A local comedy venue housed in a literal house known as “The Mound” will host “Some Dumb Show” Saturday, a stand-up comedy show featuring players from Madison and Chicago.
The Badger Herald sat down with the host of the show, University of Wisconsin senior Aaron Klinger, to discuss the importance of an inclusive comedy community accessible to all college students.
The following interview was edited for style and clarity.
The Badger Herald: When did you get started with stand-up?
Aaron Klinger: I started doing stand-up when I got to Madison. I was 17 years old the first open mic night, so I couldn’t sign up. By the second Wednesday, I was 18 years old, so I signed up for the Comedy Club. It took me three weeks of getting cut to finally get up on stage.
BH: How would you describe your comedic stylings as of late?
AK: When I went to Chicago for the summer, I stopped being cute. It was a great thing because it stripped me of my pretenses. There was this element of “just get to it.” How you feel is usually very strong and raw. A lot of people try to water it down by saying things like “this is just my experience” or “he’s actually a really good guy.” Just go for the throat.
BH: Did your style of comedy dictate which comedians you chose for the show?
AK: There’s a bunch of people in Chicago that are being super interesting recently, and I think they’re so good. They’re really funny and they use the form of stand-up comedy to express what is rarely expressed. For this show, I looked for people who are both funny and have something to say. These are people who aren’t just making jokes about people they hate on Tinder.
BH: Can you go into a bit more detail about The Mound (1129 Mound St.) and how it came to be?
AK: The Mound is a bunch of friends living together and who love to put on shows. They’ve put on music in their basement a couple of times. We looked in their living room and we thought it had such a good vibe, we had to do a stand-up show there.
BH: What made you decide to make this a house show rather than doing a show at a bar?
AK: Bars are such a wall for college students to surmount. Even if you can get legally it’s still difficult to gage whether or not it’s your crowd — whereas this show is an event specifically for college students and our sensibilities. It’s for people who know what it’s like to be young and alive right now.
BH: What should audience members be expecting on Saturday?
AK: A great time, a good night, stand-up but also a part of Madison that maybe isn’t represented on State Street. I really hope people come out to this show. It’s a show for people who look at Madison and feel like people like me are out there — but can’t see them right now. It’s an inclusive space where everyone is welcome.
Not just some joke, Madison’s comedy scene is blooming due to its members
