with pinning yourself down before others can. Why is that the case for you?
Most standups study themselves. For me, it came naturally, I’m not a person who’s angry; I’m not angry at the world in that way. I’m annoyed by a lot of things and exasperated by a lot of things. But I have had an extremely fortunate life. I have had too many years of an extremely nice existence to have any anger going outward. I look at myself and say, “You are a 32-year-old lanky white guy who can’t even stand up straight.” I’m the most useless animal there is. I think it’s safe to say in 2015, the lanky white man is the most useless animal there is.
Someone told me you never fully move into or decorate any office space you work in.
I think that’s a little more of my superstitious type. I want to be able to move out of an office in 20 minutes. Put everything in my backpack and go. I heard that David Letterman once said that if he was fired, he could just pick up his wallet and leave. It’s a transient existence.
Where’s a place—like a physical location—that people would be surprised you wrote a bit or sketch that really worked?
When I just started dating my now wife, I took her on a trip that was run through Delta Airlines. It was delayed a full day and then canceled. We came back the next day, found out it was delayed again, then canceled again. We were with one group of passengers for the same 48 hours. Finally, by the time we got off the plane, there were actual police there because they thought we’d riot.
I’ve heard you do this joke. It’s hysterical.
Thank you! I put together this joke about traveling with my girlfriend and traveling with Delta. I remember being in the moment and thinking, “This is funny.” I think I know that all the time. When things are really bad, I know part of me thinks, “This is really funny.” Jokes come out of anything.
Is your mind constantly wandering, never being satisfied with any sort of accomplishment, already figuring out the next thing to make yourself happy when you know, honestly, that probably won’t do it either? Because that’s how I am.
I wish I could be in the moment. I’m not good at that. What I have found is that a couple years later, I’ll think about something I did and say to myself, “That was crazy. That was fun. I enjoyed that. That was interesting. I can’t believe I did that.” I’m a little bit hyper-present, I think, normally about how one line didn’t do as well as the night before. I have had times where I’ve tried to really take a second to myself and think, “This is really great.” I did that at Carnegie Hall.
You graduated with an English literature degree from Georgetown University. Do you often still use that knowledge in life?
No. I was doing comedy in college. When I was 18, I met Nick Kroll and Mike Birbiglia. I went to a good school, which can be a detriment to comedy sometimes. You might be a lured by traditional options that a good school can get you. By going to college and seeing people who were ambitious, it shows you how someone has the opportunity to be very good in their field. I think to myself sometimes, “Look at that person. They’re very respected in their field. Wouldn’t it be great to be one of the better people at what I do?” But I was so ready to do comedy by my senior year that I was pretty checked out.
For years you wrote for “Saturday Night Live“ and, as a stand-up comedian, had to shine from behind the camera through writing and on scripts. How long into that process did you forget about the idea of performing and become OK with writing?
It was not a tough transition. I went in thinking, “I’m a comedian. I would obviously love to be on this show, but to be doing something and wanting to do something else is a miserable situation.” There is so much you can do as a writer there. Being a writer might be better than being a cast member. I know this might sound delusional, but you have a great deal of control as a writer. You get to do a lot more than the cast. You’re putting things together and learning how to make television. You’re learning how to shoot stuff, you’re sitting with editors and learning how the whole show is put together. There are a lot of experiences as a writer that I wouldn’t have had as a cast member. I was out doing stand-up, so I was still doing the “look at me, look at me” thing. But if I would have been chomping at the bit to be on camera? I wouldn’t have had a good time. Plus, I was such a geek and fan of the show, the experience of being a writer was extremely beneficial in and of itself.
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You grew up in Chicago in the 1990s. That environment has to be a huge part of who you are today.
Everywhere I go and perform, a lot of what I talk about is from my experience of growing up in Chicago … the strange free upbringing I had walking around as a kid, as opposed to what kids have now. We were little citizens. Our parents loved us, but they were busy people. I would get on the bus and just go downtown and walk around the city all day. Maybe see a movie. Try and buy cigarettes until the cops would chase us into a corner and ask us where we went to high school. We’d go to photocopy places on Lincoln Avenue to try and make fake IDs. I think a lot of that formed who I am. A free citizen left to his own devices, kind of.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen while out at night in Chicago?
It was outside a liquor store on Lincoln Avenue. It’s my favorite memory. We were in high school and my friend John was going to try to buy beer for us. He went in alone and came out of with two 24-pack cases of Natty Light under his arms. He was holding them like suitcases. We asked him how he bought them and he just looked at us and said, “The guy was asleep. Run!” [Laughs.] He just lifted them out of the cooler and walked out.
The restaurant you’ve eaten the most meals at in the city?
Demon Dogs, which is gone now. It was decorated with Chicago album covers, right under the Fullerton train station.
Venue, even if it’s not a comedy club, that you wish you could do a quick-set inside of?
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It would be funny to do stand-up there.
If you had to nickname Chicago something besides the Windy City, you would pick …
The City of Backpacks, because thinking about Chicagoans with Chicago accents saying that word is funny to me.
And everyone in Chicago is always wearing a backpack.
So many backpacks.