Back to Viva South Sound

Todd Glass feels like a silly close friend

He's a Comedian's comedian

COMEDIAN TODD GLASS: He's a natural.

Email Article Print Article Share on Facebook Share on Reddit Share on StumbleUpon

There's a certain familiar moment when you're hanging out with very close friends, being giddy and silly, and there's a way that you make each other laugh that's so specific and so unique that it's hard to recreate anywhere else. For sure, it's hard to recreate in the setting of a comedy club. A professional comedian is designed to make you laugh, but that certain type of laugh is so particular that it's almost banned from comedy clubs.

Todd Glass can make you laugh like an audience member might but he can also touch you in the way that a close childhood friend can hit your buttons. In a way, um, he's magical.

Glass is a comedian who's been around for years, but he's really caught traction in the past couple, thanks in part to his podcast, The Todd Glass Show. On his program, the prevailing theme is comedian friends doing bits - doing bits, deconstructing bits, talking about bits and then doing them to death.

"I've always liked radio, growing up," says Glass. "It's always intrigued me and I started listening to it at a young age, because my dad listened to talk radio. I mean, that's really what podcasting is - I mean, it's really simple. I think that's why it resonates with comedians. At its simplest, it's giving radio the purity of standup."

With regard to his propensity to stop bits, renegotiate them, and then start them over again, Glass says, "Really, what I do on the podcast a lot is exactly what comedians do when they hang out. And I think a lot of people do it. You don't really look at it like you're stopping it. You're pausing it to redefine it and head it in another direction or bring clarity into the direction. When comedians hang out, we don't think about it, but if you see something funny or someone else says something, then you go there. And then you do it again, and you do it again, and you do it again."

Glass has had a big year. In addition to the success of his podcast and the writing of his memoir, Glass made an appearance on Marc Maron's critically acclaimed podcast, WTF with Marc Maron. Early word hinted at something dramatic enough that Glass had to air it on Maron's show. Any worry about cancer or an evil twin was erased once Glass appeared on the show and came out of the closet, at the age of 48. During the interview, Glass expressed concern over the notion of being perceived as the "gay comedian."

"It's been great," says Glass. "I just didn't want that to be my title. But it was good, and I knew it was healthy to do, and I'm glad I did it. The only way I can say it is that it's back to normal, except that, when that comes up, I can be honest about it. And that's really how clean it is."

In addition to all that I've failed in describing to you about Glass, he's really fucking funny. Above all else, this is the thing that you need to know about Glass. There is a phrase called "comedian's comedian," which describes a comic so funny even comedians come to watch him perform. Glass is one of those people. But guess what else: He's also a people's comedian. So please do take this chance to get silly with him. 

TACOMA COMEDY CLUB, THURSDAY, FEB. 7-SATURDAY, FEB. 10, 8 P.M., ALSO FEB. 9-10, 10:30 P.M., $10-$15, 933 MARKET ST., TACOMA, 253.282.7203

Read next close

Show And Tell

The Grand Suggests: "Zero Dark Thirty"

comments powered by Disqus