It’s a homecoming of sorts for one comic, and a decided farewell for another. Cincinnati native Dave Waite moved to New York back in September to further pursue his comedy career. He returns this week to headline two shows at Go Bananas. Meanwhile the man who will feature for him, Mark Chalifoux, will finish packing his bags for the Big Apple next week. “It’s a comedy Mecca,” he explains of the move. “I’ll be able to learn from the best, and watch the best comedy there. I figure if I’m ever going to give it a real try, I might as well do it now while I’m still young.” Chalifoux, who worked on Mo Egger’s radio show on 1530 “Homer,” is also widely known as the co-host of Josh Sneed’s podcast Detention.
He knows there are going to be some drawbacks to heading east. “It’s like hitting the reset button. The first year and change is going to be a lot of hard work, but that’s part of the experience.” For a city of this size, Cincinnati does have an outstanding and well-respected comedy scene. However, New York is where you go to make it, as the famous song suggests. With so many clubs and other comedy-friendly establishments, a comedian can perform every night, albeit for five minutes in many cases. “I’ll be pushing myself to write more and getting better just because of that.” This week may be your last chance to catch him for a while. Start spreading the news.
This article appears in Dec 15-21, 2010.