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| photo courtesy of Nate Sinclair |
If you have yet to partake of a comedy open mic night, you should this gap in your cultural education as soon as possible. Everyone needs to experience the joy of an unexpected belly laugh and the pain of a fledgling comedian struggling with the always unforgiving crowd. Each open mic holds the promise of true, raw talent. A couple weeks ago, I was at the Ice House Tavern’s Wednesday comedy open mic hoping to find that hidden gem. Another comedian of YabYum past, Dale Rasmussen, gave me the inside line and told me to stick around for Nate Sinclair. I will be forever grateful he did even though it meant sitting through a “performance” of air trumpet (think about this, really think about this). Musical comedy in the Valley just got a little more awesome. Nate was kind enough to take a moment and answer our YabYum 7. Make sure you check out his video down below, you’ll thank us!
1. Who are you and what do you do?
I am Nate Sinclair. I tell dumb jokes and sing poorly-written songs, usually about my inefficient wiener. I am a personal banker by day, but that’s just because The Oregon Trail taught me that Banker is way better than Carpenter or Farmer. I can afford so many more oxen and wagon wheels now. My grandma still died of dysentery, though.
2. Where can we see you work?
I am regularly performing at weekly open mics such as The Icehouse Tavern on Wednesdays or Brigett’s Last Laugh on Tuesdays. I am also a frequent guest at Stand-up Scottsdale on weekends. I can also usually be found on the corner of Jackson and 12th Ave, right outside the CASS shelter, serenading transvestites and convicts for leftover meth crystals. Those tend to be much more clean, family-friendly sets, though.
3. How did you get your start?
After graduating from ASU in 2008, I realized that a degree in film is absolutely pointless. I met a friendly bar owner who drunkenly agreed to pay me $50 every Monday to perform for his nonexistent “happy hour” crowds along with local musician/comic Page the Village Idiot. After a few weeks of covering Tenacious D and Stephen Lynch songs, followed by blowing all of my week’s pay on booze, I decided to start writing original songs and taking my act to other venues. After developing a solid set and gaining a good reputation of being “decent”, I decided to go one step further and start taking my show on the road. That failed miserably, so now, I still write songs and play multiple venues, but I make far less than $50 a week doing it.
4. What inspires you?
The thought of Walt Disney on his death bed, with “Hava Nagila” playing on loop through the hospital speakers.
5. What do you like about Arizona?
I like that it isn’t New Mexico. I also like that it is where the movie Tombstone took place. Did you know that all of that actually happened? Iceman totally started the gunfight at the OK Corral by winking at Lyle from Wings! And I never realized that Kurt Russell was a Kansas lawman before becoming an actor! And Bill Paxton is dead! It’s crazy what you learn by watching documentaries.
6. What would you like to accomplish before you die?
It would be very easy for me to say something crass and gross right here. I could easily say something like “A three-way with Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson!” or “Donkey-punching Kate Upton while Amy Adams records it!” But I won’t! I’m not going to be so raunchy and vulgar! What I want to accomplish is to bang Dame Judy Dench. Because I’m classy like that. And because I want to show James Bond who’s boss.
7. What is your mantra?
“Oh oh oh oo-oh. Oh oh oo-oh. Oh oh oh oo-oh. The right stuff.”
