Comedian David Britton is into wizards. It turns out that others also are, as gauged by the popularity of his storiesaboutwizards.com. What would he do if he were a wizard? Id probably try to get rid of this athletes foot so I could concentrate a little bit, he told LEO. Britton appears one night only, Tuesday, Feb. 19, at Kaiju.
LEO: Theres a real bookishness, or even nerdy quality, to your comedy. David Britton: Yeah, I guess Ill take that as complimentary. If people want to describe me as bookish and nerdy, I certainly wouldnt stop them.
Is that how you were as a kid? Yeah, I definitely read a lot, but thats because my mom read a lot. She read me The Hobbit when I was young, and thats when I got into fantasy and sci-fi. I got into comic books when I was in junior high. I loved all of that stuff before it was popular, when being a nerd would get you punched in the face. Yeah, I would definitely say I was a nerdy kid, but I never had the upside of good grades, either. So, Im not sure how that balances out. I loved reading, but I didnt want to do work.
How is writing comedy articles different than writing for the stage? One thing is that you dont have any inflection. You cant give the audience a wink, ya know? You lose your facial expressions and gestures. You have to make sure when youre writing that the humor is in the words themselves. I also feel like satire is at its best when its subtle, however, you still have to get the point across clearly. Finding that balance can sometimes be tricky.
Your perspective on the Garden of Eden indicates you arent particularly religious. I have a lot of friends of various religions, and they are some of the best people I know. I think a lot of times my default is to think that all religions are kind of silly. Whether its Christianity or Buddhism or whatever, my instinct is to think that its ridiculous. People can believe in what they want. For me, I believe its all kind of silly.
Is it rebellion against a religious childhood? We went to a Lutheran church as a kid, but once my grandparents died, my parents kind of stopped making us go. After a while of asking for answers, and never getting any, I was like, Cool, I just dont believe this anymore. Its like Santa Claus until the age of 10, youre supposed to believe in this magical, red elf who delivers your presents. Also, Jesus is God. Then, around the age of 10, theyre like, The red elf is made up. Weve been lying to you for a decade. But dont worry: The Jesus thing is real. Obviously, any kid is going to be like, But is he? Youve been lying to me my whole life.
What made you start a blog of stories specifically and exclusively about wizards? I usually write onstage. I dont often sit down with a notebook and write jokes. One night, I was like, Im going to sit down and write. And what came out, instead, were the first three stories about wizards. I tried doing it onstage, and it didnt work. I kept them for a while, and one night I got a little drunk and just put them online. After that, I was like, Well, I guess this is a thing. Its not like I was really obsessively into wizards before that. I just kind of stumbled into it. I really enjoyed doing it, and now I really am kind of into wizards. I totally understand why J.K. Rowling wanted to write about them. Because when your characters have magical powers, you can do anything you want.
In your experience, are wizards funny? Some of them are. All of the wizards in my stories have a really dark, morbid sense of humor. They think that death and destruction are hilarious.
If you were a wizard, what would you do? Id probably try to get rid of this athletes foot so I could concentrate a little bit. I know thats like the equivalent of asking someone what they would do if they won the lottery; and they answer, pay off my student loans. But this shit is really distracting.
David Britton
Tuesday, Feb. 19
Kaiju
1004 E. Oak St.
Free (donations encouraged)
9 p.m.