4 Then Interview: Danny Rouhier

In the 4 Then Interview series, DCC4N hopes to answer the question on many DC comic's minds..."What happens when I leave DC?" In this edition, Danny Rouhier "sits down" with us and talks about the ups and downs of getting stage time in New York and the benefits of starting out in a city like DC.

So what have you been up to since leaving DC?

I'm living on the lower east side of Manhattan. It's in New York. The other guys who moved up here don't live in New York. Looking right at you Ryan Conner of Jersey City. I've already had a lot of ups and downs since I've been here. The ups include performing at Carolines, a television show called 'The A List' on Animal Planet, starring in a pilot at the New York Television Festival, and winning a national sketch comedy competition and filming a sketch comedy pilot with Proctor & Gamble Productions. The downs include only performing once at Carolines and having no one email me back ever, my frustration at not being able to secure representation, not knowing that many people or where to go which makes getting stage time hard, and the fact that there are so many cash only places in New York; I like to just use my debit card.

[Hit the jump for more of Danny's interview]




When did you start doing stand up and where did you do your first open mic? How did it go? Who were the people you remember starting out with?

My first time doing standup was at Soho Tea & Coffee in Dupont Circle in October of 2004. At the time, I thought it went great and was hooked. In retrospect, I was probably atrocious.org and would have hated myself if my present self could see that version. I would also tell that version to break up with his current girlfriend because it wasn't going to last. Anyway, Jared Stern was there. I remember him being the nicest and most supportive guy. He still is. For the first couple months, I didn't realize that I wasn't really 'doing' standup. I would perform once every couple of weeks and invite all my friends. I didn't know that you had to work at it. It wasn't until I started hanging out with my boys Rory Scovel and Ryan Conner that I realized what this process was all about. Once I got going, along with those two guys, I met Justin Schlegel and Jon Mumma. We were all just starting out and kind of going through the same things. In that respect, I think we were lucky.

When did you decide it was time to leave DC?


There really wasn't one moment when I realized: 'I have to go now'. It had been in my mind for a while. I felt myself growing complacent in DC. I wasn't as hungry as I could have been. No one has a success story where they say: 'It was really easy and I didn't really have to work at it." Even the people that are really gifted; they still have to bust their butts. If I had to point to a specific time, it was probably after I had featured for Bill Burr at the Columbus Funnybone and had then spent 6 weeks featuring at the premier chain of comedy clubs in Canada. I just felt like there was more out there for me. There's 1 great club in DC and that's hard because everyone is in 1 line. This isn't to put down DC. Far from it. I love DC; it's my home and it always will be. I think DC is an amazing place to start one's career. I just felt that there was only so much I could do there. I was scared for so long to take the step back by moving to a new place. It became clear that I had to take that step back so I could finally go forward.

How did DC prepare you for NY?

DC prepared me by making me funny. I know it sounds simple (and probably arrogant) but it's true. I was able to get up a lot in DC. I was a regular at a lot of open mics; really good open mics that don't exist anywhere else in the country. I got to the point where, if you saw me, you had to say, at a minimum: 'this guy is ok'. That's a big deal. People that don't know you don't want to put new people on if they suck. It's easier to break in if you get your chance and do well. If you aren't ready, you can move to the back of the line and who knows when your next chance comes? The challenge for me is that I was comfortable in DC. I was at the top of a pile and didn't have to do any work to get stage time. Up here? No one cares. 'Wait, you have done 10 minute sets at Topaz? Wow! Come do our show!'

What do you do to get booked?


Getting booked is tough; especially for me. I'm actually kind of a shy person. I don't particularly enjoy networking, meeting people, and hanging out. I prefer to show up, do my time, and go home and play video games. That doesn't fly up here. You have to keep showing your face. You keep showing up and showing up and showing up. You become someone they know. Then you get a spot. You have to introduce yourself to people 100 times. It's ugly. No one tells you about that. I had no idea. I thought I'd send a few emails, go crush and then watch all the bookings come in. No dice. After I got the tv show, 'I thought: here come the bookings'. Still nothing. No one cares. You still have to go through it. You have to get your hands dirty and hustle. There are no short cuts.

Do you run into DC comedians who have made the move, and have they been helpful?

There are a bunch of DC folks up here. It's helpful to get their input and hear about their experiences. It's comforting to know that they are going through it too. I see Rory Scovel, Ryan Conner and Matt Mayer all the time. Erin Conroy, Alicia Gomes, and John Razos are up here too. I don't see them as much because they are hermits. Actual hermits with staffs.


Have you looked into running your own room?


We had a room with a really short life. Rory, Ryan and I ran a show at Soundfix Records. We got 3 shows. Thanks guys. Really? 3 shows? I stopped by there on a Monday and there was no one in there. We at least had like 7 people. 7 vs 0. They didn't even have to pay us. As for other rooms, it's going to happen. There is no better way to get yourself out there than to run a room that comics want to do. A few of us have something in the works that will hopefully get going within a coupe months.

What was your favorite room in DC?


I really liked Topaz. It's a well run room. You do this for a while and you come to appreciate that. A lot of people like to make fun of Curt for being neurotic, but he runs a great show. It's professional. The people that complain about it should run their own rooms. No one is entitled to anything. Everything we as standups do is dependent upon the work and effort of others. You need an audience, a mic, a venue, someone to make the lineup, take the hit as the mc, and so on. If you don't like the rules of a place, don't perform there. Anyway, Topaz is such a cool place. The vibe is great. It's like a downstairs lounge in New York. It was intimate but you could cram a decent number of people in there. The crowd always listens and is respectful even if they aren't dying laughing.

You've been involved with both sketch here in DC (Poonanza) and in New York? How do you like sketch and have you been trying to get more involved in it? How do you like it compared to stand up?


I love sketch comedy. It's a great outlet. As I mentioned above, I was part of a winning sketch team that got to film a tv pilot. Great experience. I've found that it's a great way to motivate yourself to write and create. It's an awesome way to encourage collaboration with other comics and something that can bring people together. I like doing it as an alternative to standup. It will never replace standup but I like it as a release now and again. Really cool shows like the Poonanza are a blast to put on even though it's stressful. There are downsides though. The biggest problem is getting people together. I am always down to write/film or whatever. But other people are busy. It's next to impossible to get people together. Even up here, where everyone is doing comedy stuff full time, I still can't get everyone together for a shoot. That pain in the a$$ factor is prohibitive at times and it's why writing sketches will never replace the complete control I have with standup.

How would you describe your style of stand up and how has it evolved since you started?


When I first started, I didn't know anything. I mean, I knew nothing. I didn't know the rules. No one was there to tell me. I didn't know that it wasn't OK to do someone else's joke. I never happened to do it because it didn't excite me to do that (I wanted to be original) but I didn't know you shouldn't. When I started out, I loved Brian Regan (still do) and Mitch Hedberg (still do). My style was half Brian Regan and half Hedberg. It was a random hodgepodge of poorly written putrid refuse that I cannot believe came out of my mouth. I would alternate between trying to do something with a dry delivery that was really clever like Hedberg and then start talking really loudly and over-emphasizing words in a poor man's Regan. I also mixed that in with some frat-tastic 'I drink a lot'/wouldn't it be funny if this movie character was in this situation? jokes. It was bad. The main difference now is that I also do some Daniel Tosh style jokes.Haha! JK! LOL-ing. The biggest difference between me now and then is that I found my voice. I know what it is I do now. I'll never be a great writer of jokes. It's just not me. I have to put myself out there. I'm funny. I'm the guy in the group of friends that makes all the funny jokes. I balance the self-deprecating with the confidence. I share more of myself with the audience than I did before. I was scared to then. Now it's: 'here is why I was insecure about this'. Then it was more like: 'What if William Wallace was your driver's ed teacher? You'd get to a stop sign and he'd be like: 'Hoooooollllld!.....Hooooolllllllllld!......Hooooooollllllllllld!....Ok, turn right'.





You can catch Danny in the DC area in April.



Danny will be featuring at the Baltimore Comedy Factory April 3rd and April 4th.



You can catch a longer set on Saturday, April 5th when Danny headlines the Hyatt in Bethesda.