Interested in who’s going to be the next chair of the Republican Party of Dane County? Probably not, but you just might want to start paying attention because there is a pretty large possibility it’s going to be Madison’s own comedian and self-proclaimed provocateur, Nick Mortenson. Is he a Republican? Nope. Is he trained for politics? Umm, does a degree in history from the University of Wisconsin count? Close enough. Who is Nick Mortenson, and why does he think he can pull this off?
From an early age Mortenson realized he was a little different. For some reason everyone seemed to think he was an ass. Not knowing why, he started defending himself by picking things out about people to make fun of them for, knocking them down before they could strike. Mocking others made him feel better temporarily, but he still didn’t understand what was so bad about him in the first place. It wasn’t until later that Mortenson was diagnosed with ADHD and everything started to click. Constantly spurting out things he wasn’t supposed to say was no longer his fault.
He says, “I got told I was a sloppy asshole my whole life, and I never thought anything different until I found out I had ADHD.” Realizing it was his disorder that was alienating people gave him the strength to come to terms with himself and realize it could actually be a good thing. He says, “It gave me the skills to be funny and pick things out about people; it’s a very big gift.”
A very big gift indeed, because unlike other comedians who repeatedly use the same material, these special skills Mortenson possesses help him do the impossible: He creates a new hour of material every week. So he’s hilarious, but what in the world does that have to do with the Republican Party of Dane County?
It turns out Mortenson isn’t running for the chair just for shits and giggles. His real motive: to find out why he hates Republicans so much. With his historical knowledge, Mortenson put it together that the Republicans don’t stand for what they were originally supposed to anymore, and he’s more than a little pissed off about it. Oddly enough, it’s actually very likely he will get elected.
Lacking a publicly known opposing candidate, he has the media behind him. And if he does get elected, he’s jumping into his new position with a splash. His plan is to “shame people because they made that decision to take the South and get in bed with the Christian Coalition.” How’s he going to do it? With a “shit ton of hilarious quotes, and openly mocking people when they contradict themselves.”
Comedian, provocateur, Republican Party chair– what else could he squeeze onto his r?sum?? How about motivational speaker and ADHD advocate? Continuing down the path of interesting career moves, Mortenson and his new pal J.D. Stier ? who was an organizers for Obama’s campaign in Dane County ? are making plans to hit the road together. They may seem an unlikely pair, but they have been brought together by their common beliefs about change. Both think the “how” part of change is easy, but the “why” is what people need to focus on.
Stier has an inspirational story of his own. A former drug dealer, he was sent to prison for two years for possession. After he was released, he became a drug and alcohol counselor at a local rehab clinic and has since made a positive impact on the community. Together Mortenson and Stier plan to keep the movement for change going by trying to knock down the barriers that political parties can create. They want people to know they can still jump on the bandwagon and make a difference by breaking down the seriousness of it all, and more importantly, by bringing in comedy.
Pulling from all of these other career paths, Mortenson has been called a media whore. To that he says, “It’s partially right, but anyone that’s a whore feels partially bad about themselves,” and he certainly does not.
Nick Mortenson is hilarious and definitely someone to watch not only for comedy, but for all the provoking career moves he will be entertaining us with in the future.
