Christopher Titus stunned the comedy community when he released his debut album Norman Rockwell is Bleeding in 2004. His candor was gut-wrenching and hilarious as he told tales of his abusive father who was once shot by his grandmother, his schizophrenic, drug-addicted mother who eventually committed suicide and how his sister inherited the family curse of addiction and mental illness, ultimately taking her own life, as well. That unflinching honesty has carried through seven, 90-minute specials. He is on tour, his project to unify America with his latest show Amerigeddon.
LEO: What inspired you to write Amerigeddon? Christopher Titus: I started out writing an anti-Trump show, which didnt really feel right, because it was too easy. How do you screw up on the job that much? But I knew I was preaching to the choir, and thats not what I want to do. Im an independent I walk the middle line. I can even prove that were all the same. We have all had someone come up to us and say, Hey, did you see what Trump said today? You go, Now what? They tell you, and youre like, Theres no way. That didnt happen. Then you turn on the TV that night, you see it, and its like, Goddammit! Thats happened to all of us. Whether youre a liberal or a conservative, weve all shared in that experience in some way. Thats when I realized the show isnt about attacking peoples political choice its about America being manipulated. When I got that, I decided to focus on the we aspect of it all.
Will it be through Netflix, as a lot of comics have been doing recently? I dont know. I decided a long time ago I want to make these myself and own them. Netflix, now being the big kid on the block, wants to own it. I think its weird they want to make all of the money off of my art. So, I guess Im kind of a rebel and an asshole in that way. Hopefully, well get it out before [Special Counsel Robert S.] Mueller indicts him. I can live with that, by the way. If Rebel asshole is my epitaph, Im fine with it.
Were coming up on midterm elections. With your show focusing on the collective American we, are we more united or divided at this point? Well, everyone has an opinion on somebody who doesnt agree with them politically. Every conservative is a sister-dating redneck. And every liberal is eating kale salad out of the butthole of his boyfriend. Thats what people think about each other, without knowing each other. I mock that a lot. Look, I went on this golfing trip with my buddy. There were these three other guys on the trip with us who were all super-hardcore conservatives. And you know what? I got along with all of them. And I think weve forgotten that as a country, there is only one side and the side is America.
In recent years, your material has moved from your personal life to politics. Is your personal life just too happy now that theres nothing to talk about? For a minute it was. Thank God it went horrible again, because my next show is going to make Norman Rockwell is Bleeding look like a Muppets special. But, really, I just write whats coming out. Ill write about whats happening in the news, and my life falls apart. Then I write about that. In the end, it just comes out. People told me not to write Amerigeddon. I cant. As an artist, I have to write what comes out, otherwise it backs up. Then, its just constipation, and nobody wants that.
Youve spent your whole career bouncing between stage and screen. Do you prefer acting or stand-up more? Heres the thing with movies and TV Im not in charge of it. In movies and TV, people who have never been onstage, never written a joke or a script, are going to tell me, who has been making audiences laugh since he was 19, whats funny. At the very least, cant we all agree that my instincts in that regard are most likely better than theirs? So, if I could make movies and shows without anyone telling me what to do, I would do it all of the time. But thats impossible. I might as well try and learn how to levitate. However, stand-up is my oxygen. If I ever quit stand-up, youd just read in the paper the next day: Former comedian Christopher Titus took his own life spectacularly yesterday. He was beaten to death by a bunch of clowns. He thought it would be hilarious.
Christopher Titus Amerigeddon
Saturday, Sept. 15
Bomhard Theater
501 W Main St.
$27.50 | 8 p.m.