Mark Chalifoux has become one of Cincinnati’s most promising stand-up comedians, and he’s reaching a career milestone Friday (Aug. 17) when his first album, Think Fast, is released. It was recorded this spring at Go Bananas in Montgomery.
His career began with what started out as a fun weekend getaway to New York with his then-girlfriend, now wife, Amanda. However, that 2006 trip would change the course of his life.
“We had tickets for a Broadway show on Saturday, but didn’t have plans for Friday,” he says. A barker convinced them to go see a stand-up show at the famous Comic Strip Live comedy club. “That was my first time ever seeing live comedy and seeing that opened my eyes and put that spark in me.”
Unfortunately, Chalifoux had no idea how to become a stand-up comedian. “There’s no playbook like in journalism,” he says, which is what he studied in college.
After graduating, he followed the journalism path, working for newspapers and eventually landing a radio gig as a producer for Mo Egger’s ESPN sports talk program.
A frequent guest on that show was comedian Josh Sneed, a Cincinnatian. When Chalifoux expressed his interest in stand-up comedy, Sneed was very encouraging and suggested trying open-mic night at Go Bananas. That was a success and open-mic nights gave way to paid performances; Chalifoux has continued his stand-up career ever since.
On the eve of his record’s release, Chalifoux reflects on some of the most memorable gigs of his career so far.
First hosting weekend, February 2010: “In less than a year, I had progressed all the way from wild-eyed open-mic comic to just adequate,” Chalifoux says.
The next step for a comic after doing open mics is hosting a show at a local comedy club. The host does a few minutes of stand-up, points to the exits, makes other announcements and then introduces the feature, or opening, comic. The host will often return to introduce the headliner.
“Sneed gave me my first break when he asked me to host at Go Bananas for his headlining weekend,” Chalifoux says. “I fully lived up to my status as adequate, which translated into pretty solid sets in front of Josh’s forgiving audience.”
First road weekend, January 2012: Chalifoux and his young bride moved to New York City in 2010. Several other local comics, including Dave Waite, Sam Evans and Alex Stone, had just made the move, so the timing seemed right.
“I spent the next year doing some of the worst open mics imaginable and I loved it,” Chalifoux says. “That’s a special time for comics, when you’re full of hope, running around one of the greatest cities in the world, spending your night going to any type of show imaginable, all while devouring one-dollar slices of pizza.”
Waite was the first person to take Chalifoux out on the road as a feature act.
“It was at a better-than-you’d-expect club in Wilmington, North Carolina,” he says. “The shows went well and I learned a lot. After the first night, we went to an arcade and I got locked into an intense air hockey game with the club owner.”
Waite suggested letting the other guy win if Chalifoux ever wanted to work that club again.
“I take a fall for no man, so I annihilated him,” he says. “I never worked there again.”
CD recording, Go Bananas, April 2018: “I wasn’t nervous for the recording,” Chalifoux says. “The work had been done in dozens of cities over the last six months. The jokes were ready. I was more worried about filling the club on an off-night, so I promoted the show relentlessly and probably checked the reservation numbers every day for two weeks before the show.”
Chalifoux compares the night of the recording to a wedding, with a mix of friends, family, fans and other comics in the crowd of almost 200. “I spent years working to get to the place where I could deliver that hour, which made it so much sweeter.”
Think Fast will be released digitally on Aug. 17 and is available via amazon.com. More info: markchalifoux.com
This article appears in Aug 15-22, 2018.
