A Chat with Don Johnson, Local Funny Guy

This is my friend Don, we had a quick chat after we'd shot his head shots back in June and I'm finally caught up enough to post it! Say hi to Don!

Me: First things first, Don, what book are you reading right now?

D.J.: I'm reading Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States.

M: Now that that's out of the way, tell me how you got into comedy! Who helped you along?

D.J.: at a very young age, first saw George Carlin when I was like 8 with my Mother at Melody Fair in Tonawanda. Life kept getting in the way if me trying it until about a year ago. When my best friend Kevin Thomas Jr (recently voted Buffalo's Funnest at Helium Nightclub) started, I would go and watch him at Milkie's. Back when we worked together we would egg each other on about trying comedy. Then a few years past we lost touch until I saw on fb he was doing comedy... the rest is history. 

M: I'd love to hear about your first show.

D.J.: Was at Milkie's on Elmwood. I went up right before my friend Zach Dietch. I ate my balls for dinner live on stage. It was horrible, it felt horrible... but I wanted to keep trying.

M: What's the best show you've ever seen?

D.J.: I saw Jim Norton a couple years ago in PA, Allie Brady opened and Rick Matthews featured. It was amazing. Best local show would have to be Kevin's performance at Buffalo's Funniest at Helium.

M: Do you have a favorite person you've opened for?

 D.J.: Since I'm fairly new I haven't really opened for anyone noteworthy, but I was honored to be on the Nietzsche's 10 year anniversary show.

(disclaimer: Don brought a prop air gun to the shoot which was incorporated by request. Mostly, he's sane and just wanted to use it as an analogy for the pressure performers feel to always "kill it" on stage)

M: Tell me about show you walked away feeling amazing after.

D.J.: Would have to have been my show at Babeville. It was a very warm and drunk crowd and I was high as a kite and more "on" than usual. It went well.

M: What was your worst show like?

D.J.: It's hard to remember my worst, Ive had some shit sets at Nietzsche's and Milkie's.

M: Lets revisit the South Buffalo one.

D.J.: It was the worst. Performing to literally 5 comics and two old local drunks who would try and heckle. The place has since burned down.

M: Anything you want to admit to? Like arson?

D.J.: They didn't even have beer on tap, they would just hand you a can like you're in your own basemen.

M: What's new and exciting for you?

D.J.: I get to be on the "Tales of Tyrone" show and you have no idea how honored I am to be apart of the Tits N' Giggles All Male Comedy Review at Rustbelt both at Nietzsche's in September.

M: Have a favorite joke?

 D.J.: My own favorite would have to be whatever I'm currently working on. I always get excited for new material. My favorite of someone else's would have to be Kevin Thomas's parking lot pregnancy test joke.

M: Tell the people know how to stalk you!

D.J.: fb, twitter, and instagram and I can be found hosting the filthy stage of Tudor Lounge every Monday, hanging out and performing at Nietzsche's & Helium most Tuesdays, Milkie's on Wednesdays and Goodbar on Thursdays.

M: And finally, if not this than what?

D.J.: Failure is not an option. Is all this going in a suicide note for when you stage my death?

M: Of course, first we need to get some insurance policies open...

D.J.: I'm not economically viable...

Funny Guy Clayton Williams, a Profile

Hey there! Since the weather's been all ups and downs the last week the small business shoots had to be postponed till later in this week! So, today I bring you a little Q and A with local comedian Clayton Williams.

 27 year old Clayton is a pretty swell guy who hung out and chatted with me over a session for his head shots. I've caught his act at my favorite funny bone joint, Helium, when he opened for Judah Friedlander and before he even opened his mouth I was in giggles. From his amazing hair to his insane Hawaiian shirt, this fella gets a crowd laughing easily just stepping onto the stage. Add that to his self-deprecating jokes and the fact that he sounds uncannily similar to Seth Rogan... let's just say you need to go check out one of his shows! We passed the time talking about his career as a comedian, his favorite person in the world (his grandma), the importance of smelling clean, and what's coming up for him soon. 

 Let's jump right in!

Me: Hey Clayton, how long have you been doing this? How'd you get started?

Clayton:  I got into comedy almost 4 years ago. I've always loved comedy and I was told about an open mic at Nietzsches so I went there to check it out. It used to be email only and every time I tried to sign up, the person running the room would say it was full, so I found another open mic at Mr. Goodbar and started there. Now I run that open mic

M. Any highlights from the show last night? (Clayton performed at the Riviera Theater for the 8th Annual Big Lebowski Party before the flick.)

C. Uh, getting to perform in a theater was really cool. It was the first time that's happened. The most interesting thing I guess that usually the comedy portion of that show doesn't go well because the crowd just want to see the movie. So it was a surprise that the audience were invested

M. That's really great it went well. Did you like performing for a bigger crowd? I always got so nervous

C. It's funny, that wasn't the biggest crowd I've performed for but it was different because it was a theater so the sound was really spaced out. Performing in front a large crowd isn't as nerve racking as performing for 6 people.

M. Ha, no, I guess not for comedy. Have you had to do that or do you mean when you're bouncing ideas off people?

C. I've done shows In front of like 12 people before. At open mics it's very common to perform I front of 3 to five non comics.

M. Ever bomb?

C. I've bombed. I've bombed a bunch of times.

M. What's the worst/best part of all this?

C. Best part is when you do really well, it's one of the best feelings in the world. Like, if drugs feel as good as that you can understand why people do them.

The worst part is the feeling that you never know that you're going to do well. One guy said "comedy is the only job where you don't know if you can do it everytime."

M. That sounds like an anxiety attack to me. Perks of the job?

C. Meeting really good people that you've looked up to for years. Free drinks at places.

M. So that was your first show?

C. Paid show? It was a new faces show at Mr. Goodbar. I was probably a year in

M. How'd you do?

C. I had a good set. I was bad but I got decent laughs.

M. Tell me about a show you did where you walked off knowing you were da bomb dot com.

C. It was a showcase I did that was being recorded for the managers of the other helium clubs. And I remember just doing super well on it, got an applause break and they kept laughing. It was the best feeling.

M. What's an applause break?

C. When the crowd likes something you did to the point where they stop, laugh, and clap.

M. Ok, so it was as self-explanatory as I thought it would be!

C.It is but it's still hard to explain cause it just seems weird.

M. Is there anyone you consider a mentor now, or when you first started?

C. I would say Mark Walton has had the biggest influence on me in buffalo comedy. He gave me my first paid show and he's helped me a lot. He also put me in charge of Goodbar cause he was moving to New York. Weird Al Yankovich is also a big influence on me comedy wise

M. Who's someone you really liked opening for?

C. The coolest and nicest guy I've opened for was this Magician named Justin Wilman. He was super cool to hang out with me and friended me on Facebook like 2 months after the shows we did. He was the host of cupcake wars.

M. I know you're funny, but what's the best show you've ever seen?

C. Kyle Kinane like 2 years ago.

M. What's big and upcoming for you?

C. I'm opening for Kyle Kinane in March, he's probably one of my favorite comedians right now and as I mentioned he was the best show I've seen in person

 Clayton will be performing March 10-12 at Helium. You can keep up with Clayton and find out when he's performing by checking out his Facebook. While you're at it, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram!